National Poetry Series
1 appearances
Joanne Kyger
ジョアン・カイガー
Joanne Kyger
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1934-11-19 （Vallejo, California, U.S.）
- Died
- 2017-03-22 （Bolinas, California, U.S.） age 82
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Zen Buddhism
- Residence History
- China (childhood) → California (Santa Barbara, Vallejo, San Francisco, Bolinas) → Illinois → Pennsylvania → Kyoto, Japan (c.1960–1961) → India (1961–1962 travel) → New York City (c.1966–1967) → Mexico (Oaxaca and others; frequent visits from mid-1980s)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Writer, Teacher
- Active Years
- 1959-2017
- Affiliations
- New College of California (occasional teaching), Naropa University (Jack Kerouac School; summer teaching), Mills College (occasional teaching)
- Influenced By
- Charles Olson, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen, Shunryū Suzuki
- Influenced
- Anne Waldman, Younger poets associated with the San Francisco Renaissance and the Jack Kerouac School
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, Santa Barbara | Philosophy and Literature | — | — | 1952–1956（学位取得は未完） | United States |
University of California, Santa Barbara
Philosophy and Literature
Period:
1952–1956（学位取得は未完）
Country:
United States
Left in 1956 one freshman biology course short of a degree. Founded the school's first literary magazine and was influenced by Modernist poets.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award | — | — | Foundation for Contemporary Arts | 受賞 |
| 2008 | PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award (Poetry) | About Now: Collected Poems | — | PEN Oakland | 受賞 |
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award
2006
Organization:
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Result:
受賞
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award (Poetry)
2008
Work:
About Now: Collected Poems
Organization:
PEN Oakland
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 18 (2008) Winner
Works
Major Works
The Japan and India Journals 1960–1964
1981 Journals / PoetryDiaries recording her travels and experiences in Japan and India (1960–1964). An important Beat-era document offering a female perspective on the male-dominated movement.
TravelBuddhismChronicle of daily lifeFemale autonomy
About Now: Collected Poems
2007 Poetry (Collected)A collected volume of poems spanning her career, reflecting influences of the San Francisco Renaissance, the Beats, Zen practice, and attentive observations of daily life.
Everyday lifeNatureZenDreams
On Time: Poems 2005–2014
2015 PoetryA collection of late poems centered on daily observations, introspection, local landscape and animals.
Late-life reflectionNatureEveryday moments
All This Every Day
1975 PoetryPoems written during the Bolinas years focusing on local landscape, community, and everyday occurrences.
Local landscapeCommunityZen moments
Again: Poems 1989–2000
2001 Poetry (Selected)Selected poems from 1989–2000 showcasing her blend of quotidian description and meditative elements.
Everyday lifeDreamsMeditation
As Ever: Selected Poems
2002 Poetry (Selected)A selection of poems from across her career demonstrating diverse influences and distinctive observational voice.
Transhistorical perspectiveNatureIntrospection
Bibliography
- The Tapestry and the Web (1965)
- Joanne (1970)
- Places To Go (1970)
- Desecheo Notebook (1971)
- Trip Out and Fall Back (1974)
- Trucks: Tracks (1974)
- All This Every Day (1975)
- The Japan and India Journals 1960–1964 (1981) / Strange Big Moon (reissue 2000)
- Going On: Selected Poems, 1958–1980 (1983)
- Phenomenological (1989)
- Just Space: Poems 1979–1989 (1991)
- Some Life (2000)
- Again: Poems 1989–2000 (2001)
- As Ever: Selected Poems (2002)
- About Now: Collected Poems (2007)
- On Time: Poems 2005–2014 (2015)
- There You Are: Interviews, Journals, and Ephemera (2017, posthumous)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Open line structures influenced by projective verseDiary-like, improvisational, prose-poetry tendenciesConcise, observational voice informed by Zen practice
- Recurring Motifs
- Nature (ocean, grasses, birds, mammals)Small everyday eventsDreams and explorations of consciousnessTravel (Japan, India, Mexico)Zen moments
Health
-
Lung cancer2016–2017Illness progressed in her final years and affected writing and activities. Died at home in 2017.
Legacy
Joanne Kyger is regarded as an important poet associated with the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat Generation. She combined everyday observation with Zen practice to create a distinct voice and left valuable female-centered records of the Beat era.
Archives
- Joanne Kyger Papers (UC San Diego Special Collections)
In Popular Culture
- Her work and life have been featured in major media such as the San Francisco Gate and New York Times; she is an important figure in San Francisco literary history.
Quotes
-
The shape of the day, the words of the moment, what's happening around me in the world of interior and exterior space—these are my writing concerns. My attention to writing is a daily practice, which then builds an accumulative narrative of chronology.
Source: Joanne Kyger (2005 artist statement) (2005)
Trivia
- Married Gary Snyder in 1960 at the American Consulate in Kobe; later divorced.
- Lived in Bolinas from 1969 and incorporated local nature into her poetry.
- Published more than 30 books of poetry and prose in her lifetime.