Diane Wakoski

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Diane Wakoski
Diane Wakowski.jpg
BornAugust 3, 1937
Whittier, California, U.S.
OccupationPoet, essayist
GenreNew American Poetry

Diane Wakoski (born August 3, 1937) is an American poet. Wakoski is primarily associated with the deep image poets, as well as the confessional and Beat poets of the 1960s. [1] She received considerable attention in the 1980s for controversial comments linking New Formalism with Reaganism.[ citation needed ]

Contents

Life and work

Wakoski was born in Whittier, California. She studied at the University of California, Berkeley where she graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her time at this university she participated in Thom Gunn's poetry workshops. It was there that she first read many of the modernist poets who would influence her writing style. [2] Her early writings were considered part of the deep image movement that also included the works of Jerome Rothenberg, Robert Kelly, and Clayton Eshleman, among others. She also cites William Carlos Williams, Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski as influences. Her poetry career began in New York City, where she moved with La Monte Young in 1960. She remained a resident of New York City until 1973. [3] Her later work is more personal and conversational in the Williams mode. Wakoski is married to the photographer Robert Turney, and is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. [4] [5]

Wakoski's literary works have been recognized and highlighted at Michigan State University in their Michigan Writers Series. [6]

Her work has been published in more than twenty collections and many slim volumes of poetry. Her selected poems, Emerald Ice, won the William Carlos Williams Prize from the Poetry Society of America in 1989. She is best known for a series of poems collectively known as The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems. [1] [7] Many of her books have been published in fine editions by Black Sparrow Press. In 2022, Black Sparrow Press published an expanded edition of The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems titled Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch: The Complete Motorcycle Betrayal Poems. The new hardcover edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth A.I. Powell, additional poems, and an afterword by Wakoski. [8]

Awards

Bibliography

Poetry

Collections

  • Coins & Coffins. Hawk's Well Press. 1962.
  • Discrepancies and Apparitions . Doubleday. 1966.
  • The George Washington Poems. Riverrun Press. 1967.
  • Inside the Blood Factory . Doubleday. 1968.
  • Greed: Parts 1 & 2. Black Sparrow Press. 1968.
  • Greed: Parts 3 & 4. Black Sparrow Press. 1969.
  • The Magellanic Clouds . Black Sparrow Press. 1970.
  • Greed: Parts 5 & 7. Black Sparrow Press. 1971.
  • The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems . Simon and Schuster. 1971. ISBN   9780671210113.
  • Smudging. Black Sparrow Press. 1972.
  • Greed: Parts 8, 9, & 11. Black Sparrow Press. 1973.
  • Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch. Black Sparrow Press. 1973. ISBN   978-0-87685-180-7.
  • Trilogy: Coins & Coffins; Discrepancies and Apparitions; The George Washington Poems. Doubleday. 1974. ISBN   978-0-385-08910-4.
  • The Fable of the Lion and the Scorpion. Pentagram Press. 1975.
  • Virtuoso Literature for Two and Four Hands. Doubleday. 1975. ISBN   978-0-385-00532-6.
  • Waiting for the King of Spain . Black Sparrow Press. 1976. ISBN   978-0-87685-293-4.
  • The Man Who Shook Hands . Doubleday. 1978. ISBN   978-0-385-13407-1.
  • Trophies. Black Sparrow Press. 1979.
  • Cap of Darkness . Black Sparrow Press. 1980. ISBN   978-0-87685-455-6.
  • The Magician's Feastletters . Black Sparrow Press. 1982.
  • The Collected Greed: Parts 1-13 . Black Sparrow Press. 1984. ISBN   978-0-87685-464-8.
  • Why My Mother Likes Liberace: A Musical Selection. SUN/gemini Press. 1985.
  • The Rings of Saturn . Black Sparrow Press. 1986. ISBN   978-0-87685-675-8.
  • Emerald Ice: Selected Poems 1962-1987 . Black Sparrow Press. 1988. ISBN   978-0-87685-746-5.
  • Medea the Sorceress. Black Sparrow Press. 1991. ISBN   978-0876858103
  • Jason the Sailor. Black Sparrow Press. 1993. ISBN   978-0-87685-902-5.
  • The Emerald City of Las Vegas. Black Sparrow Press. 1995. ISBN   978-0-87685-971-1.
  • Argonaut Rose. Black Sparrow Press. 1998. ISBN   978-1-57423-046-8.
  • The Butcher's Apron: New & Selected Poems. Black Sparrow Press. 2000. ISBN   978-1-57423-144-1.
  • The Diamond Dog. Anhinga Press. 2010. ISBN   978-1934695159
  • Bay of Angels. Anhinga Press. 2013. ISBN   978-1934695326
  • Lady of Light. Anhinga Press. 2018. ISBN   978-1934695586
  • Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch: The Complete Motorcycle Betrayal Poems. Black Sparrow Press. 2022. ISBN   978-1-57423-255-4.


List of poems

TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collected
"Oysters with lemon in Montmartre"2011Wakoski, Diane (Spring 2011). "Oysters with lemon in Montmartre". Fifth Wednesday Journal.Henderson, Bill, ed. (2013). The Pushcart Prize XXXVII : best of the small presses 2013. Pushcart Press. pp. 469–470.

Non-fiction

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References

  1. 1 2 "Poetry with Diane Wakoski & the Sapphos". (SCENE) Metrospace. 22 November 2008. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. ↑ "Diane Wakoski" . Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Poetry Foundation. "Poet Photos". Harriet: The Blog. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.lib.msu.edu/services/spec_coll/writer/MWCDianeWakoski.html%5B‍%5D
  5. ↑ "Michigan Writers Collection - Diane Wakoski". Archived from the original on 2010-02-12. Retrieved 2009-06-18.
  6. ↑ "Michigan Writers Series". Michigan State University Libraries. Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
  7. ↑ "Diane Wakoski" . Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  8. ↑ Foundation, Poetry (2024-02-28). "Diane Wakoski Rides Again by Daniel Nester". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2024-02-28.

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