Larry Eigner
Encyclopedia
Laurence Joel Eigner / Larry Eigner (August 7, 1927 – February 3, 1996) was an American poet of the second half of the twentieth century and one of the principal figures of the Black Mountain School.
Eigner is one of the lesser known Black Mountain poets
, although he was influential among the next generation's Language poets
. Highlighting Eigner's influence on the "Language School" of poetry, his work often appeared in the journal L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E
, and was featured on the front page of its inaugural issue in February 1978.
In Ron Silliman
's introduction to his anthology of Language Poetry, In the American Tree (Orono, ME: National Poetry Foundation
,1986)---dedicated to Eigner--- Silliman identifies this poet as one who has ‘transcended the problematic constraints’ of Olson's speech-based projectivist poetics. Eigner has himself pointed out that his poetry originates in ‘thinking’ rather than speech.
During his lifetime, Eigner wrote dozens of books and published poems in more than 100 magazines and collections. Charles Bukowski
once called him the "greatest living poet."
. His parents believed that he was incapable of language until he taught himself to use a typewriter in his teens. As he matured into an artist, Eigner overcame many physical obstacles and limitations to achieve a mastery over the material text, producing his typescripts on a 1940 Royal manual typewriter
using only his right index finger and thumb.
Perhaps the best realization to date of the idea of "composition by field" proposed by Charles Olson
in his landmark essay "Projective Verse," the physical act of writing took tremendous effort from Eigner.
Larry Eigner authored more than 40 books, among them From the Sustaining Air (1953), Another Time in Fragments (1967), Country/Harbor/Quiet/Act/Around-selected prose
(1978), and Waters/Places/a Time (1983). His work appeared in well over a hundred magazines and collections, most notably Origin
, The Black Mountain Review, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E, and in Don Allen
's anthology The New American Poetry. In 2010, Stanford University Press published The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner, Volumes 1–4 (Vol. I: 1937–1958; Vol. II: 1958–1966; Vol. III: 1966–1978; Vol. IV: 1978–1995). The four volumes were edited by Robert Grenier
and Curtis Faville.
Larry Eigner died from pneumonia
and other complications on February 3, 1996.
Selected online publications, poems and poetry
Reviews and perspectives
Obituaries
Eigner is one of the lesser known Black Mountain poets
Black Mountain poets
The Black Mountain poets, sometimes called projectivist poets, were a group of mid 20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centered on Black Mountain College.-Background:...
, although he was influential among the next generation's Language poets
Language poets
The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
. Highlighting Eigner's influence on the "Language School" of poetry, his work often appeared in the journal L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E
L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (magazine)
L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E was an avant garde poetry magazine edited by Charles Bernstein and Bruce Andrews that ran thirteen issues from 1978 to 1981...
, and was featured on the front page of its inaugural issue in February 1978.
In Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
's introduction to his anthology of Language Poetry, In the American Tree (Orono, ME: National Poetry Foundation
National Poetry Foundation
The National Poetry Foundation is a book publisher founded in 1971 by Carroll F. Terrell who built its reputation with Burton Hatlen at the University of Maine in Orono. Today it publishes poetry by individual authors as well as both journals and scholarship devoted to Ezra Pound and poets in the...
,1986)---dedicated to Eigner--- Silliman identifies this poet as one who has ‘transcended the problematic constraints’ of Olson's speech-based projectivist poetics. Eigner has himself pointed out that his poetry originates in ‘thinking’ rather than speech.
During his lifetime, Eigner wrote dozens of books and published poems in more than 100 magazines and collections. Charles Bukowski
Charles Bukowski
Henry Charles Bukowski was an American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles...
once called him the "greatest living poet."
|
| Robert Grenier Robert Grenier (poet) Robert Grenier is a contemporary American poet associated with the Language School. He was founding co-editor of the influential magazine This... |
Life and work
Eigner was critically palsied as a result of a bungled forceps delivery at birth and he spent most of his life in bed or in a wheelchair. Eigner grew up in Swampscott, MassachusettsSwampscott, Massachusetts
Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States located 15 miles up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population is 13,787...
. His parents believed that he was incapable of language until he taught himself to use a typewriter in his teens. As he matured into an artist, Eigner overcame many physical obstacles and limitations to achieve a mastery over the material text, producing his typescripts on a 1940 Royal manual typewriter
Royal Typewriter Company
The Royal Typewriter Company was a manufacturer of typewriters headquartered in New York City with its factory in Hartford, Connecticut.-History:...
using only his right index finger and thumb.
Perhaps the best realization to date of the idea of "composition by field" proposed by Charles Olson
Charles Olson
Charles Olson , was a second generation American modernist poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York School, the Black Mountain School, the Beat poets, and the San Francisco Renaissance...
in his landmark essay "Projective Verse," the physical act of writing took tremendous effort from Eigner.
Larry Eigner authored more than 40 books, among them From the Sustaining Air (1953), Another Time in Fragments (1967), Country/Harbor/Quiet/Act/Around-selected prose
(1978), and Waters/Places/a Time (1983). His work appeared in well over a hundred magazines and collections, most notably Origin
Origin (magazine)
Origin magazine, is an American poetry magazine that was founded in 1951 by Cid Corman. The magazine provided an early platform for the work of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Gary Snyder, Theodore Enslin and other important, ground-breaking poets, who collectively created an alternative to academic...
, The Black Mountain Review, L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E, and in Don Allen
Don Allen
Donald Ray "Don" Allen is a former professional American football fullback in the American Football League. He played college football at the University of Texas, and played professionally for the Denver Broncos in 1960.-References:...
's anthology The New American Poetry. In 2010, Stanford University Press published The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner, Volumes 1–4 (Vol. I: 1937–1958; Vol. II: 1958–1966; Vol. III: 1966–1978; Vol. IV: 1978–1995). The four volumes were edited by Robert Grenier
Robert Grenier (poet)
Robert Grenier is a contemporary American poet associated with the Language School. He was founding co-editor of the influential magazine This...
and Curtis Faville.
Larry Eigner died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and other complications on February 3, 1996.
External links
Eigner exhibits, sites and homepages- Larry Eigner Author Homepage at EPC
- Larry Eigner Papers housed at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- Larry Eigner Papers housed at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
- Eigner Author Page at Stanford University Press The publisher of The Collected Poems of Larry Eigner, Volumes 1-4 offers extensive resources on Eigner's life to include reviews, descriptions, and a pdf file of editor Robert Grenier's "Introduction"
- Larry Eigner page at PENNSound include audiofiles of readings and interviews
- of the Larry Eigner Papers hosted by Online Archive of California (OAC)
Selected online publications, poems and poetry
- Air the Trees Originally published by Black Sparrow Press in 1968 and long out of print, the text is presented here on-line and complete
- “how many years / without death”: Larry Eigner's memento mori five poems from readiness / enough / depends / on, then a brief essay
- TOTTEL'S #15: Larry Eigner Issue
Reviews and perspectives
- The Same Old Things: The poetry of Larry Eigner essay on Eigner's poetry in JacketJacket (magazine)Jacket is an on-line literary periodical edited by the Australian poet John Tranter. The first issue was in October 1997.Each new number of the magazine is posted at the Web site piece by piece until the new issue is full, when the next issue starts. Past issues remain posted as well...
- Reading Eigner and readiness / enough / depends / on Poet and indefatigable blogger Ron SillimanRon SillimanRon Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
discusses a recent Eigner (posthumous) publication - Missing Larry: The Poetics of Disability in Larry Eigner This online essay makes up Chapter 5 of poet and scholar Michael DavidsonMichael Davidson (poet)Michael Davidson is an American poet.-Overview:Davidson has written eight books of poetry as well as numerous historical, cultural and critical works...
's book Concerto for the Left Hand; Disability and the Defamiliar Body, published by University of Michigan Press in 2008. - Born from the Head - Larry Eigner's 1st Published Poem in 1952 this essay is by Curtis Faville, who coedited Eigner's Collected
- ¿¿ Fidelity to Eigner’s Poem-Pages ??(no no oh no oh no no no) Here began a controversy surrounding the 2010 publication of Eigners Collected initiated by Steven Fama. Fama argues that the editors and publishers of the Collected have not shown the requisite fidelity to the spacing & visual presentation of Eigner's typescripts. In the comment section after the article, a coeditor of the Collected, Curtis Faville, defends the editorial decisions made to bring a Collected Eigner into print.
- "I have lived with the poetry of Larry Eigner for 45 years Ron Silliman's first response to the publication of Eigner's Collected. Silliman also weighs in on the publication controversy surrounding the layout of the Collected.
Obituaries