Tim Dlugos
Encyclopedia
Tim Dlugos (August 5, 1950 – December 3, 1990) was an American poet.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts
, he grew up in Arlington, Virginia.
In 1968 Dlugos joined the Christian Brothers
, a Catholic religious order and entered their college, La Salle College
, in Philadelphia, PA. He left the Brothers a few years later in 1971 to openly embrace a politically active, Gay
lifestyle. He eventually left La Salle before graduating and moved back to Washington, D.C.
.
Dlugos worked on Ralph Nader
's Public Citizen
and become heavily involved with the Mass Transit poetry scene. His first book of poetry, "High There", was published by the groundbreaking Some of Us Press.
Describing his poetry in None of the Above, an early anthology in which Dlugos appeared, he stated: "1. I try to write out of the time & space I find myself in. 2. My best work takes the 'timeless' -- spontaneous goofs, flights, body motions -- & drags it onto timeline, the 'real world' where most of us live. I am 'successful' when the language (clean combination of words) takes me or someone else back to the original combination of feelings & perceptions 'out there,' or somewhere equally nice. 3. My work is part of the nostalgia craze; all of it reminds me of where I used to be. 4. Grace, in a very orthodox sense, is my major preoccupation."
Dlugos moved to New York City
in the late seventies where he edited and contributed to such magazines as Christopher Street, New York Native, and The Poetry Project Newsletter. He read everywhere and with almost everyone involved in the downtown scene. Whether writing about pop culture, New York, being Gay, alcoholism, or AIDS, content always came secondary to style in Dlugos' poetry. His poetry was published widely in various journals including BOMB Magazine, The Paris Review and the Washington Review.
Sometime after being diagnosed HIV
positive, Dlugos decided to abandon his career as a fundraiser to become a priest in the Episcopalian church where he could utilize and express his experiences as a gay man.
While studying at the Yale School of Divinity, Dlugos died of AIDS
-related complications on December 3, 1990.
In 1996, David Trinidad
released a selected edition of Dlugos' poetry. In 2011 Nightboat Books published Dlugos' A Fast Life: The Collected Poems, edited by David Trinidad.
Born in Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Western New England, and the seat of Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers; the western Westfield River, the eastern Chicopee River, and the eastern...
, he grew up in Arlington, Virginia.
In 1968 Dlugos joined the Christian Brothers
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and now based in Rome...
, a Catholic religious order and entered their college, La Salle College
La Salle College
La Salle College is a boys' secondary school in Hong Kong. It was established by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, a Roman Catholic religious teaching order founded by St...
, in Philadelphia, PA. He left the Brothers a few years later in 1971 to openly embrace a politically active, Gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
lifestyle. He eventually left La Salle before graduating and moved back to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
.
Dlugos worked on Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
's Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
and become heavily involved with the Mass Transit poetry scene. His first book of poetry, "High There", was published by the groundbreaking Some of Us Press.
Describing his poetry in None of the Above, an early anthology in which Dlugos appeared, he stated: "1. I try to write out of the time & space I find myself in. 2. My best work takes the 'timeless' -- spontaneous goofs, flights, body motions -- & drags it onto timeline, the 'real world' where most of us live. I am 'successful' when the language (clean combination of words) takes me or someone else back to the original combination of feelings & perceptions 'out there,' or somewhere equally nice. 3. My work is part of the nostalgia craze; all of it reminds me of where I used to be. 4. Grace, in a very orthodox sense, is my major preoccupation."
Dlugos moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in the late seventies where he edited and contributed to such magazines as Christopher Street, New York Native, and The Poetry Project Newsletter. He read everywhere and with almost everyone involved in the downtown scene. Whether writing about pop culture, New York, being Gay, alcoholism, or AIDS, content always came secondary to style in Dlugos' poetry. His poetry was published widely in various journals including BOMB Magazine, The Paris Review and the Washington Review.
Sometime after being diagnosed HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
positive, Dlugos decided to abandon his career as a fundraiser to become a priest in the Episcopalian church where he could utilize and express his experiences as a gay man.
While studying at the Yale School of Divinity, Dlugos died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related complications on December 3, 1990.
In 1996, David Trinidad
David Trinidad
-Biography:Trinidad was born in Los Angeles, California. In the early 1980s, he was one of a group of poets who were active at the Beyond Baroque Literary/Arts Center in Venice, California. Other members of this group included Dennis Cooper, Bob Flanagan, and Amy Gerstler. As editor of Sherwood...
released a selected edition of Dlugos' poetry. In 2011 Nightboat Books published Dlugos' A Fast Life: The Collected Poems, edited by David Trinidad.
Books
- 1973 High There (Some of Us Press)
- 1977 For Years (Jawbone Press)
- 1979 Je Suis Ein Americano (Little Caesar Press)
- 1980 Coming Attractions (Little Caesar Press)
- 1981 Incredible Risks. (Hard Press)
- 1982 A Fast Life (Sherwood Press)
- 1982 Entre Nous (Little Caesar Press)
- 1992 Strong Place: Poems (Amethyst Press)
- 1996 Powerless: Selected Poems. Ed. David Trinidad (High Risk Press)
- 2011 Collected Poems of Tim Dlugos (Nightboat Books)