Alden Marin
Encyclopedia
Alden Marin is a poet and painter based in Pacific Palisades, California. He has written more than a dozen books, including Let's Face It!: Selected Poems 1974-2009.
, has been a great influence on Marin's work, as have trips taken in his youth to countries like France
, Switzerland
, Greece
and India
. He has worked as wine distributor since the 1980s.
(class of '78). He worked at the university's literary journal Sequoia, edited by fellow student Dana Gioia
, who later served as a chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
. Among his professors were notable poets Timothy Steele
, Alan Shapiro
, and Donald Davie
. Marin focused his studies on the works of Gary Snyder
, Richard Brautigan
, and Ezra Pound
.
The colloquial style of Marin's poetry is easily accessible—and, at the same time, spontaneous and visceral. His poems often connect daily minutiae to existential dilemmas.
In books like Little Nuts (Brass Tacks Press
, 2008), he champions a new form of short poem that seems to forgo all poetic devices:
among others.
Marin’s image entitled "Riven Rock" is now a wine label for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wine being sold under a private label of the same name at the grocery chain Whole Foods Market
.
Marin's apartment has been dubbed "The Palisades Art House" because of the thousands of paintings that crowd its walls, shelves, and floor. He hosts private tours to showcase his apartment as an art piece in itself.
Early life
Marin's family moved to Malibu in the 1920s, becoming one of the first residents of the new Malibu Movie Colony. A sensitivity to the beauty of nature, learned while hiking and surfing in this rural suburb of Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, has been a great influence on Marin's work, as have trips taken in his youth to countries like France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. He has worked as wine distributor since the 1980s.
Poetry
Marin majored in American Studies, with a minor in Creative Writing/Poetry and French, at Stanford UniversityStanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
(class of '78). He worked at the university's literary journal Sequoia, edited by fellow student Dana Gioia
Dana Gioia
-Poetry:It was as a poet that Gioia first began to attract widespread attention in the early 1980s, with frequent appearances in The Hudson Review, Poetry, and The New Yorker. In the same period, he published a number of essays and book reviews...
, who later served as a chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
. Among his professors were notable poets Timothy Steele
Timothy Steele
Timothy Steele is an American poet and academic. Born in Burlington, Vermont, in 1948, he is a professor of English at California State University, Los Angeles. Some of Steele's early verse appeared in X. J. Kennedy's Counter/Measures in the early seventies. He went on to become a figure in the...
, Alan Shapiro
Alan Shapiro
Alan Shapiro is an American poet and professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the author of nine poetry books, including Tantalus in Love, Song and Dance, and The Dead Alive and Busy. He received the Kingsley Tufts Award and the Los Angeles...
, and Donald Davie
Donald Davie
Donald Alfred Davie was an English Movement poet, and literary critic. His poems in general are philosophical and abstract, but often evoke various landscapes.-Biography:...
. Marin focused his studies on the works of Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
, Richard Brautigan
Richard Brautigan
Richard Gary Brautigan was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. His work often employs black comedy, parody, and satire. He is best known for his 1967 novel Trout Fishing in America.- Early life :...
, and Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
.
The colloquial style of Marin's poetry is easily accessible—and, at the same time, spontaneous and visceral. His poems often connect daily minutiae to existential dilemmas.
In books like Little Nuts (Brass Tacks Press
Brass Tacks Press
Brass Tacks Press, based in Los Angeles, has published over 50 books of poetry, prose, and comics since it was founded in 2002 by poets Robert Campbell, Pablo Capra, and Richard McDowell....
, 2008), he champions a new form of short poem that seems to forgo all poetic devices:
Painting
Using traditional canvases—as well as the fronts of postcards, hotel stationery and small pieces of paper—Marin paints with acrylic pens to produce contemporary, multi-colored abstracts, portraits, and landscapes. His work has been shown in galleries, and collected by celebrity inventor Ron PopeilRon Popeil
Ronald M. Popeil is an American inventor and marketing personality, best known for his direct response marketing company Ronco...
among others.
Marin’s image entitled "Riven Rock" is now a wine label for Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wine being sold under a private label of the same name at the grocery chain Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods Market is a foods supermarket chain based in Austin, Texas which emphasizes "natural and organic products." The company has been ranked among the most socially responsible businesses and placed third on the U.S...
.
Marin's apartment has been dubbed "The Palisades Art House" because of the thousands of paintings that crowd its walls, shelves, and floor. He hosts private tours to showcase his apartment as an art piece in itself.
Books
- Paddling to Misto (2005)
- Counting to 1000 (2005)
- Asparagus on Toast (2005)
- Illusions of Sweetness (2005)
- Four Decades (2006)
- Days without Hours (2006)
- Write Everything (2007)
- Garden Variety Self-Obsession (2007)
- Herzog's Pig (2008)
- Knee Driving (2008)
- Mittellegi (2008)
- Little Nuts (2008)
- Pennies in the Parking Meter (2009)
- Poems for Eric and the Wooden Lady (2009)
- Let's Face It!: Selected Poems 1974-2009 (2009)
- Everybody's in Love (2009)