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The Olive Tree |
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The Olive Tree |
Poet Robert Creeley Reads at Fogler |
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Robert Creeley reads to a captive audience in the Special Collections department at Fogler. |
For the many people who attended the Robert Creeley reading at
Fogler Library this past April, it was an experience to remember. Not only is Creeley a nationally
known and respected poet, but he is also a great performer. In a relaxed atmosphere, those who attended witnessed
Creeley, a master of his craft, gracefully switch from reading his work off the page to talking about
poetry in general. The event became pleasantly intimate as Creeley explained the actual pains of
composition for many of his poems, then launched into informative jaunts through a catalog of past
poets who have shaped the form of literature for generations. Hearing such a respected contemporary
American poet give his views about the practice of writing poetry undoubtedly inspired the attendees.
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| Creeley’s poetry, on the whole, concerns itself with compounded emotion and human relationships. He would admit to being strongly inspired by poets such as Edward Arlington Robinson, Wallace Stevens, W. C. Williams, and Allen Ginsberg, who, of all American poets, promoted writing from what you feel as you feel it. This poetry is not Wordsworth’s "emotion recollected in moments of tranquility," but emotion felt almost as urgently as it happens. | |
| This is Creeley’s second year as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Poetry and Poetics at UMaine. Last spring he and Assistant Professor Steve Evans co-taught a course on Black Mountain College. This fall he is co-teaching a graduate literature class on Charles Olson with Assistant Professor Carla Billitteri. | |
| Senior English major Ben Priest, of Hampden, said he is grateful for the opportunity he has to be taught by Creeley. "It’s real unique. He’s kind of a living history. You can’t list a list of names of 20th century poets without Robert Creeley. It’s really amazing to have that, but you forget after awhile and he becomes a teacher," said Priest. | |
| On September 26, 2001, Creeley was awarded the prestigious Lannan Lifetime Achievement award. The award, which carries a $200,000 purse, honors writers who have made significant contributions to English-language literature. The award was established in 1989 to recognize both established and emerging writers. Candidates for the award are recommended by writers, literary scholars, publishers, and editors, and the final selections are made by the foundation’s literary committee. The Lannan Foundation has awarded 105 writers more than $5.7 million over the last 12 years. The recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Award constitute a select group. Creeley is the eighth recipient, and the fourth poet, to earn the honor. Past winners are Kay Boyle (1989-poetry), William Gaddis (1993-fiction), R.S. Thomas (1996-poetry), William H. Gass (1997-fiction), John Barth (1998-fiction), Adrienne Rich (1999-poetry), and Evan S. Connell (2000-fiction). | |
| The award is not just a recognition of his own achievements, said Creeley, but a recognition of the achievements of a generation of American poets. He added, "This award honors not only me but the character and company of poets I belong to." | |
| The 75-year-old Creeley has produced over 75 volumes of poetry and has engaged in numerous visual and audio collaborations with other artists. His most recent stand-alone volume, Life and Death, was published in 1998. His most recent volume of collected poems, Just in Time: Poems 1984-1994, was published this year. Creeley has held a chancellorship of the Academy of American Poets and is a past winner of the prestigious Bolligen Prize. | |
| UMaine English Department Chair Tony Brinkley said Creeley’s presence on campus reflects the department’s commitment to modern American poetry. The National Poetry Foundation (NPF) is an internationally known organization, based at UMaine, that publishes two journals and numerous books and hosts regular international conferences on modern poetry. NPF and the English department host the New Writing series, a continuing program that sponsors poetry readings by local and internationally recognized poets. | |
| "Bob is a wonderful person to have participating," says Brinkley, "He honors us with his presence... he has come here particularly because The University of Maine is a distinguished place in contemporary poetry and poetics and has a long-standing relationship with him and other American poets." | |
| Maine holds many strong connections for Creeley. He said that he and his wife Penelope try to spend as much time in the state as they can. Creeley’s mother’s family is from Maine and many of Creeley’s relatives live in Brewer, Bucksport, Winterport, Hampden, Belfast, Stockton Springs, and Waldoboro. Last spring he released a CD, Robert Creeley, in which he reads a selection of uncollected poems at his home in Waldoboro. | |
| A way of summing up the event would be to take some of Creeley’s own words: "Why poetry? Its materials are so constant, simple, elusive, specific. It costs so little and so much. It preoccupies a life, yet can only find one living. It is a music, a playful construct of feeling, a last word and communion..." (Selected Poems 1945-1990). | |