Author Archives: Andrew Epstein

The Time John Ashbery Did a “Screen Test” for Andy Warhol

Posted on September 21, 2017

Over the last several weeks since John Ashbery passed away, we have seen a flood of moving tributes, memorials, personal memoirs, and re-assessments, including even some reflections on the poet “in all his hunky glory,” as the title of a surprising … Continue reading →

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Ed Sanders, Gerard Malanga, Joe Brainard, John Ashbery, John Wieners, Lou Reed, Ron Padgett, Ted Berrigan | Leave a comment

Remembering John Ashbery (1927-2017)

Posted on September 6, 2017

This past Sunday, September 3, brought the very sad news that John Ashbery had passed away at the age of 90.  Ashbery has long been regarded as the greatest and most influential living American poet, so it is not surprising … Continue reading →

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Guest, Fairfield Porter, Frank O'Hara, Harry Mathews, Jack Spicer, James Merrill, Jane Freilicher, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Larry Rivers, Mark Ford, Robert Creeley | 7 Comments

The Picture of Little J.A.: A New Biography of the Young John Ashbery

Posted on August 9, 2017

  Karin Roffman’s new book, The Songs We Know Best: John Ashbery’s Early Life — the highly anticipated, first full-fledged biography of Ashbery — was recently published, and my review of the book appeared in the New York Times Book Review several days ago. … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Fairfield Porter, Jane Freilicher, John Ashbery, Mark Ford, W. H. Auden | Leave a comment

Happy 90th Birthday to John Ashbery!

Posted on July 28, 2017

Today is the 90th birthday of John Ashbery, who was born on July 27, 1928.  At LitHub, Adam Fitzgerald and Emily Skillings have “invited 90 of his dearest friends, collaborators, and admirers to pick a favorite line from his vast … Continue reading →

Posted in Alice Notley, Jim Jarmusch, John Ashbery, Paul Muldoon, Poems, Rae Armantrout, Susan Howe | Leave a comment

Buried at Springs: Frank O’Hara’s Funeral (7/27/66)

Posted on July 27, 2017

51 years ago today, Frank O’Hara was buried in Green River Cemetery, in Springs, New York, just steps away from the grave of one of his heroes, Jackson Pollock, two days after being struck down by a dune buggy on … Continue reading →

Posted in Alex Katz, Alfred Leslie, Allen Ginsberg, Barbara Guest, Bill Berkson, David Shapiro, Edwin Denby, Frank O'Hara, Helen Frankenthaler, Jackson Pollock, James Schuyler, Joe LeSueur, Kenneth Koch, Larry Rivers, MoMA, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning | 7 Comments

Visit John Ashbery’s Nest, Virtually

Posted on July 12, 2017

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of attention paid to John Ashbery’s unusual and beautiful house in Hudson, New York, and its relationship to his poetry and aesthetics.  I’ve written about this before on a number … Continue reading →

Posted in John Ashbery | Leave a comment

Young John Ashbery on Joyce’s “Ulysses”: “It’s Dirty!”

Posted on June 16, 2017

      The past couple of years, I’ve had a mini-tradition of posting something about the New York School poets and Ulysses on each Bloomsday — as you can see in these posts about Frank O’Hara and James Schuyler. … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank O'Hara, James Joyce, James Schuyler, John Ashbery | Leave a comment