if wants to be the same as is: The Essential David Bromige

by David Bromige

Drawn from 22 books of poetry published by David Bromige in his lifetime, if wants to be the same as is chronicles the career of one of contemporary poetry's most distinctive writers. Born in London, England, in 1933, raised in Canada, and a resident for most of his adult life of California, David Bromige is just as difficult to pin down in terms of his aesthetics. As a student at the University of BC in the early 1960s, Bromige met writers like Fred Wah, George Bowering, and Jamie Reid, who pointed him towards the American postmodernists, and eventually, to a scholarship to UC Berkeley. There, he became immersed in the Bay Area's explosively creative poetry scene, and came to be associated with many of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets. Bromige's own work, however, holds wide appeal and from the start resisted any sort of classification, winning praise across the literary critical spectrum. His publishers included Black Sparrow Press (Bukowski's publisher), Sun & Moon, Brick, and The Figures, and he won acclaim from the likes of Robert Hass, the Poetry Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He died in Sebastopol, California, in 2009. if wants to be the same as is presents a life's work that is, In the words of Bob Perelman, "beautiful, deeply amusing, continually surprising."

Genres: Poetry

624 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2018

About the author

Author of over 40 poetry and prose books, Bromige gave thousands of readings over the span of his career in Sonoma County, the Bay Area, throughout the US, Canada and abroad. Bromige was born in London and survived the bombings of England during World War II and eventually emigrated to Canada attending the University of British Columbia. Later at UC Berkeley he became integrally involved in the emergence of historic poetic movements, participating in key events like the 1963 Vancouver Poetry Conference and the 1964 Berkeley Poetry Conference. In his role as Sonoma State University English professor, David influenced thousands of aspiring writers and readers of poetry.

Reviews

[Tim Genetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

A more complete picture will come to my mind later. I was robbed of 31 pages from "vulnerable bundles" due to miss print, but I'm not angry. I love this book. Well worth purchasing for Indictable Suborners, a nearly perfect summarization of Images and Meaning in his work in Tahoe.