Paul Blackburn

Jonathan Curley (College of New Jersey)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Paul Blackburn is one of the lesser recognized but most significant 20th century American poets. Adapting the oratorical style of Walt Whitman and developing a personalized poetics of consciousness and observation which rejects formalism, closure, and narrative linearity for immediacy, contingency, and the swerves of sensation and subjective surprises, he is most closely linked to Charles Olson and the Black Mountain School, although he roundly rejected the designation. Blackburn’s achievement is the liberation of lyrical verse from overly standardized articulation, sentimental flourish, and a mode of easy and light arrangement. In his grasp, the lyric relies on colloquial, questing expression, a seeming casualness which some critics have mistakenly assumed to be unmediated and artless.…

1717 words

Citation: Curley, Jonathan. "Paul Blackburn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 May 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=428, accessed 19 March 2024.]

428 Paul Blackburn 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.