Poet Be Like God by Kevin Killian
Jack Spicer, unlike his contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Gary Snyder, was a poet who disdained publishing and relished his role as a social outcast. He died in 1965 virtually unrecognized, yet in the following years his work and thought have attracted and intrigued an international audience. Now this comprehensive biography gives a pivotal poet his due. Based on interviews with scores of Spicer's contemporaries, Poet Be Like God details the most intimate aspects of Spicer's life-his family, his friends, his lovers-illuminating not only the man but also many of his poems. Such illumination extends also to the works of others whom Spicer came to know, including the writers Frank O'Hara, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Helen Adam, Robin Blaser, Charles Olson, Philip K. Dick, Richard Brautigan, and Marianne Moore and the painters Jess, Fran Herndon, and Jay DeFeo. The resulting narrative, an engaging chronicle of the San Francisco Renaissance and the emergence of the North Beach gay scene during the 50s and 60s, will be indispensable reading for students of American literature and gay studies.Kevin Killian, the creator and former head of Small Press Traffic, was a well-kept secret among gay literary San Francisco. Tiny Men (1996), I Cry Like a Baby (2001), Shy (1989), Arctic Summer (1997), Spread Eagle (2010), Bedrooms Have Windows (1989), and Action Kylie (2008), a collection of poems inspired by Kylie Minogue, were among his many volumes. He co-edited numerous volumes of Spicer's work, including My Language Done This to Me: The Collected Poems of Jack Spicer (2008), and co-wrote the Jack Spicer biography, Poet Be Like God (1998). He co-edited the long-running poetry zine Mirage/Periodical with his wife Dodie Bellamy. His writing has been frequently anthologized, appearing in publications such as Best American Poetry 1988 (ed.
Discontents (ed. John Ashbery) and John Ashbery's Discontents (ed. Cooper, Dennis). The Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Erotic Literature went to Impossible Princess in 2010. Kevin Killian passed away on the 15th of June, 2019.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780819553089 |
| ISBN 10 | 0819553085 |
| Title | Poet Be Like God |
| Author | Kevin Killian |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press |
| Year published | 1998-08-28 |
| Number of pages | 461 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |