The Fire: Collected Essays of Robin Blaser

by Robin Blaser, Miriam Nichols (Editor)

Spanning four decades of meditation on the avant-garde in poetry, art, and philosophy, the essays collected in The Fire reveal Robin Blaser's strikingly fresh perspective on "New American" poets, deconstructive philosophies, current events, and the state of humanities now. The essays, gathered in one volume for the first time, include commentaries on Jack Spicer, Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Mary Butts, George Bowering, Louis Dudek, Christos Dikeakos, and J. S. Bach.

Blaser emerged from the "Berkeley Renaissance" of the 1940s and 1950s having studied under legendary medieval scholar Ernst Kantorowicz and having been a major participant in the burgeoning literary scene. His response to the cultural and political events of his time has been to construct a poetic voice that offers a singular perspective on a shareable world—and to pose that voice alongside others as a source of countermemory and potential agency. Conceived as conversations, these essays brilliantly reflect that ethos as they re-read the cultural events of the past fifty years.

Genres: Poetry

535 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 2006

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think about writing critically, Blaser is my model. He articulates many of my most deeply held questions and responds speculatively to these queries in a way that I find deeply engaging and satisfying.

[Samuel]

YES!

PENN SOUND has many Robin Blaser readings and lectures at:

http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/...

[Carrie]

was on page 40.

[Douglas Messerli · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can read my essay on the book at http://greeninteger.blogspot.com