The Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry - by Blake Hobby & Alessandro Porco & Joseph Bathanti

About the Book

"Founded in 1933 near Asheville, North Carolina, Black Mountain College fostered experimentation and interdisciplinary learning, placing the arts, including poetry, at the heart of its curriculum. As such, the college was home to and served as inspiration for many modern and postmodern American poets. Some of them, including Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Edward Dorn, appeared in Donald Allen's groundbreaking New American Poetry anthology published in 1960, later becoming part of the American poetry canon. However, many from the Black Mountain College school of writers have been overlooked. The Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry features over fifty poets selected with an expansive critical lens, including writers not typically seen as poets, such as composer John Cage, architect Buckminster Fuller, and visual artist Josef Albers. Many years in the making, this book paints the clearest picture of the poetry and poets of Black Mountain College yet"--

Book Synopsis

Founded in 1933 near Asheville, North Carolina, Black Mountain College fostered experimentation and interdisciplinary learning, placing the arts at the heart of its curriculum. As such, the college was home to and served as inspiration for many modern and postmodern American poets. Some of them, including Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Denise Levertov, appeared in Donald Allen's groundbreaking New American Poetry anthology published in 1960, later becoming part of the American poetry canon. However, many writers affiliated with Black Mountain College have been overlooked. The Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry features over fifty poets selected with an expansive historical and critical lens, including those not typically considered as poets, such as composer John Cage, architect Buckminster Fuller, and visual artist Josef Albers. Many years in the making, this book presents the clearest picture of the poetry and poetics of Black Mountain College yet.

Review Quotes

"The Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry is exemplary in the breadth of its selection, an impressive showcase of unity in diversity and the quality of the introductory notes that, moreover, present the immense advantage not to reproduce the traditional distinction between the College's stars and the others."--Leonardo

"An expansive portrait, one larger than what had previously been presented around the poetries, poetics, people and publications around Black Mountain College. . . . [A]n impressive, expansive and important collection, one with layers of curiosity and research, enough that one could easily get lost within."--Rob McLennan, award-winning author and critic

"Finally, we have the Black Mountain poets--a diverse community of potters, painters, scientists, homemakers, scholars, and prose writers--whose poems pay tribute to the unique learning community that nurtured the creative spirit of its fortunate inhabitants. Hobby, Porco, and Bathanti have opened the field and shuffled the deck. I eagerly await the new thinking that inevitably will follow." --Mary Emma Harris, author of The Arts at Black Mountain College

"Like the experimental college whose poetic heritage it documents, this collection is a marvel, literally the best presentation of any literary phenomenon we have had in the United States. Nothing half so meticulous exists for the Beats, the New York School, the Spicer Circle, or the San Francisco Renaissance. Not just the famous names, but short-term faculty, students, affiliates, and visitors as well. This book raises the bar for everyone."--Ron Silliman, author of The Alphabet

"The anthology works wonders by orienting the reader in this experimental, hands-on style of learning that was led in the early years by the Bauhaus-educated artists Josef and Anni Albers."--Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"This landmark compendium of verse composed by students, professors, and visiting faculty of Black Mountain College presents a dazzling survey of the college's wide-ranging poetic output, as influential as it was experimental."--Western North Carolina Magazine

"This long-awaited Anthology of Black Mountain College Poetry expands our awareness of what constitutes that seminal time and place. Here we get essential takes: Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, John Wieners, Paul Blackburn--plus others farther afield: Cage, Fuller, Goodman, Eigner, Levertov--and Josef Albers's elegant epigrams. Kudos to Editors Hobby, Porco, and Bathanti for deepening the field. Copious annotation adds to the pleasurable dive."--Vincent Katz, editor of Black Mountain College: Experiment in Art

"Well thought-out, the selections in this anthology beautifully introduce readers to this special college and to poets deserving of high praise and appreciation."--Library Journal, starred review

About the Author

Blake Hobby is former executive editor of Black Mountain College Studies. Joseph Bathanti is McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor of Interdisciplinary Education at Appalachian State University. Alessandro Porco is associate professor of English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.