Charles Olson : Charles Olson at Goddard College

In the spring of 1962, poet Charles Olson descended upon an experimental college in rural Vermont to read from The Maximus Poems and The Distances, and to lecture on Herman Melville. His captivating performance sparked lively debates with the audience on the nature of myth, history, etymology, narrative, knowledge, and sexuality. Charles Olson at Goddard College is an enthralling and indispensable annotated transcript that celebrates the intersection of Olson's poetics and a hopeful moment in American education. Edited with an introduction by Kyle Schlesinger. Foreword by Basil King.

Charles Olson (1910–1970) was an American poet who is reputed to have coined the term “postmodernism.” Olson grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts and was educated at Wesleyan University and Harvard. For many years, he worked in politics, participating in the election campaign of Franklin Roosevelt and as publicity director of the American Civil Liberties Union. After Roosevelt’s death, Olson retired from politics to a life of writing, working on The Maximus Poems, which remained unfinished after his death.

ILLUSTRATED PAPERBACK. 7x10 inches. 112 pages. 2011.
ISBN: 978-0982792650