Carla Harryman
Encyclopedia
Carla Harryman is an American poet
, essayist, and playwright
often associated with the Language poets
. She teaches Creative Writing
at Eastern Michigan University
and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery
School of the Arts at Bard College
. She is married to the poet Barrett Watten
.
Born in Orange, California
, Harryman studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara
and San Francisco State University
. In 1979, she co-founded the San Francisco Poets Theater, which staged numerous experimental plays, including her Third Man and other plays.
Harryman has received grants and awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
, Fund for Poetry, Opera America
Next Stage Grant (with composer Erling Wold
), Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and the NEA
Consortium Playwrights Commission, among others.
Harryman's work is known for genre-disrupting poetry, performance and prose. In addition to her work and her interdisciplinary collaborations, she has written numerous experimental essays and writings about contemporary innovative women’s writing and experimental language-centered performance and co-edited a book devoted to the work of Kathy Acker
.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, essayist, and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
often associated with the Language poets
Language poets
The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
. She teaches Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...
and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery
Milton Avery
Milton Avery was an American modern painter. Born in Altmar, New York, he moved to Connecticut in 1898 and later to New York City.-Biography:...
School of the Arts at Bard College
Bard College
Bard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
. She is married to the poet Barrett Watten
Barrett Watten
Barrett Watten is an American poet, editor, and educator often associated with the Language poets.Since 1994, Watten has taught modernism and cultural studies at Wayne State University in Detroit...
.
Born in Orange, California
Orange, California
Southern California is well-known for year-round pleasant weather: - On average, the warmest month is August. - The highest recorded temperature was in 1985. - On average, the coolest month is December. - The lowest recorded temperature was in 1950...
, Harryman studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
and San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
. In 1979, she co-founded the San Francisco Poets Theater, which staged numerous experimental plays, including her Third Man and other plays.
Harryman has received grants and awards from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns , John Cage, Elaine de Kooning and others in 1963. FCA offers financial support and recognition to contemporary...
, Fund for Poetry, Opera America
Opera America
Opera America, officially OPERA America, is a service organization in North America promoting the creation, presentation, and enjoyment of opera...
Next Stage Grant (with composer Erling Wold
Erling Wold
Erling Wold is a San Francisco based composer of opera and contemporary classical music. He is best known for his later chamber operas, especially A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil and his early experiments as a microtonalist...
), Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and the NEA
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...
Consortium Playwrights Commission, among others.
Harryman's work is known for genre-disrupting poetry, performance and prose. In addition to her work and her interdisciplinary collaborations, she has written numerous experimental essays and writings about contemporary innovative women’s writing and experimental language-centered performance and co-edited a book devoted to the work of Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker
Kathy Acker was an American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer. She was strongly influenced by the Black Mountain School, William S...
.
Publications
- Percentage, 1979, Tuumba (Berkeley, CA)
- Under the Bridge, 1980, This Press (Berkeley, CA)
- Property, 1982, Tuumba (Berkeley, CA)
- The Middle, 1983, Gaz Press (San Francisco, CA)
- Vice, 1986, Potes and Poets (Hartford, CT)
- Animal Instincts: Prose, Plays, Essays, 1989, This Press (Berkeley, CA)
- In the Mode of, 1992, Zasterle (Tenerife, Spain)
- Memory Play, 1994, O Books (Oakland, CA)
- There Never Was a Rose Without a Thorn, 1995, City Lights (San Francisco, CA)
- The Words: After Carl Sandburg's Rootabaga Stories and Jean-Paul Sartre, 1994, O Books (Oakland, CA)
- Gardener of Stars, 2001, Atelos (Berkeley, CA)
- Baby, 2005, Adventures in Poetry (New York, NY)
- Tourjours L’epine Est Sous La Rose, 2006, Ikko (Paris, France) Translation of There Never Was a Rose Without a Thorn. Translated by Martin Richet
- Open Box (Improvisations), 2007, Belladonna BooksBelladonna BooksBelladonna Books began as a project of Belladonna*/Belladonna Series in 2000. David Kirschenbaum, a frequent attendee to the early Belladonna Reading Series, and the publisher of Boog Literature, offered to co-publish commemorative literature for each monthly event...
, (Brooklyn, NY) - Lust for Life: On the Writing of Kathy AckerKathy AckerKathy Acker was an American experimental novelist, punk poet, playwright, essayist, postmodernist and sex-positive feminist writer. She was strongly influenced by the Black Mountain School, William S...
, 2006, Verso (New York, NY and London, England): co-edited with Amy Scholder and Avital RonellAvital RonellAvital Ronell is a Professor of Philosophy at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee and a Professor of German, comparative literature, and English at New York University, where she co-directs the Research in Trauma and Violence project...
.