Joshua Clover
Encyclopedia
Joshua Clover is a poet, critic, journalist and author. He has appeared in three editions of Best American Poetry, is a two-time winner of the Pushcart Prize
, and recipient of an individual grant from the NEA
; his first book of poetry, Madonna anno domini, received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets
.
A graduate of Boston University
and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Clover is an Associate Professor of English Literature
and Critical Theory
at the University of California, Davis
, and was the distinguished Holloway poet-in-residence at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999-2000. http://holloway.english.berkeley.edu/history/page19/page19.html He writes a column of film criticism for Film Quarterly under the title "Marx and Coca-Cola", is a frequent contributor to the Village Voice, writes for The New York Times
, and is a former senior writer for Spin
. His film criticism includes a book on The Matrix
for the British Film Institute
, and the Criterion Collection essays for Band of Outsiders and Straw Dogs. His birth name was Joshua Miller Kaplan; via legal change, he took his mother's maiden name [See Clover's statement in Brooke Kroeger, Passing (2004), p. 207] His mother, Carol J. Clover
, Ph.D., is the originator of the final girl
theory and a professor emerita at the University of California at Berkeley.
Under the pseudonym
"Jane Dark", Clover has written a number of film and music reviews for The Village Voice
, and maintains a blog entitled "jane dark's sugarhigh!"
http://cutbankpoetry.blogspot.com/2007/01/totality-for-kids-by-joshua-clover.html
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
, and recipient of an individual grant from 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...
; his first book of poetry, Madonna anno domini, received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
.
A graduate of Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, Clover is an Associate Professor of English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and Critical Theory
Critical theory
Critical theory is an examination and critique of society and culture, drawing from knowledge across the social sciences and humanities. The term has two different meanings with different origins and histories: one originating in sociology and the other in literary criticism...
at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, and was the distinguished Holloway poet-in-residence at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999-2000. http://holloway.english.berkeley.edu/history/page19/page19.html He writes a column of film criticism for Film Quarterly under the title "Marx and Coca-Cola", is a frequent contributor to the Village Voice, writes for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, and is a former senior writer for Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
. His film criticism includes a book on The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
for the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
, and the Criterion Collection essays for Band of Outsiders and Straw Dogs. His birth name was Joshua Miller Kaplan; via legal change, he took his mother's maiden name [See Clover's statement in Brooke Kroeger, Passing (2004), p. 207] His mother, Carol J. Clover
Carol J. Clover
Carol J. Clover is an American professor of film studies, rhetoric language and Scandinavian mythology. She has been widely published in her areas of expertise...
, Ph.D., is the originator of the final girl
Final girl
The final girl is a trope in thriller and horror films that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story...
theory and a professor emerita at the University of California at Berkeley.
Under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
"Jane Dark", Clover has written a number of film and music reviews for The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, and maintains a blog entitled "jane dark's sugarhigh!"
Works
- Madonna anno domini (Louisiana State University Press, 1997), 68 pp.
- The Matrix (British Film Institute, 2005), 128 pp.
- The Totality for Kids (University of California Press, 2006), 76 pp.
- 1989: Bob Dylan Didn't Have This to Sing About (University of California Press, 2009), 198 pp.
Articles
- Clover on The New Yorker, in the Village Voice, 2001 http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0115,clover,23757,10.html
- Clover on Michel Houellebecq, in the Village Voice, 2003 http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0329,clover,45507,10.html
- Clover on Semiotext(e), in Village Voice, 2002 http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0206,clover,32055,10.html
- Clover on Courtney LoveCourtney LoveCourtney Michelle Love is an American rock musician. Love is the lead vocalist, lyricist, and rhythm guitarist for alternative rock band Hole, which she formed in 1989, and is an actress who has moved from bit parts in Alex Cox films to significant and acclaimed roles in The People vs...
in the Village Voice, 2004 http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0408,clover,51258,22.html - Clover on Slavoj ŽižekSlavoj ŽižekSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
, in the Village Voice, 2005 http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0546,clover,70012,20.html - Clover on Guy DebordGuy DebordGuy Ernest Debord was a French Marxist theorist, writer, filmmaker, member of the Letterist International, founder of a Letterist faction, and founding member of the Situationist International . He was also briefly a member of Socialisme ou Barbarie.-Early Life:Guy Debord was born in Paris in 1931...
and John Ashbery in the Village Voice, 2005 http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0514,clover,62725,10.html - Clover on Gus Van SantGus Van SantGus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
in the Village Voice, 2005 http://www.villagevoice.com/film/0528,fclover,65777,20.html - Clover on Charles Reznikoff, in The New York Times Book Review, 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/22/books/review/22clover.html?ex=1162443600&en=67bcecea6ab1977d&ei=5070
- Clover on Charles BaudelaireCharles BaudelaireCharles Baudelaire was a French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, Les Fleurs du mal expresses the changing nature of beauty in modern, industrializing Paris during the nineteenth century...
in The New York Times, December 2006 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/books/review/Clover2.t.html?ex=1169614800&en=ffb49c2df3532a36&ei=5070 - Clover on "France:Still Revolting" http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0546,clover,69886,2.html
- Clover on Velvet GoldmineVelvet GoldmineVelvet Goldmine is a 1998 British/American drama film directed and co-written by Todd Haynes. The film tells the story of a pop star based mainly on David Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' character and is set in Britain during the days of glam rock in the early 1970s.Sandy Powell received another Academy...
, Spin magazine http://www.toddhaynes.net/text/reviews/haynspin.shtml - Clover on Poetry Magazine http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0248,clover,40199,1.html
Reviews of Clover's Poetry
- The Totality for Kids, Village Voice, 2006. http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0619,gilbert,73122,10.html
- Zoned", The Boston Review, September/October, 2006. http://bostonreview.net/BR31.5/palattella.html
- The Totality for Kids,CutBank, January 21, 2007
http://cutbankpoetry.blogspot.com/2007/01/totality-for-kids-by-joshua-clover.html
Essays
- "Good Pop, Bad Pop: Massiveness, Materiality, and the Top 40", anthologized in This is Pop", Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-674-01321-2 http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/WEIPOP.html?show=contents
- "The Rose of the Name", Fence magazine, 1998 http://www.fencemag.com/v1n1/work/joshua_clover.html
External links
- Jane Dark's Sugarhigh!
- American Academy of Poets profile
- Video of Clover reading at Bowery Poetry Club in New York, 2006
- Joshua Clover at Davis Wiki
Trivia
- Clover wrote a regular reviews column for Spin magazine between 1999-2001 called "Show Us Your Hits."
- Clover's article on Poetry Magazine was noted by Greil MarcusGreil MarcusGreil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
in his SalonSalon.comSalon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
column "Real Life Rock Top Ten"http://archive.salon.com/ent/col/marc/2003/01/02/83/print.html