O-blek
Encyclopedia
o•blék: a journal of language arts was a small literary magazine founded by Peter Gizzi
who co-edited it with Connell McGrath. The magazine published a number of poems often not in the mainstream but recognized for their excellence (by, for instance, being selected for The Best American Poetry series). The magazine ran from 1987
to 1993
.
Published by The Garlic Press in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
, the magazine offered readers no mission statement, editor’s notes or biographic notes on contributors. At the beginning of each issue it instead presented different dictionary entries for the word “oblique”.
o•blék focused on publishing poets away from the mainstream and associated with various types and schools of poetry. Poets often associated with Language poetry frequently appeared, including Clark Coolidge
, Lyn Hejinian
, and Michael Palmer
. Other frequent contributors were Fanny Howe
, Robert Creeley
, Rosmarie Waldrop
, Edmond Jabès
, and John Wieners
, Ben Marcus
, Cole Swensen
, Roberto Tejada, Mark McMorris
, and Elizabeth Willis
. Other contributors are associated with the New York School
tradition: Ted Berrigan
, Kenward Elmslie
, Bernadette Mayer
, Charles North
, Alice Notley
, Ron Padgett
, David Shapiro
, Marjorie Welish
, and John Yau
.
. The publication was put out at a cost of about $4,100 with borrowed money and sold out its run of 1,000 copies after about 18 months. At the end of its first year, the magazine had about 75 subscribers, a number which rose to 275 after six years (not including libraries, which mostly subscribed through jobbers)
Gizzi has written that "in the mid to late 80’s [...] I was waiting tables and reading books and editing my journal, o-blek". With the sacrifices, Gizzi has said, came success. The journal received numerous grants, is in the permanent collections of major libraries, and continues to be cited in poetry criticism.
In 1990 o•blék was the focus of the 7th International Literary Conference at the Fondation Royaumont in France. Poets and critics attended from all over France to discuss the journal and independent literary production.
With the publication of the twelfth issue in 1993, the magazine had put out more than 2,500 pages of contemporary poetry from three generations of poets.
In 1993
, Gizzi left the publication, turning it over to others, although no further issues were published. By early 1995 the magazine was being folded up.
At another point, McGrath said:
, these included: Anne-Marie Albiach
, Bruce Andrews
, Clark Coolidge
, Michael Gizzi
, Emmanuel Hocquard
, Edmond Jabès
, Paul Metcalf
, Michael Palmer
, Ray Ragosta, Robert Tejada, Keith Waldrop
, Rosmarie Waldrop
, Marjorie Welsh John Yau
, and Geoffrey Young,
The first edition, printed in April 1987, was 142 pages long, with a press run of 1,000 copies.
, as a two-volume set, the twelfth issue had a total of 600 pages and was titled, Writing from the New Coast, with one volume further titled Presentation and another Technique. It focused on new and emerging writers. Technique, was edited by Gizzi and poet Juliana Spahr
, and much of its contents ultimately came from a conference held at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Contributors include: Lee Ann Brown, Jessica Grim
From Gizzi's foreword:
Peter Gizzi
Peter Gizzi is an award-winning American poet and renowned editor of the American poet Jack Spicer. He attended Brown University, New York University and the State University of New York at Buffalo.-Life and career:...
who co-edited it with Connell McGrath. The magazine published a number of poems often not in the mainstream but recognized for their excellence (by, for instance, being selected for The Best American Poetry series). The magazine ran from 1987
1987 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
to 1993
1993 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
.
Published by The Garlic Press in Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Stockbridge is a town in Berkshire County in Western Massachusetts. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,947 at the 2010 census...
, the magazine offered readers no mission statement, editor’s notes or biographic notes on contributors. At the beginning of each issue it instead presented different dictionary entries for the word “oblique”.
o•blék focused on publishing poets away from the mainstream and associated with various types and schools of poetry. Poets often associated with Language poetry frequently appeared, including Clark Coolidge
Clark Coolidge
Clark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...
, Lyn Hejinian
Lyn Hejinian
Lyn Hejinian is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life , as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry .-Life:Hejinian was born in the San...
, and Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer is an American poet and translator. He attended Harvard University where he earned a BA in French and a MA in Comparative Literature. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance for over thirty years and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists...
. Other frequent contributors were Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe
Fanny Howe is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She has written many novels in prose collection. Howe was awarded the 2009 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, presented annually by the Poetry Foundation to a living U.S...
, Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, Rosmarie Waldrop
Rosmarie Waldrop
Rosmarie Waldrop is a contemporary American poet, translator and publisher. Born in Germany, she has lived in the United States since 1958. She has lived in Providence, Rhode Island since the late 1960s...
, Edmond Jabès
Edmond Jabes
----Edmond Jabès was a Jewish writer and poet, and one of the best known literary figures to write in French after World War II.- Life :...
, and John Wieners
John Wieners
John Joseph Wieners was an American lyric poet.-Biography:Born in Milton, Massachusetts, Wieners attended St. Gregory Elementary School in Dorchester, Massachusetts and Boston College High School. From 1950 to 1954, he studied at Boston College, where he earned his A.B...
, Ben Marcus
Ben Marcus
Ben Marcus is the author of three books of fiction, Notable American Women, The Father Costume, and The Age of Wire and String. His new novel, The Flame Alphabet, will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in January of 2012...
, Cole Swensen
Cole Swensen
Cole Swensen is an American poet, translator, editor, copywriter, and professor. Swensen was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and is the author of more than ten poetry collections and as many translations of works from the French. She received her B.A. and M.A. from San Francisco State...
, Roberto Tejada, Mark McMorris
Mark McMorris
Mark McMorris is a Canadian snowboarder who is the first to complete a backside triple cork 1440.McMorris competed at his first FIS Snowboard World Cup during the 2009-2010 season placing eighth in the big air event in Quebec City...
, and Elizabeth Willis
Elizabeth Willis
Elizabeth Willis is an American poet, literary critic and professor of literature and creative writing at Wesleyan University. Her most notable work includes four major books of poetry and a scholarly collection of essays on Lorine Niedecker which she edited...
. Other contributors are associated with the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
tradition: Ted Berrigan
Ted Berrigan
-Early life:Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining the U.S. Army in 1954 to serve in the Korean War. After three years in the Army, he finished his college studies at the University of Tulsa in...
, Kenward Elmslie
Kenward Elmslie
Kenward Gray Elmslie is an American writer, performer, editor and publisher associated with the New York School of poetry.-Life and career:...
, Bernadette Mayer
Bernadette Mayer
Bernadette Mayer is a poet and prose writer. In 1967 she received a BA from New School for Social Research. She has since edited the journal 0 TO 9 with Vito Acconci and the United Artists Press with Lewis Warsh...
, Charles North
Charles North
Charles North is an American poet, essayist and teacher. Described by the poet James Schuyler as “the most stimulating poet of his generation,” he has received two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships, an Individual Artist’s Grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts,...
, Alice Notley
Alice Notley
Alice Notley is an American poet. She was born in Bisbee, Arizona and grew up in Needles, California. She received a B.A. from Barnard College in 1967 and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1969. She married poet Ted Berrigan in 1972, with whom she was active in...
, Ron Padgett
Ron Padgett
Ron Padgett is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School. Bean Spasms, Padget's first collection of poems, was published in 1967 and written with Ted Berrigan...
, David Shapiro
David Shapiro (poet)
David Shapiro is an American poet, literary critic, and art historian. He has written some twenty volumes of poetry, literary, and art criticism...
, Marjorie Welish
Marjorie Welish
Marjorie Welish is an American poet, artist, and art critic.Welish is a graduate of Columbia University and received her M.F.A. degree from Vermont College and Norwich University...
, and John Yau
John Yau
John Yau is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978...
.
History
The first issue of the magazine was dated April 19871987 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
. The publication was put out at a cost of about $4,100 with borrowed money and sold out its run of 1,000 copies after about 18 months. At the end of its first year, the magazine had about 75 subscribers, a number which rose to 275 after six years (not including libraries, which mostly subscribed through jobbers)
Gizzi has written that "in the mid to late 80’s [...] I was waiting tables and reading books and editing my journal, o-blek". With the sacrifices, Gizzi has said, came success. The journal received numerous grants, is in the permanent collections of major libraries, and continues to be cited in poetry criticism.
In 1990 o•blék was the focus of the 7th International Literary Conference at the Fondation Royaumont in France. Poets and critics attended from all over France to discuss the journal and independent literary production.
With the publication of the twelfth issue in 1993, the magazine had put out more than 2,500 pages of contemporary poetry from three generations of poets.
In 1993
1993 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
, Gizzi left the publication, turning it over to others, although no further issues were published. By early 1995 the magazine was being folded up.
Spelling and punctuation of the magazine's name
The name of the magazine is supposed to appear as it does in some dictionaries showing the pronunciation of "oblique" — with a lower-case "o", a bullet, and an accent over the "e". It has been represented at the Best American Poetry Web site as "o.blek" but most other citations use a hyphen. Most other citations of the magazine punctuate it with a hyphen after the "o" and with no accent: "o-blek" Citations are nearly universal in not capitalizing the first letter in the name.Editorial philosophy
Speaking as part of a panel discussion at a 1993 poetry conference, editor Connell McGrath described some of the editors' principles in running the magazine. McGrath said:- The principles behind o•blék are that we try to present work as faithfully as possible according to typescript. The second principle is that we try to exclusively accept work only on the basis of our own taste. I find I’ve seen in the past a lot of publications that operate in terms of trying to represent something or do something specific and I think that that’s fine but I think that the most powerful things I’ve seen are things that admit personal taste as the only basis to make that decision on.
At another point, McGrath said:
- What I see happening for us is that we can get sidetracked, I can get sidetracked by questions of fame, for instance, if so and so is a good poet—you [to panel moderator Jefferson Hansen, editor of Poetic Briefs] did a little thing in the story that Mr. Schmo sent in about a famous poet sending in a bad poem and publishing it anyway and there’s enormous temptation in that and we try not to do it. Sometimes we do do it anyway. And then there are also other considerations, considerations of friendship, anyone who’s been an editor for any amount of time knows it’s easy to hurt people’s feelings and make enemies and I don’t like to do that myself but it happens anyway. So there are other considerations that seem to sidetrack me from this principle.
Issues
The first 11 issues were published on almost square pages; the twelfth was much larger, in two volumes.o•blék/1
Contributors: along with Peter and his brother Michael GizziMichael Gizzi
Michael Gizzi was an American poet.-Life:Michael Gizzi was born in Schenectady, New York in 1949 to Carolyn and Anthony Gizzi. He had two brothers, Peter and Thomas Gizzi...
, these included: Anne-Marie Albiach
Anne-Marie Albiach
Anne-Marie Albiach is a contemporary French poet and translator.-Overview:Anne-Marie Albiach's poetry is characterized by, among other things, an inventive use of spacing on the printed page...
, Bruce Andrews
Bruce Andrews
Bruce Andrews is a U.S. poet who is one of the key figures associated with the Language poets .-Life and work:...
, Clark Coolidge
Clark Coolidge
Clark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...
, Michael Gizzi
Michael Gizzi
Michael Gizzi was an American poet.-Life:Michael Gizzi was born in Schenectady, New York in 1949 to Carolyn and Anthony Gizzi. He had two brothers, Peter and Thomas Gizzi...
, Emmanuel Hocquard
Emmanuel Hocquard
Emmanuel Hocquard is a French poet who grew up in Tangier, Morocco. He served as the editor of the small press Orange Export Ltd., and, with Claude Royet-Journoud, edited two anthologies of new American poets, 21+1: Poètes américains ď aujourďhui and 49+1...
, Edmond Jabès
Edmond Jabes
----Edmond Jabès was a Jewish writer and poet, and one of the best known literary figures to write in French after World War II.- Life :...
, Paul Metcalf
Paul Metcalf
Paul Metcalf was an American writer. He wrote in verse and prose, but his work generally defies classification. Its small but devoted following includes Robert Creeley, William Gass, Wendell Berry, Guy Davenport, Howard Zinn, and Bruce Olds...
, Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer is an American poet and translator. He attended Harvard University where he earned a BA in French and a MA in Comparative Literature. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance for over thirty years and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists...
, Ray Ragosta, Robert Tejada, Keith Waldrop
Keith Waldrop
Keith Waldrop is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and has translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabès, among others. A recent translation is Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal .With his wife Rosmarie Waldrop, he co-edits Burning Deck Press...
, Rosmarie Waldrop
Rosmarie Waldrop
Rosmarie Waldrop is a contemporary American poet, translator and publisher. Born in Germany, she has lived in the United States since 1958. She has lived in Providence, Rhode Island since the late 1960s...
, Marjorie Welsh John Yau
John Yau
John Yau is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978...
, and Geoffrey Young,
The first edition, printed in April 1987, was 142 pages long, with a press run of 1,000 copies.
Other issues
- o•blék/2 — 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
Work by Rae ArmantroutRae ArmantroutRae Armantrout is an American poet generally associated with the Language Poets. Armantrout was born in Vallejo, California but grew up in San Diego. She has published ten books of poetry and has also been featured in a number of major anthologies...
, Barbara GuestBarbara GuestBarbara Guest née Barbara Ann Pinson was an American poet and prose stylist. Guest first gained recognition as a member of the first generation New York School of poetry....
, Clark CoolidgeClark CoolidgeClark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...
, Scalapino, John YauJohn YauJohn Yau is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978...
, Bernstein, Ott and others. - o•blék/3 —
- o•blék/4 — 19881988 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The first annual The Best American Poetry volume is published this year....
Contributors Bernadette Meyer, Robert CreeleyRobert CreeleyRobert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, Kenward ElmslieKenward ElmslieKenward Gray Elmslie is an American writer, performer, editor and publisher associated with the New York School of poetry.-Life and career:...
, Clark CoolidgeClark CoolidgeClark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...
, Paul MetcalfPaul MetcalfPaul Metcalf was an American writer. He wrote in verse and prose, but his work generally defies classification. Its small but devoted following includes Robert Creeley, William Gass, Wendell Berry, Guy Davenport, Howard Zinn, and Bruce Olds...
, John YauJohn YauJohn Yau is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978...
, Gil Ott, William Corbett - o•blék/5 — 19891989 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My...
, dedicated to the editors of Locus Solus and with a New York SchoolNew York SchoolThe New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
focus. Contributors: John AshberyJohn AshberyJohn Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, Bill BerksonBill BerksonBill Berkson is an American poet, critic, teacher and sometime curator, who has been active in the art and literary worlds since his early twenties.-Life:Born in New York on August 30, 1939, Bill Berkson grew up on Manhattan’s Upper...
, Joseph Ceravalo, Clark CoolidgeClark CoolidgeClark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...
, Barbara GuestBarbara GuestBarbara Guest née Barbara Ann Pinson was an American poet and prose stylist. Guest first gained recognition as a member of the first generation New York School of poetry....
, Lyn HejinianLyn HejinianLyn Hejinian is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is well known for her landmark work My Life , as well as her book of essays, The Language of Inquiry .-Life:Hejinian was born in the San...
, Jena OsmanJena OsmanJena Osman is an American poet and editor, who graduated from Brown University, and the State University of New York at Buffalo, with a Ph.D. She teaches at Temple University. Osman's work has appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Conjunctions, Hambone, Verse, and XCP: Cross-Cultural...
, James SchuylerJames SchuylerJames Marcus Schuyler was an American poet whose awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1980 collection The Morning of the Poem...
, a collaboration between Kenneth KochKenneth KochKenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77...
and Frank O'HaraFrank O'HaraFrancis Russell "Frank" O'Hara was an American writer, poet and art critic. He was a member of the New York School of poetry.-Life:...
, cover by Trevor Winkfield. "Limited to 1000 copies" 236 pp. - o•blék/6 —
- o•blék/7 — Spring 19901990 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...
, 187 pp. - o•blék/8 — 19901990 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg crowned "Majelis King" in Prague on May Day...
- o•blék/9 — 19911991 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Forward Poetry Prize created...
dedicated to KeithKeith WaldropKeith Waldrop is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and has translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabès, among others. A recent translation is Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal .With his wife Rosmarie Waldrop, he co-edits Burning Deck Press...
and Rosmarie Waldrop’sRosmarie WaldropRosmarie Waldrop is a contemporary American poet, translator and publisher. Born in Germany, she has lived in the United States since 1958. She has lived in Providence, Rhode Island since the late 1960s...
Burning Deck PressBurning Deck PressBurning Deck is a small press specializing in the publication of experimental poetry and prose. Burning Deck was founded by the writers Keith Waldrop and Rosmarie Waldrop in 1961.-Overview:... - o•blék/10 —
- o•blék/11 — 19921992 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:The Forward Book of Poetry, an annual anthology of best British poems, is published for the first time by the Forward Poetry Trust. By 2003, the publication was selling 5,000 to 7,000 copies a year...
o•blék/12
Brought out in 19931993 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
, as a two-volume set, the twelfth issue had a total of 600 pages and was titled, Writing from the New Coast, with one volume further titled Presentation and another Technique. It focused on new and emerging writers. Technique, was edited by Gizzi and poet Juliana Spahr
Juliana Spahr
Juliana Spahr is an American poet, critic, and editor. She is the recipient of the 2009 Hardison Poetry Prize awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S...
, and much of its contents ultimately came from a conference held at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Contributors include: Lee Ann Brown, Jessica Grim
From Gizzi's foreword:
- We are the generation of artists that grew up with a photograph of the earth tacked to our walls. When that first image of the earth was sent back in 1959 our conception of this place was changed materially. No longer was it to be a world so defined by our ancestors; in that swift shutter and instant transmission it became worlds, peoples, and languages. All boundaries or clear definitions of identity are eroded, active and blurred. Simone Weil said "You could not be born at a better period than the present, when we have lost everything." We live in this space of multiplicity where the ability to construct a single world with shared aspirations, sensitivities and imagination is not only improbable but impossible. Yet it is poetry's function to aspire to the impossible, because poetry works through a human agency – the generosity of a reader and a writer. Poetry demands that a risk be taken, and from this act of intelligence courage claims precedence over poverty of spirit.