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Open World: The Collected Poems 1960 - 2000
His vision is a remarkably consistent one and the same elements recur again and again—rocks, sea, mist, gulls and the natural world. The sheer range of influences reflect the extraordinary range and depth of his reading—Rimbaud, Nietzche, and Whitman amongst many others—and it is a measure of the strength of his work that such a personal voice emerges. The book is arranged chronologically and many of the poems are appearing in English for the first time. Notated and introduced by the author, this collection for the first time presents his poetry as a coherent and cross-referenced whole.
- GenresPoetry
708 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2003
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About the author
Kenneth White
210 books28 followersKenneth White was a Scottish poet, academic and writer. He spent his formative years in Fairlie in Ayrshire.
White obtained a double first in French and German from the University of Glasgow. From 1959 until 1963, he studied at the University of Paris, where he obtained a state doctorate. He purchased Gourgounel, an old farm in the Ardèche region of France, where he could spend the summers and autumns studying and working on what would become Letters from Gourgounel.
In 1963, White returned to the University of Glasgow, where he lectured in French literature until 1967. Then, disillusioned by the contemporary British literary and poetry scene, he resigned from the University and moved to the city of Pau, near the Pyrenees, in south-west France, where he lectured in English at the University of Bordeaux. He was expelled from the University after his involvement in the student protests of May 1968. After leaving the University of Bordeaux, White remained at Pau and lectured at the University of Paris VII from 1969 until 1983, when he left the Pyrenees for the north coast of Brittany, and a new position as the chair of 20th century poetics at Paris-Sorbonne.
In 1989, White founded the International Institute of Geopoetics to further promote research into the cross-cultural, transdisciplinary field of study which he had been developing during the previous decade.
White held honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh and the Open University. He was an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy, and a visiting professor at Scotland's UHI Millennium Institute.
White obtained a double first in French and German from the University of Glasgow. From 1959 until 1963, he studied at the University of Paris, where he obtained a state doctorate. He purchased Gourgounel, an old farm in the Ardèche region of France, where he could spend the summers and autumns studying and working on what would become Letters from Gourgounel.
In 1963, White returned to the University of Glasgow, where he lectured in French literature until 1967. Then, disillusioned by the contemporary British literary and poetry scene, he resigned from the University and moved to the city of Pau, near the Pyrenees, in south-west France, where he lectured in English at the University of Bordeaux. He was expelled from the University after his involvement in the student protests of May 1968. After leaving the University of Bordeaux, White remained at Pau and lectured at the University of Paris VII from 1969 until 1983, when he left the Pyrenees for the north coast of Brittany, and a new position as the chair of 20th century poetics at Paris-Sorbonne.
In 1989, White founded the International Institute of Geopoetics to further promote research into the cross-cultural, transdisciplinary field of study which he had been developing during the previous decade.
White held honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh and the Open University. He was an honorary member of the Royal Scottish Academy, and a visiting professor at Scotland's UHI Millennium Institute.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 29, 2013
I first encountered Scottish poet Kenneth White in a book by J. Philip Newell and fell in love with his poetry, so went looking for his work on amazon.com, and found this book. His poetry is deeply connected to the world in which he lives, from the poems in "Caledonia Road Blues" to "Leaves of an Atlantic Atlas", a profound anchoring in the earth and nature. In "The Winter Lodgings in Scotstoun": "About to draw the blinds / I see over the rooftops / and the ten thousand chimneys / with the night-fog / settling down over the city / a dark, red sun."
The last poem in this fine collection reads:
Let the images
go bright and fast
and the concepts be extravagant
(wild host to errant guest)
that's the only way
to say the coast
all the irregular reality
of the rocky sea-washed West
* * *
Pelagian discourse
atlantic poetics
from first to last.
One could easily spend ones days in this collection; at 602 pages, not including the extensive notes at the end, reading it is like visiting a magical north country world with its rains, its gulls and its myths.
The last poem in this fine collection reads:
Let the images
go bright and fast
and the concepts be extravagant
(wild host to errant guest)
that's the only way
to say the coast
all the irregular reality
of the rocky sea-washed West
* * *
Pelagian discourse
atlantic poetics
from first to last.
One could easily spend ones days in this collection; at 602 pages, not including the extensive notes at the end, reading it is like visiting a magical north country world with its rains, its gulls and its myths.
July 4, 2015
Four decades worth, anchored in the landscape.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews