Series I

The inaugural Series I maps out seminal poetic conversations of the 50s-70s, drawing on correspondence, journals, and essays fromthe era. Kenneth Koch and Frank O’Hara trade transatlantic confidences even as they create a poetic lexicon for the emerging New York School of poetry; Ed Dorn and Amiri Baraka discuss poetry as political action, while Philip Whalen’s journals explore his writing and Zen Buddhist practices, California hikes, and love of jazz. The set also includes a heretofore unpublished essay on Darwin by Muriel Rukeyser, who invaluably articulates a juncture of the scientific and literary imaginations. It also includes records of the legendary 1963 Vancouver Poetry Conference: Robert Creeley’s Contexts of Poetry and in-medias-res notes by Daphne Marlatt. Accompanied by detailed annotations, introductions, and notes on methodology, this vivid cross-section of voices and genres starts the research team of Lost & Found on a journey to defining, contextualizing, and revitalizing the poetic tendencies of “New American Poetry.”