Tom Mandel (poet)
Encyclopedia
Thomas Poeller Mandel is a contemporary American poet whose work is often associated with the Language poets
.
. Thaddeus Poeller had been imprisoned in the French concentration camp Le Vernet
and died in America in 1946 of a liver disease he contracted in the camp. Rose Poeller then married Paul Mandel, who adopted Tom and gave him his name.
Mandel attended school in Chicago, including the University of Chicago
, where he studied with philosophers Richard McKeon
and Hannah Arendt
, novelist Saul Bellow
, classicist and translator David Grene
, and art critic Harold Rosenberg
, among others. A first marriage in Chicago produced two daughters, Jessica and Sarah. He is married to the writer Beth Joselow and lives in Lewes
, Delaware
.
and Paris
, Mandel moved to San Francisco and became involved with the new poetry that was arising there, later known as the Language School
. He co-curated a reading series with Ron Silliman
at the Grand Piano, a coffee house in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, continuing a series originally founded by Barrett Watten
. In 1978-79, he was Director of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University
.
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...
.
Biography
He was born Thomas Oskar Poeller to Rose Kassner and Thaddeus Poeller, Austrian Jews who had just escaped Europe, escaping first from Vienna and then from Vichy FranceVichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
. Thaddeus Poeller had been imprisoned in the French concentration camp Le Vernet
Camp Vernet
Le Vernet Internment Camp, or Camp Vernet, was a concentration camp in Le Vernet, Ariège, near Pamiers, in the French Pyrenees. It was originally built in June 1918 to house French colonial troops serving in World War I but when hostilities ceased it was used to hold German and Austrian prisoners...
and died in America in 1946 of a liver disease he contracted in the camp. Rose Poeller then married Paul Mandel, who adopted Tom and gave him his name.
Mandel attended school in Chicago, including the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he studied with philosophers Richard McKeon
Richard McKeon
Richard McKeon was an American philosopher.-Life, times, and influences:McKeon obtained his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in 1920, graduating at the early age of 20 despite serving briefly in the U.S. Navy during the First World War...
and Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
, novelist Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow
Saul Bellow was a Canadian-born Jewish American writer. For his literary contributions, Bellow was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the National Medal of Arts...
, classicist and translator David Grene
David Grene
David Grene was a professor of classics at the University of Chicago from 1937 until his death. He was a co-founder of the Committee on Social Thought and is best known for his translations of ancient Greek literature.-Life:...
, and art critic Harold Rosenberg
Harold Rosenberg
Harold Rosenberg was an American writer, educator, philosopher and art critic. He coined the term Action Painting in 1952 for what was later to be known as abstract expressionism. The term was first employed in Rosenberg's essay "American Action Painters" published in the December 1952 issue of...
, among others. A first marriage in Chicago produced two daughters, Jessica and Sarah. He is married to the writer Beth Joselow and lives in Lewes
Lewes, Delaware
Lewes is an incorporated city in Sussex County, Delaware, USA, on the Delmarva Peninsula. According to the 2010 census, the population is 2,747, a decrease of 6.3% from 2000....
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
.
Writing
After sojourns in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Mandel moved to San Francisco and became involved with the new poetry that was arising there, later known as the Language School
Language school
A language school is a school where one studies a foreign language. Classes at a language school are usually geared towards, but not limited to, communicative competence in a foreign language...
. He co-curated a reading series with Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
at the Grand Piano, a coffee house in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, continuing a series originally founded by 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...
. In 1978-79, he was Director of the Poetry Center at 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...
.
Works
- Ency, 1978, Tuumba (Berkeley, CA)
- Erat, 1980, Burning DeckBurning 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:...
(Providence, RI) - Ready to Go, 1982, Ithaca House (Ithaca, NY)
- Central Europe, 1986, Coincidences Press (Oakland, CA)
- Some Appearances, 1987, Jimmy's House of Knowledge (Oakland,CA)
- Four Strange Books, 1990, Gaz (New York, NY)
- Realism, 1991, Burning DeckBurning 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:...
(Providence, RI) - Letters of the Law, 1994
- Prospect of Release, 1996, Chax PressChax PressChax Press is a publisher of experimental and avant-garde poetry run by bookmaker and poet Charles Alexander. The press publishes trade paperback and handmade fine arts editions...
(Tucson, AZ) - Absence Sensorium, with Daniel Davidson, 1997, Potes & Poets Press (Elmwood, CT)
- Ancestral Cave, SPD, 1997.
External links
- Tom Mandel's website - includes information about his writing career as well as his career as a technology entrepreneur and consultant.
- Four poems published in mark(s)zine an online magazine
- Tom Mandel with Ammiel Alcalay at The Kelly Writers House
- Ron Silliman reviews To the Cognoscenti