Reading Duncan Reading

In Reading Duncan Reading, thirteen scholars and poets examine, first, what and how the American poet Robert Duncan read and, perforce, what and how he wrote. Harold Bloom wrote of the searing anxiety of influence writers experience as they grapple with the burden of being original, but for Duncan this was another matter altogether. Indeed, according to Stephen Collis, No other poet has so openly expressed his admiration for and gratitude toward his predecessors. Part one emphasises Duncans acts of reading, tracing a variety of his derivationsincluding Sarah Ehlerss demonstration of how Milton shaped Duncans early poetic aspirations, Siobhn Scarrys unveiling of the many sources (including translation and correspondence) drawn into a single Duncan poem, and Clment Oudarts exploration of Duncans use of foreign words to fashion a language to which no one is native. In part two, the volume turns to examinations of poets who can be seen to in some way derive from Duncanand so in turn reveals another angle of Duncans derivative poetics. J. P. Craig traces Nathaniel MacKeys use of Duncans would-be shaman, Catherine Martin sees Duncans influence in Susan Howes development of a poetics where the twin concepts of trespass and permission hold comparable sway, and Ross Hair explores poet Ronald Johnsons reading to steal. These and other essays collected here trace paths of poetic affiliation and affinity and hold them up as provocative possibilities in Duncans own inexhaustible work. Contributors: J. P. Craig, Sarah E. Ehlers, George Fragopoulos, Stephen Fredman, Ross Hair, Catherine Martin, Peter O'Leary, Clemnt Oudart, Siobhn Scarry, Jeffrey Twitchell-Waas, Andy Weaver