Dale Smith, on Robert Duncan and Charles Olson: February 8, 2018

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The Poetry Center presents Dale M. Smith speaking on Robert Duncan and Charles Olson, reading briefly from his own poetry, and in conversation. Smith presents two pieces drawing on his research into the relationship between poets Duncan and Olson, as involved in his work on two books: An Open Map: The Correspondence Between Robert Duncan and Charles Olson and Imagining Persons: Robert Duncan's Lectures on Charles Olson, both volumes co-edited by Smith and the late Robert J. Bertholf (University of Mexico Press, 2017). Smith also reads briefly from his recent book Sons (Knife Fork Book, 2017). The reading is followed by a conversation with the audience.

Originally Recorded By
DocFilm Institute
Location
The Poetry Center, SFSU
Date
02/08/2018
Total Run Time
01:14:27
Contributor
Steve Dickison, Susan Thackrey, Kevin Killian
Rights
©© American Poetry Archives. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. For all other uses please email poetry@sfsu.edu
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Dale Smith (00:49:03)

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After Steve Dickison's introduction, Dale Smith remarks on Robert Duncan lecturing on Charles Olson and asks Olson's question, "How do you bring love into the world in writing?" He then presents a talk on Duncan and Olson entitled "The Circle of the Beehive," followed by a piece entitled "How to speak into the noise...," in response to Amiri Baraka's book In Our Terribleness (Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1970). Smith discusses making art in North America in "volatile conditions." He reads two excerpts of letters from Olson to Duncan: "Dear Duncan...," and "Robert, I pulled away fast...," and remarks on an essay by Duncan in response to Olson's correspondence: "Against Wisdom as Such." Smith ends by reading his own poetry from his book Sons, which he says he wrote to answer what he thinks it means to be a poet: "Spiny lizard on yucca...," "Soon to grow...," "Show them...," "No bears, no lions...," "We look...," "No answers...," "It's not enough...," "We ran around...," "And what is it...," "How much of you...," "What is it you want...," "Show me...," "Will there be fish to eat...," "Imagine him...," "One day nothing will happen...."

Conversation (00:21:15)

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Dale Smith takes questions from the audience. Steve Dickison asks Smith how the word "community" is inadequate to describe the connections among poets, and Smith remarks that community may appear more closed off, and that it is more about affinity. After a remark by Susan Thackrey, Kevin Killian comments on the coincidence of Olson's and Duncan's books coming out at the same time as Donald Allen's anthology The New American Poetry (Grove Press, 1960). After discussing the publication history of Allen's anthology and how publishing has changed since the 1980s and 1990s, Smith advises young poets to publish themselves by starting small magazines and circulating their work via other means that are accessible to them. He addresses a set of questions regarding how poets' concerns today relate, or not, to those of the past. Smith shares a humorous anecdote about the story behind the name of Skanky Possum Press, noting that he wanted a name that sounded non-literary. He remarks on a connection brought up by a student regarding Duncan and Olson's discussion of "wisdom" with a remark related to Langston Hughes. He ends by talking about vulnerability in writing, and encouraging it, "because the poem is more important than you."

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