Joe brainard's book length poem called i remember

Our reprint of this classic is issued in conjunction with the traveling exhibition joe brainard. In our last pennsound daily entry, discussing recordings of robert creeley. In his lengthy almost book length poem i remember, joe brainard used anaphora to recall his oklahoma youth. I was actually going to write about catholic school thanks to some of his sections about church and catholics. In a book which uniquely captures 1950s america, brainard constructs t. In may of 1994, joe brainard died of aidsrelated pneumonia. I used his book for the structure of my poem and how to separate the different lines. I remember when, in high school if you wore green and yellow on thursday it meant that you were queer. I opened the book and found that to read joe brainard is to befriend him. Joe brainard, was an avantgarde poet living in new york city in the 70s and 80s. From 1963 to 1978 joe brainard author of i remember created more than 100 works of art that appropriated the classic comic strip character nancy and sent her into an astonishing variety of spaces, all electrified by the incongruity of her presence. The discombobulations of conventional grammar are so radical in these poems that the poet often seems to be working in the tradition of john cages.

I remember i remember the first time i met frank ohara. I remember when it got so cold we had to wear mittens and. We then played a freeassociation word game, and wrote our own i remember pieces. One of brainards most frequent collaborators was his. In the nancy book, joe brainards nancy traverses high art and low, the poetic and pornographic, the surreal and the absurd.

One by one, the so called important books of our time will be forgotten, but joe brainards modest little gem will endure. The welcome sign hung over this concoction of reference and remembering reads joe. I remember joe brainards book length serial poem jiffy kimona kenward elmslie kaddish allen ginsberg my favorite poem of his linen james schuyler one of his small inthemoment poems i love so much march 18, 2003 michael lally if i do say so myself new personal poem ted berrigan. Albert mobilios most recent book of poems is touch wood brooklyn railblack square editions, 2011. I was culling a lot, so there were many more beginnings and endings on my yellow pad than ultimately went into the poem. Books, 2001, which was about 100 pages of nothing but memories. Works that relate to joe brainard, elmslies longtime lover, partner, collaborator until brainards death in 1994, are especially revelatory. I remember how little your dick is getting out of a.

We were watching a western on tv and he got up as tho to fix a drink or answer the telephone but instead he went over to the typewriter, leaned over it a bit, and typed for 4 or 5 minutes standing up. In 1970, angel hair books published the first edition of i remember700 copies that quickly sold out. I asked students to rely on the fact that they are the experts of their own lives since they are the. Dagatas editorial lens stands out from these equally expansive anthologies. The collected writings is like a manual for how to live more creatively. The entries range in length, from one sentence to one halfpage paragraph. I am way, way up these days over a piece i am still writing called i remember. But the length and repetition hardly ever cause our reading to drag. Elmslies one hundred i remembers, inspired by brainards book length work i remember, is extraordinary even though he didnt invent the form any good form can be reused, thats what its for. I didnt think it could be done, but joe brainard has managed to keep me interested through a book length poem. Here is a first draft of a klink imitation by my student paige townsley, for instance, called some see light. The nancy book joe brainard, ann lauterbach, ron padgett.

Students write more creatively when they repeat themselves. The new york school long poem compares to the large canvas of the abstract expressionist painters. Brainards artistry can appear as plain as that name, yet all the while giving subtle, humanpitched voice to the many selves swirling beneath. Brainard often named ohara as his favorite poet, but the affection he receives in i. An artists chronicle of what we wore in the 1970s, joe brainard wrote a book length poem that paid heed to fashion singer in pillbox hat, 1958 lesley university archives via. I remember a piece of old wood with termites i remember when one year in tulsa i remember a shoe store with a big brown xray machine. Instinctively i reached for a personal old faithful exercise, based on joe brainards book length poem i remember. For example, joe brainards i remember reads like an autobiographical poem, with the extensive anaphoric phrase that gives the piece its title. At first glance, myung mi kims book length poem civil bound might appear completely untethered to familiar points of reference. Perecs book came to me before i found out that hed borrowed the concept as so many others have since from the tulsaborn, new yorkbased visual artist and writer joe brainard. What if they selected one memory from their list and transformed it into a short solo.

