Helen Adam
Encyclopedia
Helen Adam was a Scottish poet, collagist and photographer who was an active participant in The San Francisco Renaissance
, a literary movement contemporaneous to the Beat Generation
that occurred in San Francisco during the 1950s and 1960s. Though often associated with the Beat poets, she would more accurately be considered one of the predecessors of the Beat Generation.
She was 83 when she died.
genre
of light verse about fairies
and other pastoral
subjects. Her early books were well known and widely reviewed; the composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford set selections from The Elfin Pedlar to orchestral music, and performed them widely.
Adam attended Edinburgh University for two years. After leaving Edinburgh University she worked as a journalist
in London
. In 1939 she moved to the United States and eventually moved to San Francisco. In San Francisco she worked with such influential poets as Allen Ginsberg
and Robert Duncan
.
One of the oldest of the poets in the San Francisco Renaissance, she worked closely with Duncan, Jess
, Madeline Gleason
, and Jack Spicer
, among others. She also encouraged many of the Beat poets as they began to explore performance and writing as an art form. While her continued use of the ballad
form “mystified” many of the poets more associated with the movement, the "magic and knowledge she brought to San Francisco startled the young wild sages of its Renaissance with a special kind of madness."
Helen Adam and her sister collaborated on a ballad opera entitled San Francisco's Burning which was published in 1963 and reissued in 1985 with score by Al Carmines and drawings by Jess. A collection of her poems was collected in a work titled Selected Poems and Ballads. She was one of only four women whose work was included in Donald Allen
's landmark anthology, The New American Poetry 1945-1960
(1960). Adam also acted in two films: Death and Our Corpses Speak, both of which were filmed in Germany. Her life was a subject of a documentary film directed by
experimental film maker Rosa von Praunheim
.
Her papers are held at University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
, and Kent State University
.
San Francisco Renaissance
The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range...
, a literary movement contemporaneous to the Beat Generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
that occurred in San Francisco during the 1950s and 1960s. Though often associated with the Beat poets, she would more accurately be considered one of the predecessors of the Beat Generation.
She was 83 when she died.
Life
Adam was a precocious poet; her first book, The Elfin Pedlar, was published in 1923, when the poet was fourteen years old. That book was in the VictorianVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
genre
Literary genre
A literary genre is a category of literary composition. Genres may be determined by literary technique, tone, content, or even length. Genre should not be confused with age category, by which literature may be classified as either adult, young-adult, or children's. They also must not be confused...
of light verse about fairies
Fairy
A fairy is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, a form of spirit, often described as metaphysical, supernatural or preternatural.Fairies resemble various beings of other mythologies, though even folklore that uses the term...
and other pastoral
Pastoral
The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...
subjects. Her early books were well known and widely reviewed; the composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford set selections from The Elfin Pedlar to orchestral music, and performed them widely.
Adam attended Edinburgh University for two years. After leaving Edinburgh University she worked as a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1939 she moved to the United States and eventually moved to San Francisco. In San Francisco she worked with such influential poets as Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
and Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan (poet)
Robert Duncan was an American poet and a student of H.D. and the Western esoteric tradition who spent most of his career in and around San Francisco. Though associated with any number of literary traditions and schools, Duncan is often identified with the poets of the New American Poetry and Black...
.
One of the oldest of the poets in the San Francisco Renaissance, she worked closely with Duncan, Jess
Jess Collins
Jess Collins , simply known today as Jess, was an American visual artist.- Biography :Jess was born Burgess Franklin Collins in Long Beach, California. He was drafted into the military and worked on the production of plutonium for the Manhattan Project...
, Madeline Gleason
Madeline Gleason
Madeline Gleason was a United States poet and dramatist. She is often credited with the founding of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University...
, and Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer won the American Book Award for poetry.-Life and work:...
