Eyewitness: from Black Mountain to White Rabbit

by Carolyn Dunn, Kevin Killian

"She is the only living witness to the so-called 'Boston Renaissance,' the little band of poets, including Steve Jonas and John Wieners, that revitalized New England poetry in the years of the Korean War. She attended Black Mountain College in its final days, when Olson and Creeley and Rumaker were there, when jazz ruled, though bread was scarce. Jack Spicer brought her and Joe Dunn, her then-husband, to San Francisco to start the White Rabbit Press and to hold poetry meetings in their apartment. For decades she has been the mystery woman of the Spicer-Duncan circle, vividly remembered, but misunderstood. I actually thought she must be dead, for she disappeared from literary history circa 1960, and I was delighted when she turned up, after fifty-five years 'away,' and now in her eighties, very much alive and, as you will see, with a totally new perspective on the scenes she partook in. This is Carolyn Dunn’s first interview of any kind, and it became so extended we decided to publish it as a little book. Memoirs by women of the 'New American' generation are scarcer than hen’s teeth, and this woman’s account of a life lived for art, music and love will educate and delight and engross you from Black Mountain…. to White Rabbit… to today." —Kevin Killian

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[D.A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the true devotee of the history and aesthetic Black Mountain College in North Carolina, this volume adds a genuinely human and likable voice, Carolyn Dunn, whose husband Joe helped form the nucleus of a community of poets associated with that pivotal artistic crossroads. Kevin Killian, who co-wrote "Poet Be Like God," the seminal biography of American poet Jack Spicer, interviewed Dunn about her former husband who banded together with Spicer, John Weiners, Stephen Jonas and, in San Francisco, Joanne Kyger, to create a necessary shift in American poetry, which had frankly grown sort of sterile and academic after the electric days of Modernism. Dunn was one of many poets in Spicer's sphere of influence who challenged the conventional forms and who brought an improvisational, playful newness to an art form sagging under the weight of conformity. It is gratifying to have more information on this poet, though I truly feel that the best outcome of the long interview would have been to have it incorporated into the Spicer biography. On its own, it is less of a book and more of a long article. Still, there are gems. Here's my favorite question and response from this volume:

Kevin Killian: Weren't Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac in San Francisco while you were there? Did they come to the meetings at your house?

Carolyn Dunn: Yes, they were in and out of San Francisco at that time and no, they didn't come to the meetings; they weren't invited! On the rare occasion that either one of their names came up it was greeted with a shrug, and that was all. None of our crowd gave them any credibility, and they were considered to be nothing more than a couple of publicity-hungry amateurs. Perhaps later on they might have been accepted, but not during my period with the Spicer gang.

So there you have it. Tidbits of gossip and smatterings of realness ("I hate to burst your bubble, but your idyllic image of a pastoral picnic in the park couldn't be further from the truth!") in a sometimes delightful conversation, but not necessarily a peg to hang your research hat on. Dunn herself admits "I can only tell you about my own experiences. Those early years with all these creative people were unforgettable, even though the details escape me." One wishes that Killian and his Spicer co-biographer Lew Ellingham would have gotten in touch with Carolyn Dunn sooner, so that her memories ("warm and fuzzy" as they sometimes are) could have been distilled and incorporated into "Poet Be Like God." Nevertheless, a quick and enjoyable read.