Category Archives: In Memoriam

Roundup of Recent “New York School of Poetry” News and Links (4/4/21)

Posted on April 5, 2021 by Andrew Epstein

I know it has been awfully quiet around here at Locus Solus over the past few months. A combination of pandemic craziness and being in the last stages of a long-term project has resulted in my needing to take a … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstract Expressionism, Alice Notley, Barbara Guest, Brian Glavey, Diane Di Prima, Dick Gallup, Frank O'Hara, Grace Hartigan, Harry Mathews, Helen Frankenthaler, In Memoriam, Influences on the NY School, James Schuyler, Joe Brainard, John Ashbery, John Cage, John Wieners, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lewis Warsh, Marisol, Max Jacob, Music, NY School Influence, Ron Padgett, Roundup, Ted Berrigan, Visual Art | 4 Comments

David Berman, Poet Among Musicians (1967-2019)

Posted on August 13, 2019 by Andrew Epstein

Last week, tragic news hit the worlds of indie rock and contemporary poetry simultaneously.  The musician and poet David Berman, leader of the acclaimed indie band Silver Jews, had passed away at the age of 52, after a long struggle … Continue reading →

Posted in David Berman, In Memoriam, James Tate, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Music, NY School Influence | 1 Comment

Kevin Killian (1952-2019)

Posted on June 16, 2019 by Andrew Epstein

Like so many others, I’m shocked and heartbroken to learn that the writer Kevin Killian passed away last night.  I first met Kevin in 1996, at the “Poetry of the 1950s” conference in Orono, Maine (where he gave a paper … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank O'Hara, Guillaume Apollinaire, In Memoriam, Jack Spicer, Kevin Killian, Larry Rivers, Philip Guston | Leave a comment

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

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Andrew Epstein

  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

One of Kate Spade’s Muses was Frank O’Hara

Posted on June 7, 2018 by Andrew Epstein

                  Here’s an interesting footnote to the very sad news about the pioneering fashion designer Kate Spade, who died of an apparent suicide several days ago.  In a piece in the Atlantic, … Continue reading →

Posted in fashion, Frank O'Hara, Grace Hartigan, In Memoriam, Mad Men, NY School Influence | 3 Comments

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

Posted on May 17, 2018 by Andrew Epstein

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

Vincent Warren, love of Frank O’Hara’s life, passes away at 79

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Andrew Epstein

Sad news for readers of Frank O’Hara: Vincent Warren, the ballet dancer who has often been described as the true love of O’Hara’s life, passed away on October 25 at the age of 79, some 50 years after O’Hara himself.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Frank O'Hara, In Memoriam, Jackson Pollock, Joe LeSueur, Vincent Warren, Willem de Kooning | 13 Comments

Remembering John Ashbery (1927-2017)

Posted on September 6, 2017 by Andrew Epstein

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, Ben Lerner, Fairfield Porter, Frank O'Hara, Harry Mathews, In Memoriam, Jack Spicer, James Merrill, Jane Freilicher, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Larry Rivers, Mark Ford, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Robert Creeley | 12 Comments

Harry Mathews (1930-2017) and the New York School of Poets

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Andrew Epstein

Very sad news for lovers of the New York School and contemporary literature: the novelist and poet Harry Mathews passed away this week at the age of 86.  Mathews is best-known as an experimental fiction writer who was one of … Continue reading →

Posted in Barbara Guest, French poetry, Harry Mathews, In Memoriam, James Schuyler, John Ashbery, Kenneth Koch, Locus Solus, Raymond Roussel, Uncategorized, William S. Burroughs | 1 Comment

Leonard Cohen (1934-2016), Kenneth Koch, and the Island of Hydra

Posted on November 11, 2016 by Andrew Epstein

                    Very sad news broke last night that the legendary songwriter, singer, and writer Leonard Cohen had passed away at 82.  Cohen began his career as a daring young Canadian poet … Continue reading →

Posted in In Memoriam, Kenneth Koch, Leonard Cohen, Music, Uncategorized | 4 Comments