, among others. She also encouraged many of the Beat poets as they began to explore performance and writing as an art form. While her continued use of the ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
form “mystified” many of the poets more associated with the movement, the "magic and knowledge she brought to San Francisco startled the young wild sages of its Renaissance with a special kind of madness."
Helen Adam and her sister collaborated on a ballad opera entitled San Francisco's Burning which was published in 1963 and reissued in 1985 with score by Al Carmines and drawings by Jess. A collection of her poems was collected in a work titled Selected Poems and Ballads. She was one of only four women whose work was included in Donald Allen
Donald Allen
Donald Merriam Allen , influential editor, publisher, and translator of contemporary American literature. He is perhaps best known for his project The New American Poetry 1945-1960 , among the several important anthologies of contemporary American innovative writing he made available to the public...
's landmark anthology, The New American Poetry 1945-1960
The New American Poetry 1945-1960
The New American Poetry 1945–1960 was a poetry anthology edited by Donald Allen, and published in 1960. It aimed to pick out the "third generation" of American modernist poets, and included quite a number of poems fresh from the little magazines of the late 1950s. In the longer term it attained a...
(1960). Adam also acted in two films: Death and Our Corpses Speak, both of which were filmed in Germany. Her life was a subject of a documentary film directed by
experimental film maker Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim
Rosa von Praunheim , in Riga, Latvia. His given name is Holger Mischwitzky. He is a German film director, author, painter and gay rights activist. Openly gay, he is one of the initiators of the gay rights movement in Germany....
.
Her papers are held at University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
, and Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
.
Poem
A good example of Helen Adam's verse with its striking use of language is "Margaretta's Rime":- Margaretta's Rime
- In Amsterdam, that old city,
- Church bells tremble and cry;
- All day long their airy chiming
- Clavers across the sky.
- I am young in the old city,
- My heart dead in my breast.
- I hear the bells in the sky crying,
- "Every being is blest."
- In Amsterdam, that old city,
- Alone at a window I stand,
- A spangled garter my only clothing,
- A candle flame in my hand.
- The people who pass that lighted window,
- Looking me up and down,
- Know I am one more tourist trifle
- For sale in this famous town.
- Noon til dusk at the window waiting,
- Nights of fury and shame.
- I am young in an old city
- Playing an older game.
- I hear the bells in the sky crying
- To the dead heart in my breast,
- The gentle bells in the sky crying
- "Every being is blest."
Selected publications
- The Elfin Pedlar and Tales Told by the Pixie Pool, 1923
- Charms and Dreams from the Elfin Pedlar's Pack, 1924
- Shadow of the Moon, 1929
- The Queen O' Crow Castle, 1958
- Ballads, 1964
- Counting Out Rhyme, 1972
- Selected Poems and Ballads, 1974
- Ghosts and Grinning Shadows (a collection of short stories), 1977
- Turn Again to Me and Other Poems, 1977
- Gone Sailing, 1980
- Songs with Music, 1982
- The Bells of Dis, 1984
- (With Auste Adam) Stone Cold Gothic, 1984.
- "San Francisco's Burning", 1985
- A Helen Adam Reader. Edited with notes and an introduction by Kristin PrevalletKristin PrevalletKristin Prevallet is an American poet and essayist who currently lives and works in New York City. Prevallet studied with Robert Creeley at SUNY Buffalo and has described herself as working in the tradition of William Carlos Williams, Charles Olson and the ongoing stream of American high modernists...
, 2008.
External links
- Helen Adam Author Page at Electronic Poetry Center includes extensive links to online works and biography
- Helen Adam's Sweet Company essay by Kristin PrevalletKristin PrevalletKristin Prevallet is an American poet and essayist who currently lives and works in New York City. Prevallet studied with Robert Creeley at SUNY Buffalo and has described herself as working in the tradition of William Carlos Williams, Charles Olson and the ongoing stream of American high modernists...
- "The Reluctant Pixie Poole", A Recovery of Helen Adam's San Francisco Years, Kristin Prevallet, 1995