Synopses & Reviews
The work of Frank OHara (1926-66) is central to any consideration of twentieth-century American poetry.
Frank OHara Now, the first collection of essays to be dedicated to OHara in nearly two decades, asks why OHara remains so important to twenty-first-century readers and writers of poetry. For many, OHaras distinctive appeal depends on his witty depictions of urban experience, his relationship to the painters of abstract expressionism, and the exhilarating immediacy of his poetic voice. Yet these approachable qualities coexist with a demanding engagement with currents in European and American modernism.
The book includes coverage of OHara moods that have rarely been discussed in the criticism to date, including boredom, hatred, and nihilism. Throughout, there is a powerful sense that fresh readings of OHara are crucial to understanding his continuing influence, making it essential reading for scholars and students of American poetry.
Review
"A very well-conceived and well-structured book. I highly commend the conception of this collection, its careful structure, and its pertinence to the contemporary understanding of avant-garde writing." Tim Woods, Aberystwyth University
Review
"... the volume seems a model of editors' reenergizing debate on a writer who is highly pertinent to the contemporary understanding of avant-garde writing; and it is to the credit of Liverpool University Press that it perceives a need to support such debates in academic publishing.
"... the volume seems a model of editors' reenergizing debate on a writer who is highly pertinent to the contemporary understanding of avant-garde writing; and it is to the credit of Liverpool University Press that it perceives a need to support such debates in academic publishing."--Journal of American Studies
"Frank O'Hara Now: New Essays on the New York Poet, is a welcome contribution to the discipline and is the first collection of essays dedicated to O'Hara."--Years Work in English Studies
Synopsis
Frank O'Hara's writing is central to any consideration of 20th century American poetry. This collection of essays, the first to be dedicated to O'Hara in nearly two decades, asks why O'Hara remains so important to 21st century readers and writers of poetry. The book is transatlantic in tone, combining American scholarship with a wide sampling of British writers. For many, O'Hara's distinctive appeal depends on his witty depictions of urban experience, his relationship to the painters of Abstract Expressionism and the exhilarating immediacy of his poetic voice. Yet these chatty and approachable qualities coexist with a testing engagement with currents in European and American modernism. Frank O'Hara Now offers a comprehensive picture of the poet, presenting the conversational insouciance of the writing alongside its more intransigent features.
About the Author
Robert Hampson is professor of modern literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is coeditor of The New British Poetries, 1970-1990: The Scope of the Possible and Ford Madox Ford: A Re-Assessment.
Will Montgomery has held lecturing positions at Southampton University and at Queen Mary, University of London. In 2007 he took an RCUK Fellowship in Poetry and Poetics at Royal Holloway.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations
Abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Introduction - Robert Hampson and Will Montgomery
1 City 'Housing the Deliberations': New York, War, and Frank O'Hara - Geoff Ward Gesture in 1960: toward Literal situations - Lytle Shaw French Frank - Rod Mengham Distraction and Absorption on Second Avenue - Andrea Brady Stepping Out with Frank O'Hara - David Herd 'A Certain Kneeness': the Boring and the New in Frank O'Hara's Poetry - Tadeusz Pióro
2 Selves 'Where Air is Flesh': the Odes of Frank O'Hara - John Wilkinson Close Writing - Keston Sutherland Naming the seam: On Frank O'Hara's 'Hatred'- Richard Deming 'A Gasp of Laughter at Desire': Frank O'Hara's Poetics of Breath - Josh Robinson
3 The Work of Others Frank O'Hara, Alfred Leslie and the Making of The Last Clean Shirt - Daniel Kane Kites and Poses: Attitudinal interfaces in Frank O'Hara and Grace Hartigan - Redell Olsen 'In Fatal Winds': Frank O'Hara and Morton Feldman - Will Montgomery 'Footprints of a Wild Ballet': the Poem-Paintings of Frank O'Hara and Norman Bluhm - Brian Reed Memory Pieces: Collage, Memorial and the Poetics of intimacy in Joe Brainard, Jasper Johns and Frank O'Hara - Nick Selby Index of Works by Frank O'Hara
General index