Uncollected Poems, Drafts, Fragments, and Translations

by Gary Snyder

A collection of previously uncollected and unpublished works by a Pulitzer Prize-winning Beat poet Gary Snyder, written during his most productive and important years

Far from being a simple miscellany of poems, Uncollected Poems, Drafts, Fragments, and Translations contains some of Gary Snyder’s best work, written during his most productive and important years.

Many of these have been published in magazines or as broadsides, including Spel Against Demons, Dear Mr. President, Hymn to the Goddess San Francisco, Smokey the Bear Sutra, A Curse on the Men in Washington, Pentagon. The collection also includes a great number of translations from Chinese and Japanese poets. Much of this work has been gleaned from journals, manuscripts and correspondence, and never before published in any form.

Genres: Poetry

112 pages, Hardcover

First published August 16, 2022

About the author

Gary Snyder is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of Deep Ecology". Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the American Book Award. His work, in his various roles, reflects an immersion in both Buddhist spirituality and nature. He has translated literature into English from ancient Chinese and modern Japanese. For many years, Snyder was an academic at the University of California, Davis, and for a time served as a member of the California Arts Council.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

• Uncollected Poems, Drafts, Fragments and Translations by Gary Snyder

1950s- present / Started teenage "notebook scrawl" but got better and better as Snyder matured as a person and thinker.

"Smokey the Bear Sutra" (1968) was brilliant, and I really enjoyed his haikus, essays on travel in Zimbabwe, and his Chinese translations from T'ang Dynasty poets. 4.5 💫

[Craig Werner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for hard core Gary Snyder fans, of which I am definitely one. This is a miscellany with some curiostiies and a few crucial works that didn't show up in the volumes published along the way, most importantly the Smokey the Bear Sutra, a crucial piece of the Sixties environmental movement, and Snyder's translation of the Chinese classic "Long Bitter Song." The volume contains pieces that have appeared in the Library of America Snyder volume, so for most readers it's not a must have in itself. I picked it up on the road when I wasn't going to have access to the L of America volume and glad I read it, but the audience is pretty small.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice collection of Snyder's work, arranged mostly chronologically. I enjoyed his poetry of the 1960's and his astute look at society. The nature poems are simply beautiful and the translations of Chinese poetry read smoothly. Fans will be pleased with this new compilation.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems likely that Mr. Snyder, at age 92, has published his last volumes of new poetry and prose with "Danger on Peaks" and "This Present Moment." This is the 2nd book put out recently by Counterpoint that collects older works, in a respectful act of stewardship and completism of Snyder's ouvere. This volume could easily be a toss-off of ephemera and minor works, but I was surprised by the quality of each "poem, draft, fragment and translation," page after page revealing strong work from across his best years. What a gem, to get new-to-me Snyder lines, images, ideas that fit in and expand his essential rai·son d'ê·tre as a Pacific Rim writer and ecological thinker!
*No idea why not 1 but 2 French phrases crept in here but they were perfect for what I needed.... lol

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the price of admission for 'Smokey the Bear Sutra' alone.

[Bruce Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I believe there were very good reasons these poems, drafts, fragments, and translations went uncollected all those years. 2 stars only because I rounded up.