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Ambiguous Dancers of Fame: Collected Poems, 1945-1986
This second volume of James Schevill's collected poems is a companion to his remarkable ongoing sequence of poems, The American Fantasies , published by Swallow in 1983. This collection extends the scope of the poet's concern with American power and influences to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In these poems, Schevill reveals again the range of his lyrical and dramatic powers. As M.I. Rosenthal has written, Schevill has “a scholar's appetite for genuine knowledge, a playwright's feeling for vigorous detail illuminating personalities and situation, and a lyric poet's gift for catching emotional essences and nuances.”
Of The American Fantasies , Richard Eberhart has said that the collection “...has a Rushmore largeness, a compendious nature, straightforward presentations covering continent-cast experiences over a long period of time...formidable richness of true feelings in monumental unity of tone and strength...This book has a dazzling number of magnificent poems.”
Ambiguous Dancers of Fame restores to print most of Schevill's significant work that has been out of print and, combined with The American Fantasies , represents his life's work in poetry. Together, the two books illustrate James Schevill's lifelong pursuit of the unique problems of American identity.
Of The American Fantasies , Richard Eberhart has said that the collection “...has a Rushmore largeness, a compendious nature, straightforward presentations covering continent-cast experiences over a long period of time...formidable richness of true feelings in monumental unity of tone and strength...This book has a dazzling number of magnificent poems.”
Ambiguous Dancers of Fame restores to print most of Schevill's significant work that has been out of print and, combined with The American Fantasies , represents his life's work in poetry. Together, the two books illustrate James Schevill's lifelong pursuit of the unique problems of American identity.
350 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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About the author
James Schevill
40 booksJames Erwin Schevill was an American poet, critic, playwright and professor at San Francisco State University and Brown University, and the recipient of Guggenheim and Ford Foundation fellowships. He wrote more than 10 volumes of poetry, 30 plays, many essays, a novel, and biographies of Bern Porter and Sherwood Anderson. His plays include Lovecraft's Follies (1971) based on the life and work of Providence horror writer H.P. Lovecraft.
He was visiting Freiburg, Germany in 1938 when the Kristallnacht riots occurred, and the experience led him into writing and poetry.
In a 1950 letter to Robert Sproul, the president of the University of California, he refused to sign a loyalty oath, at the time a prerequisite to becoming an instructor at the UC Berkeley. Instead he went on to teach at California College of Arts and Crafts and San Francisco State University. In 1981 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art. He died in Berkeley, California in January 2009.
He was visiting Freiburg, Germany in 1938 when the Kristallnacht riots occurred, and the experience led him into writing and poetry.
In a 1950 letter to Robert Sproul, the president of the University of California, he refused to sign a loyalty oath, at the time a prerequisite to becoming an instructor at the UC Berkeley. Instead he went on to teach at California College of Arts and Crafts and San Francisco State University. In 1981 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Drama and Performance Art. He died in Berkeley, California in January 2009.
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