Just thinking about Transgender Day of Visibility, I wonder how many folks were encouraged to proceed on their journey to transition. By being out and living authentically, I pray that someone was helped.
I am mindful of the struggles of folks who want live authentic but are are afraid of crossing that path. There may be someone watching me who is at a crossroads. I pray that they move ahead toward being the person they truly are.
Similar to my taste in music, my writing influences are eclectic.
Major influences: Edgar Allan Poe, Lanston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Herman Melville, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Jack Kerouac
Other Influences: Maya Angelou, Zora Neal Hurston, William Shakespeare, John Milton, Mary Oliver
Authors I Want To Read: D. H. Lawrence, Ezra Pound, Walt Whitman, Derek Walcott
GEORGE OPPEN (1908-1994)
Chief exponent of Objectivism, which emphasized simplicity and clarity.
Becam more engaged in politicsduring the great Depression, becoming a member of the Communist Party. Supported workers rights.
Discrete Series- Oppen's first book published in 1934
Did not write poetry again until 1958.
The Materials- Oppen's 2nd book
Poetry is lean and precise using words sparingly
Won Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for his book Of Being Numerous.
Died from complications of Alzheimer's disease
Reading the biographies of my favorite authors has helped me to understand who they are and why they write/wrote the way they did. Sylvia Plath was the most difficult poet I had trouble understanding until I read her life story. Jack Kerouac was another author I understood when I read his bio.
William Shakespeare is the only person when I read his biography I ended up knowing less about. I'm sure there are others. I believe that biographies help me understand the era the author lived in.
