Category Archives: Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones)

Joshua Kotin on Amiri Baraka, Kenneth Koch, and a Mysterious April Fool’s Day Postcard

As part of a cluster of essays on “Interpretive Difficulty” published by Post45, the scholar Joshua Kotin recently published a fascinating piece about a mysterious postcard that Amiri Baraka sent to Kenneth Koch on April Fool’s Day 1965, with a … Continue reading

Posted in Alice Notley, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Criticism, Kenneth Koch, Ted Berrigan | 2 Comments

Tom Clark (1941-2018), the New York School, and the Paris Review

  Very sad news in the poetry world: the poet Tom Clark died this week at the age of 77 after being struck by a car while walking across a street in Berkeley, California.  A prolific and controversial writer, Clark … Continue reading

Posted in Alice Notley, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Anne Waldman, Barbara Guest, Bill Berkson, Charles Olson, Clark Coolidge, David Lehman, David Shapiro, Denise Levertov, Frank Lima, Frank O'Hara, Gerard Malanga, Harry Mathews, In Memoriam, Jack Kerouac, James Schuyler, Jim Carroll, Joe Brainard, Joe Ceravolo, John Ashbery, John Koethe, Kenneth Koch, Kenward Elmslie, Larry Eigner, Larry Fagin, Lewis Warsh, Lou Reed, Peter Schjeldahl, Philip Whalen, Poetry Project at St. Marks, Robert Creeley, Ron Padgett, Ted Berrigan, Tom Clark, Tony Towle, Uncategorized, Velvet Underground | 1 Comment

Cecil Taylor (1929-2018), Frank O’Hara, Amiri Baraka

When the groundbreaking avant-garde jazz pianist and composer Cecil Taylor died last month, there was an outpouring of obituaries and tributes to his genius and influence.  But there was less attention paid to Taylor’s connections to the literary world, and … Continue reading

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Beats, Billie Holiday, Bob Kaufman, Cecil Taylor, Charles Olson, Frank O'Hara, Franz Kline, Gilbert Sorrentino, In Memoriam, Influences on the NY School, Jack Kerouac, Jazz, Kenneth Koch, Larry Rivers, Michael McClure, Morton Feldman, Music, Norman Mailer, NY School Influence, Ornette Coleman, Paul Blackburn, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Thelonious Monk | 1 Comment

Roundup of Recent “New York School of Poetry” News and Links (4/2/18)

Here’s the latest roundup of recent links, new publications, and news related to the New York School of poets.  (For my most recent roundup, see here). — Jeremy Noel-Tod reviews Karin Roffman’s biography of John Ashbery’s early years and reflects … Continue reading

Posted in Aime Cesaire, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Book Review, Brian Glavey, Charles North, Criticism, Douglas Crase, Eileen Myles, Elizabeth BIshop, Interview, Jack Spicer, James Schuyler, Joe Brainard, John Ashbery, John Koethe, John Yau, Kenward Elmslie, Kevin Killian, Music, NY School Influence, Patti Smith, Peter Gizzi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Roundup, Ted Berrigan, Uncategorized, Visual Art, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams | 3 Comments

Bill Berkson (1939-2016) and Frank O’Hara: “Bill’s School of New York”

Yesterday brought the very sad news that the poet and art critic Bill Berkson had passed away at the age of 76.  Berkson was of course of central importance to the New York School and its legacy, and over the coming days and months there … Continue reading

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Bill Berkson, David Shapiro, Frank O'Hara, In Memoriam, James Schuyler, Joe LeSueur, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Philip Guston, Pierre Reverdy, Ron Padgett, Uncategorized, Willem de Kooning | 4 Comments

Frank Lima’s Ode to the New York School of Poets

The poet Frank Lima, who passed away in 2013, was an important yet undersung member of the New York School of poetry’s second generation.  Although he was close with Frank O’Hara, Kenneth Koch, David Shapiro, and many other poets of the first and … Continue reading

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Beats, David Shapiro, Frank Lima, Frank O'Hara, Guillaume Apollinaire, Joe LeSueur, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Wallace Stevens, Walt Whitman | 1 Comment

“To the Memory of Joe Brainard”: Kent Johnson’s I Once Met

“To the memory of Joe Brainard” reads the dedication to Kent Johnson‘s new book, I Once Met: A Partial Memoir of the Poetry Field.  A revised and expanded version of a limited-edition chapbook of the same title that Johnson published in 2007, the book … Continue reading

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Ben Lerner, Books, C. D. Wright, David Antin, David Shapiro, Diane Wakoski, Eliot Weinberger, Forrest Gander, Gary Snyder, Joan Retallack, Joe Brainard, John Ashbery, Jorie Graham, Kent Johnson, NY School Influence, On Kawara, Philip Whalen, Robert Duncan, Robert Hass, Ron Padgett, Samuel Beckett | Leave a comment

Ornette Coleman (1930-2015), Frank O’Hara, Amiri Baraka

This morning brought the sad news that the groundbreaking jazz musician Ornette Coleman has passed away at 85.  There will surely be many obituaries and testimonials to Coleman’s importance and legacy, but I wanted to just note some the important points of … Continue reading

Posted in Abstract Expressionism, Alfred Leslie, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Frank O'Hara, In Memoriam, Jackson Pollock, Jazz, Music, Ornette Coleman, Vincent Warren | 1 Comment

A Real Mad, “All-American” Combination: LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka’s Salon

Last week, on a trip to the Czech Republic, I had the pleasure of meeting Josef Jařab , one of the most important Czech scholars of American literature.  Jařab is a leading Czech authority on American poetry, and he has translated and written … Continue reading

Posted in Abstract Expressionism, Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Beats, Cecil Taylor, Frank O'Hara, Franz Kline, Jack Kerouac, Jazz, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Larry Rivers, Music, Ornette Coleman, Visual Art | 1 Comment

William S. Burroughs to Frank O’Hara: Drop Dead

William S. Burroughs was born one hundred years ago today.  In honor of his centennial, there has been a great deal of activity in Burroughs-land, including a series of events in various cities, with a big centenary conference getting underway … Continue reading

Posted in Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Beats, Delmore Schwartz, Diane Di Prima, Frank O'Hara, Gregory Corso, Jack Kerouac, Peter Schjeldahl, William S. Burroughs | Leave a comment