Charles Olson, Part 1 — USA: Poetry, NET Outtakes Series: March 12 & 13, 1966

The Poetry Center presents Charles Olson, speaking of his life and work and reading from poems included in The Distances (Grove Press, 1960) and in his late extended work, The Maximus Poems: at the time he was at work on Book III. The footage was filmed March 12 & 13, 1966, at Olson's home in Gloucester, Massachusetts, with Olson responding to questions from poet and filmmaker Richard O. Moore.

The "Second Edition" NET Outtakes Series programs were made in 1978 by The Poetry Center's American Poetry Archives staff. Assembled from unused 16-millimeter black and white film footage shot during production of the original 15-minute USA: Poetry television programs (produced in 1965–66 for National Educational Television by Richard O. Moore of the film unit of KQED-TV, San Francisco), the outtakes footage is arranged here in the original shooting sequence. Note, some silent footage appears among the outtakes. Funding for The Poetry Center's NET Outtakes Series was provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. 

NOTE: The Charles Olson Outtakes program continues in Part 2, with Olson and Edward Dorn speaking outside the Berkeley Poetry Conference, July 24, 1965, plus extensive silent B-roll footage shot in Gloucester during the KQED film crew's March 1966 visit.