American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 8 (1987) Winner
John Joseph Wieners
ジョン・ジョセフ・ウィナーズ
John Joseph Wieners
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1934-01-06 （Milton, Massachusetts）
- Died
- 2002-03-01 （Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston） age 68
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Milton (birthplace) → Dorchester, Massachusetts → Beacon Hill, Boston → San Francisco (c.1958–1960) → New York City (c.1961–1963) → Boston (44 Joy Street, long-term residence)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, editor, educator
- Active Years
- 1954-2002
- Affiliations
- Black Mountain College, SUNY Buffalo (University at Buffalo), San Francisco poetry community (San Francisco Poetry Renaissance)
- Influenced By
- Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, Wallace Berman (Beat Movement artist), Herbert Huncke
- Influenced
- Raymond Foye (editor/poet), Later Beat / New American poets
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Gregory Elementary School (Dorchester) | — | — | — | — | United States |
| Boston College High School | — | — | — | — | United States |
| Boston College | — | — | A.B. | 1950–1954 | United States |
| Black Mountain College | — | — | — | 1955–1956 | United States |
| SUNY Buffalo (University at Buffalo) | — | — | — | 1965–1967 | United States |
St. Gregory Elementary School (Dorchester)
Country:
United States
Boston College High School
Country:
United States
Boston College
Degree:
A.B.
Period:
1950–1954
Year of Graduation:
1954
Country:
United States
Earned A.B. degree
Black Mountain College
Period:
1955–1956
Country:
United States
Studied under Charles Olson and Robert Duncan
SUNY Buffalo (University at Buffalo)
Period:
1965–1967
Country:
United States
Graduate program; teaching fellow and later endowed Chair of Poetics
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Guggenheim Fellowship | — | — | John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1987 | American Book Award | — | — | Before Columbus Foundation | 受賞 |
Guggenheim Fellowship
1985
Organization:
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result:
受賞
American Book Award
1987
Organization:
Before Columbus Foundation
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Hotel Wentley Poems
1958 PoetryEarly collection reflecting Wieners's San Francisco period and beat-inspired improvisatory style.
urban lifesexual expressiondrug experimentation
Ace of Pentacles
1964 PoetryPoetry collection published in the 1960s addressing working-class life and personal struggle.
working classpersonal struggle
Pressed Wafer
1967 PoetryMid-career collection including experimental poems influenced by Olson and others.
poetic experimentationmentor relationships
Asylum Poems
1969 PoetryPoems drawing on his psychiatric hospitalizations; mixes personal experience with social critique.
mental illnessintrospectioninstitutional critique
Nerves
1970 PoetryCollection of work from 1966–1970 addressing emotional turbulence and social issues.
emotional turbulencesocial issues
Behind the State Capitol or Cincinnati Pike
1975 Poetry (cinema decoupages / prose-verse)A major long-form work using cinema decoupage techniques; a key 1970s work.
cinematic imageryfragmentary narration
Selected Poems: 1958-1984
1986 Selected poetryEdited by Raymond Foye; selection covering early to mid career.
overview of representative works
Cultural Affairs in Boston
1988 Poetry / selectionsCollection of poems and fragments related to Boston.
urban landscapelocality
The Journal of John Wieners was to be called 707 Scott Street for Billie Holliday 1959
1996 Journal / prosePublication of previously unpublished journals from his San Francisco period documenting life and writing.
autobiographical notesdaily life and creativity
Broken Women
1999 Poetry / collaborationA collaboration with painter Francesco Clemente.
collaborationintersection with visual art
Bibliography
- The Hotel Wentley Poems
- Ace of Pentacles
- Pressed Wafer
- Asylum Poems
- Nerves
- Behind the State Capitol or Cincinnati Pike
- Selected Poems: 1958-1984
- Cultural Affairs in Boston
- The Journal of John Wieners was to be called 707 Scott Street for Billie Holliday 1959
- Broken Women
- Kidnap Notes Next (posthumous, edited)
- A Book of Prophecies
- Stars Seen in Person
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Beat-influenced improvisationjazz-inflected rhythm and phrasingfragmentary, cinematic narration
- Recurring Motifs
- sexualitydrug experienceworking-class lifepsychiatric institutionalization / mental illnessurban landscapes (Boston, San Francisco)
Health
-
psychiatric hospitalization1960年頃、1969年など複数回Hospitalizations influenced his poetry directly (e.g., Asylum Poems) and informed recurring themes of mental distress.
Legacy
John Wieners was an important but not widely famous Beat-era poet whose improvisatory, cinematic verse left a distinctive mark on late-20th-century American poetry. Posthumous discoveries and edited journals have prompted renewed interest.
Archives
- University of Delaware (John Wieners papers)
- Simon Fraser University Special Collections (John Wieners fonds)
- Kent State University archives (manuscript discoveries)
Quotes
-
Wieners, in a way, is one of the greatest poets around, or, certainly, the most Romantic, and doomed, poet around, compared to everyone else, and he's not well known.
Source: Comment by Allen Ginsberg (as quoted in sources)
Trivia
- Lived for about 30 years at 44 Joy Street on Beacon Hill.
- Hearing Charles Olson in 1954 prompted him to attend Black Mountain College.
- Published The Hotel Wentley Poems during his San Francisco period.
- Signed the 1968 'Writers and Editors War Tax Protest' against the Vietnam War.
- Unpublished journals and manuscripts were found and published posthumously (e.g., journals 1996, Kidnap Notes Next 2002, A Book of Prophecies 2007).