Contemporary Olson

Half Title Page

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Illustrations

Contributors

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

Introduction: Contemporary Olson: David Herd

Section I: Knowledge

1. Myth and document in Charles Olson’s Maximus Poems: Miriam Nichols

2. Discoverable unknowns: Olson’s lifelong preoccupation with the sciences: Peter Middleton

3. ‘Empty Air’: Charles Olson’s cosmology: Reitha Pattison

4. A reading of ‘In Cold Hell, in Thicket’ : Ian Brinton and Michael Grant

Section II: Poetics

5. From Olson’s breath to Spicer’s gait: From Olson’s breath to Spicer’s gait: Daniel Katz

6. Poetic instruction: Michael Kindellan

7. Reading Blackburn reading Olson: Paul Blackburn reads Olson’s ‘Maximus, to Gloucester: Letter 15’: Simon Smith

8. From Weymouth back: Olson’s British contacts, travels and legacy: Gavin Selerie

9. A fresh look at Olson: Elaine Feinstein

Section III: Gender

10. Olson and his Maximus Poems: Rachel Blau DuPlessis

11. ‘When the attentions change’: Charles Olson and Frances Boldereff: Robert Hampson

12. ‘The pictorial handwriting of his dreams’: Charles Olson, Susan Howe, Redell Olsen: Will Montgomery

Section IV: History

13. The contemporaries: a reading of Charles Olson’s ‘The Lordly and Isolate Satyrs’: Stephen Fredman

14. Futtocks: Anthony Mellors

15. Death in life: the past in ‘As the Dead Prey Upon Us’: Ben Hickman

16. ‘To Gerhardt, There, Among Europe’s Things of Which He Has Written Us in His “Brief an Creeley und Olson”’: Olson on history, in dialogue: Sarah Posman

17. ‘Moving among my particulars’: the ‘negative dialectics’ of The Maximus Poems: Tim Woods

18. A note on Charles Olson’s ‘The Kingfishers’: Charles Bernstein

Section V: Space

19. Transcultural projectivism in Charles Olson’s ‘The Kingfishers’ and Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri’s Warlugulong: Peter Minter

20. The view from Gloucester: Open Field Poetics and the politics of movement: David Herd

21. Why Olson did ballet: the pedagogical avant-gardism of Massine: Karlien van den Beukel

22. On the back of the elephant: riding with Charles Olson: Iain Sinclair

23. Charles Olson’s first poem: Ralph Maud

Bibliography

Index of writings by Charles Olson

Index