A Helen Adam Reader

by Helen Adam (Editor), Kristin Prevallet (Editor)

Poetry. Fiction. Drama. (DVD not included in paperback edition.) A HELEN ADAM READER, edited, with Notes and an Introduction by Kristen Prevallet, is a voluminous collection of Adam's life and work. Prevallet's introduction offers an in-depth biography of Adam, chronicling her work in relation to political and personal events. Movements in the late fifties and early sixties, Black Mountain, the San Francisco Renaissance, the Beat Generation, and the New York School, both influenced and were influenced by Adam's work. She did not adhere closely to one particular form; she invented her own style, experimenting with ballads for which she is most remembered. Adam is increasingly important to poetry's history and evolution. "This magnanimous scholarly compendium of the work and life of Helen Adam is a recovery and reclamation project of major importance, giving weight and measure to an iconic and unique figure."—Anne Waldman

Genres: Poetry

492 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2007

About the author

Helen Douglas Adam was a Scottish journalist and author. After moving to London, she worked as a journalist for the Weekly Scotsman. At the outbreak of the Second World War she was stranded in Connecticut, where she had been attending a wedding. She later moved to San Francisco, where she became a muse to the beat generation of the 1950s and 60s.

Her dark, timeless tales of doomed love and emotional revenge are hauntingly crafted into traditional ballad forms. Thanks to publication in magazines and anthologies and personal readings at universities, theatres and poetry centres, she had an enthusiastic following in the USA. Her Selected Poems and Ballads were published in 1974.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read aloud.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treasure of a book this is- wonderfully comprehensive look at this weird and wonderful poet.