American Book Awards
1 appearances
-
Edition 6 (1985) Winner
Robert Edward Duncan
ロバート・エドワード・ダンカン
Robāto Edowādo Dankan
Aliases:
Edward Howard Duncan Jr. / Robert Edward Symmes / Robert Duncan
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1919-01-07 （Oakland, California, U.S.）
- Died
- 1988-02-03 （San Francisco, California, U.S.） age 69
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Influenced by Theosophy
- Residence History
- Oakland (birth) → Berkeley (student, early writing) → San Francisco (main base of activity) → New York (residence) → Philadelphia (residence) → Annapolis (residence)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, essayist, translator, teacher
- Active Years
- 1936-1988
- Affiliations
- New College of California (coordinated Poetics Program), Jess Collins and Robert Duncan Trust (associated)
- Influenced By
- H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, D. H. Lawrence, Charles Olson, Kenneth Rexroth
- Influenced
- Poets of the San Francisco Renaissance, Poets associated with the New American Poetry, Black Mountain poets, Later experimental poets such as Michael Palmer
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California, Berkeley | College of Letters and Science (studies in Medieval and Renaissance literature) | Medieval and Renaissance Literature | — | 1936–1938 | United States |
| Black Mountain College | — | — | — | 1938（短期在籍） | United States |
University of California, Berkeley
College of Letters and Science (studies in Medieval and Renaissance literature)
/ Medieval and Renaissance Literature
Period:
1936–1938
Country:
United States
Enrolled around 1936; began writing poetry there. No confirmed degree information.
Black Mountain College
Period:
1938（短期在籍）
Country:
United States
Attended briefly in 1938; left after a dispute with faculty over the Spanish Civil War.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | National Poetry Award | Ground Work: Before the War | — | unknown | 受賞 |
National Poetry Award
1984
Work:
Ground Work: Before the War
Organization:
unknown
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Heavenly City Earthly City
1947 poetry collectionDuncan's first book, collecting early experimental poems that show the seeds of themes and styles developed later.
mythreligious imagerypersonal memory
The Opening of the Field
1960 poetry collection (modernist)One of Duncan's major works, containing short lyrics, prose-poems, and a long poem combining mythic and visionary images with experimental forms.
naturemythvisionorigins of language
Bending the Bow
1968 poetry collectionA mature 1960s collection showing formal experiments and the fusion of mythic subject matter.
mythpoetic structurepersonal and collective memory
Roots and Branches
1969 poetry collectionAn important late-1960s work that shows the breadth of Duncan's poetic investigations.
lineagetradition and transformationmyth
Ground Work: Before the War
1984 poetry collection (late-period)A return after a long publishing silence; contains mature poems that received significant critical recognition.
memoryhistorical consciousnesslanguage and ritual
Ground Work II: In the Dark
1987 poetry collectionPublished near the end of his life; a collection featuring deep introspection and experimental language.
death and endinginner visionlimits of language
Bibliography
- Selected Poems (City Lights, 1959)
- Heavenly City Earthly City (1947)
- The Opening of the Field (1960)
- Bending the Bow (1968)
- Roots and Branches (1969)
- Ground Work: Before the War (1984)
- Ground Work II: In the Dark (1987)
- The H.D. Book (Collected Writings Vol.1, UC Press, 2011)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- modernist experimentationromantic visionary elementsmythic and apocalyptic narrationshamanistic imagery
- Recurring Motifs
- mythnature (meadows, rivers, rocks)sexual orientation and desireritual and occult symbolsmemory and lineage
Legacy
Robert Duncan was a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and New American Poetry, known for fusing modernist experimentation with mythic vision. He is also regarded as a pioneering figure in pre-Stonewall gay cultural history. Recent collected editions have contributed to a renewed critical appreciation.
Museums
- Jess Collins and Robert Duncan Trust San Francisco, California, U.S.
Academic Societies
- Academy of American Poets (associated)
Archives
- The Robert Duncan Papers at Washington University in St. Louis
In Popular Culture
- Contribution to the cultural contexts of the San Francisco Renaissance and the Beat generation
- Positioned as a pioneering figure in gay cultural history
Quotes
-
Neither our vices nor our virtues further the poem. "They came up and died just like they do every year on the rocks. The poem feeds upon thought, feeling, impulse, to breed itself, a spiritual urgency at the dark ladders leaping."
Source: Poem excerpt — associated with The Opening of the Field (1960)
Trivia
- He was adopted shortly after birth by a theosophist family; accounts note the adoption was influenced by astrological considerations.
- In 1944 he published "The Homosexual in Society" in the journal politics, becoming one of the first prominent Americans to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality.
- From 1951 he lived and collaborated with the artist Jess Collins for the rest of his life.
- Around 1968 he vowed not to publish a new collection for fifteen years; he returned to book publication with Ground Work: Before the War (1984).