The author of more than twenty volumes of poetry, over twenty plays, two novels, and three collections of essays, Michael McClure’s most powerful and persistent message is that humans must strive to regain their biological identity as mammals. Writing in what his friend Gary Snyder calls a “biological / wild / unconscious / fairytale / new / scientific / imagination form” (

The Real Work

124), McClure pushes his readers to reconsider their place in the world, to question and revolt against man-made political structures, and to reexamine their relationship to the rest of nature. “LET US THROW OUT THE WORD

MAN

!”, he urges, and seek in place of this limited role the “mammalian possibility” of “a larger place” in the world (

Meat Science Essays

79-80).

Michael McClure was born

2363 words

Citation: Phillips, Rod. "Michael McClure". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 22 May 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3031, accessed 28 March 2024.]

3031 Michael McClure 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.

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