American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 30 (2009) Winner
Jack Spicer
ジャック・スパイサー
Jakku Supaisā
Aliases:
John Lester Spicer / John L. Spicer
Pen Names:
John Lester Spicer（Birth name / official record）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1925-01-30 （Los Angeles, United States）
- Died
- 1965-08-17 （San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, United States） age 40
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Los Angeles → Berkeley → San Francisco → New York → Boston
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Research linguist, Private investigator, Film extra, Bookseller
- Active Years
- 1945-1965
- Influenced By
- Arthur Rimbaud, Federico García Lorca, Zellig Harris, Charles Hockett
- Influenced
- Language poets, Numerous poets of the post–San Francisco Renaissance
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairfax High School | — | — | — | 〜1942 | United States |
| University of Redlands | — | — | — | 1943–1945 | United States |
| University of California, Berkeley | — | Linguistics-related (worked as a research linguist) | — | 1945–1950, 1952–1955 | United States |
Fairfax High School
Period:
〜1942
Year of Graduation:
1942
Country:
United States
High school graduation year
University of Redlands
Period:
1943–1945
Year of Graduation:
1945
Country:
United States
Attended 1943–1945; records on degree incomplete
University of California, Berkeley
Linguistics-related (worked as a research linguist)
Period:
1945–1950, 1952–1955
Year of Graduation:
1955
Country:
United States
Did research-linguist work at Berkeley while beginning his writing
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | American Book Award | My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
American Book Award
2009
Work:
My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
After Lorca
1959 Poetry (serial poems)A series of poems influenced by Lorca; marks Spicer's shift to composing serial poems rather than standalone pieces.
Transmission (dictation)Influence of LorcaSerial composition
A Redwood Forest
1965 PoetryA 1965 poetry volume containing late-period work reflecting his ideas about language and 'transmissions.'
LanguageTransmissionLate-period reflection
The Collected Books of Jack Spicer
1975 Collected poetry (edited)1975 collected edition gathering Spicer's major works from 1957 onward, compiled per Spicer's wishes.
Editorial legacySystematization of serial works
One Night Stand and Other Poems
1980 PoetryA selection of earlier standalone poems edited by Donald Allen, presenting Spicer's early work.
Early poemsConcept of one-night-stand poems
My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer
2008 Collected poetryDefinitive collected edition edited by Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian; helped renew interest in Spicer's work and won the American Book Award in 2009.
Collected worksReassessment
Bibliography
- The Poet and Poetry: A Symposium (essay, 1949)
- Correlation Methods of Comparing Ideolects in a Transition Area (essay, 1952)
- A Redwood Forest (1965)
- The Collected Books of Jack Spicer (1975)
- One Night Stand and Other Poems (1980)
- The Tower of Babel: Jack Spicer's Detective Novel (1994)
- The House That Jack Built: The Collected Lectures of Jack Spicer (1998)
- My Vocabulary Did This to Me (2008)
- Jack Spicer’s Beowulf, Part 1 (2011)
- Jack Spicer’s Beowulf, Part II (2011)
- Be Brave to Things: The Uncollected Poetry and Plays of Jack Spicer (2021)
- Even Strange Ghosts Can Be Shared: The Collected Letters of Jack Spicer (2025)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Poetry conceived as 'transmissions' or dictationFragmentary and serial compositional structuresTheoretical approach informed by structuralist linguistics
- Recurring Motifs
- Radio / receiver metaphors (reception, transmission)Lorca and cante jondo (deep song)Language as 'furniture' (references to morphemes and graphemes)Queer genealogies and references
Health
-
Hepatic encephalopathy (brain disorder due to liver failure) and long-term alcohol abuse1950s–1965Long-term alcohol abuse deteriorated his health and finances, precipitating hepatic coma and resulting in his death in 1965.
Legacy
Jack Spicer, associated with the San Francisco and Berkeley Renaissances, influenced later Language poets through his theory of poetry as 'transmissions' and his practice of serial poems. Posthumous editing and collected editions (notably the 2008 collected poems) have solidified his critical reputation.
Archives
- The Bancroft Library (University of California, Berkeley) — Jack Spicer papers
- Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University — Jack Spicer papers, 1938–1973
- Simon Fraser University Library Special Collections and Rare Books — Records of Jack Spicer
Quotes
-
The poet is like a crystal-set or radio receiving transmissions from the Outside.
Source: Vancouver Lectures (1965)
Trivia
- He refused to copyright his work.
- After 1960 he resisted publishing outside California for a period.
- He fell into poverty and in later years sold books at City Lights to survive.
- Graduated from Fairfax High School in 1942.
- Lived in a boarding house with Philip K. Dick while in Berkeley.