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Lew Welch

ルー・ウェルチ

Ruu Weruchi

プロフィール

性別
男性
生誕
1926-08-16 （Phoenix, Arizona, USA）
死没
1971-05-23 （Mountains of California, USA） 44歳
国籍
United States
言語
English
居住地歴
Phoenix, Arizona → California (moved with family in 1929) → Portland, Oregon (attended Reed College) → New York City (worked in advertising) → San Francisco (literary scene) → California mountains (at time of disappearance)

経歴

職業
Poet, Teacher (workshop instructor), Advertising copywriter, Taxi driver
活動期間
1948年〜1971年
影響を受けた人物
Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Gary Snyder, Philip Whalen
影響を与えた人物
Contemporaneous Beat poets and later California poets, Jack Kerouac (modeled a character after Welch)

学歴

Stockton Junior College
期間: 1940年代
国: United States
Developed an interest in Gertrude Stein
Reed College
Philosophy and English (engaged in poetry activities)
期間: 1948頃
国: United States
Roomed with Gary Snyder and befriended Philip Whalen
University of Chicago
Studied philosophy and English
期間: 1950年代
国: United States
Studied while working in advertising

受賞・候補エディション

作品

代表作

Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road

1973年 Poetry (haiku)

A collection of haiku by several poets including Welch, featuring short poems that capture moments on the road.

travelnatureevocation of moments

Ring of Bone: Collected Poems

1979年 Poetry (collected poems)

A comprehensive collected volume of poems from the 1950s through 1970, containing many of Welch's representative works.

Beat movementnatureself-exploration

I, Leo: An Unfinished Novel

1977年 Novel (unfinished)

An unfinished long-form work containing fragmentary prose attempting to explore the poet's perspective in novel form.

selfhoodmemorycreative struggle

Selected Poems

1976年 Poetry

A selection of poems prefaced by Gary Snyder, collecting Welch's representative short and experimental pieces.

Beat cultureexperimental poetryviews of nature

全著作

  • Trip Trap: Haiku on the Road (1973) — Jack Kerouac, Albert Saijo, and Lew Welch
  • How I Work as a Poet (1973)
  • Selected Poems (1976)
  • On Bread and Poetry: A Panel Discussion Between Gary Snyder, Lew Welch, and Philip Whalen (1977)
  • I, Leo: An Unfinished Novel (1977)
  • Ring of Bone: Collected Poems (1979)
  • I Remain – The Letters of Lew Welch & the Correspondence of His Friends (Volume 1: 1949–1960) (1980)
  • I Remain – The Letters of Lew Welch & the Correspondence of His Friends (Volume 2: 1960–1971) (1980)
  • How I Read Gertrude Stein (1995, originally written late-1940s)
  • Ring of Bone: Collected Poems (New & Expanded Edition) (2012)

作風・主題

文体
Direct, colloquial style characteristic of the Beat generationCondensed expression influenced by haiku and short lyric formsExperimental and fragmentary prose-poetic techniques
頻出モチーフ
nature and landscapetravel and movementalcohol and wanderinginfluences of Zen and Eastern thought

健康

  • Emotional/mental health problems (depression, emotional instability)
    1950年代〜1971年
    Affected his writing and life; related to therapy in the 1960s and his eventual disappearance/likely suicide

評価・遺産

Welch left an important mark on the California poetry scene as a member of the Beat generation. Although he did not achieve major commercial success in life, his work was edited and published posthumously and his experimental, moment-focused poetry has been recognized. Jack Kerouac modeled a character on him.

資料所蔵先

  • UC San Diego Library Special Collections (Lew Welch Papers)

大衆文化への影響

  • Modeled the character Dave Wain in Jack Kerouac's novel Big Sur

豆知識

  • Acted as a stepfather figure to musician Huey Lewis
  • Signed the 1968 'Writers and Editors War Tax Protest' against the Vietnam War
  • Left a suicide note on May 23, 1971, walked into the California mountains and his body was never found
  • Attributed by some sources with coining the advertising slogan 'Raid Kills Bugs Dead', though this claim is disputed