At once intensely personal and strikingly universal, brainards i remember has remained a cult classic ever since though this magnificent yolkyellow edition is the first uk publication. Im curious how many of you are familiar with i remember poems. Joe brainards i remember is a literary and artistic cult classic, praised and admired by writers from paul auster to john ashery and edmund white. Brainard reads exclusively from his masterpiece i remember. Octopus by sy montgomery collected poems 19561987 by john ashbery the call of. We included poet anne waldman, director of a small literary press called angel hair books. Joe brainard made his memories yours albert mobilio. What if we asked the italian dancers to freewrite a list of memories. Adventures in anaphora by rebecca hazelton poetry foundation. As autobiography, brainards method was brilliantly simple. New york school of poets oxford research encyclopedia of. Bestons historicism seemed a liberal effort to restore and include in the american story, as it was being retold during the. Rosmarie waldrops book shorter american memory consists of prose poems collaged from documents collected in henry bestons american memory, a book of the late 1930s evincing an americanist zeal for early documents. Joe brainards i remember is a cult classic, envied and admired by writers from frank ohara to john ashbery and edmund white.

Brainards enduring gem of a book has been issued in various forms over the past. Brainards many drawings, collages, assemblages, and paintings, as well as his short essays and verbalvisual collaborations were celebrated during his lifetime before he stopped making art in the mid1980s. It bubbles over with deeply personal vision and a contagious passion for the smallest things in life what brainard calls my faith that everything is interesting, sooner or later. Joe brainard march 11, 1942 may 25, 1994 was an american artist and writer associated with the new york school. Joe brainard was born in salem, arkansas, in 1942, but shortly thereafter his family moved to tulsa, oklahoma, where he grew up. I remember when i thought that if you did anything bad, policemen would put you in jail. He has included many pieces that could be called prose poems, lists, journal entries, or letters. Recently, his childhood friend ron padgett wrote a memoir, published by coffee house press, about his friendship with joe brainard, about growing up in oklahoma in the 1950s, and about his and brainards pursuit of poetry and art in new york city. Joe brainards book was an awesome read and definitely helped me develop my poem. The envoy a sending away serves as the conclusion to a book called mr. What if david incorporated their individual solos into a longer.

In a book which uniquely captures 1950s america, brainard constructs the story of his life through a series of brief entries, each beginning with the words i remember, and continues with observations about family, film stars, lust, and the astonishing new york culture into which he moved to from tulsa at the age of 18. Whether inserted into hypothetical situations, dispatched on erotic adventures, or seemingly rendered by the hands of artists as. We did my six word memoir, a list of i remembers using a kidappropriate selection from joe brainards classic book length poem, a repetitive poem called a version of my life as my favorite animal and other exercises. I remember when my best friend chris finally called me again after so long. Joe brainard used anaphora to recalling his oklahoma youth in his book length poem i remember by starting each phrase with i remember. From an early age joe showed artistic talent, winning virtually every art contest he entered. In the first volume of her diaries, susan sontag, on an off day in 1957, begins listing, in no particular order and with no reason stated, an odd assortment of memories from her childhood and early youth. I remember a piece of old wood with termites running around all over it the termite men found under our front porch. No wonder joe brainards simple reminiscences about life in 1950s. I remember poemsimmortalized by artist and writer joe brainard in his book i remember granary books, 2001. He wrote a book length poem called i remember and the whole book was composed of i remember statements.

I remember is both uproariously funny and deeply moving. Every stanza begins with i remember, but he manages not to make it boring at all. Last month, i read georges perecs i remember, an unsorted list of personal recollections, each prefaced with the title phrase. The poem was composed with a combination of chance and intuitive composition on my part. Much of brainards other work might be loosely described as prose poem or humorous essay or watereddown surrealism. Silver bear poetry project as a community of practice. Born in salem, arkansas and raised in tulsa, artist, poet, and theater set designer joe brainard moved to new york city at age 19. If i could remember all of joe brainards i remember, i would be able.

There, he joined the community of new york school poets and painters who would later become his artistic collaborators, including frank ohara, ted berrigan, john ashbery, and ron padgett. In simple, forthright, declarative sentences, he charts the map of the human soul and permanently alters the way we look at the world. Brainard published more than a dozen books, including the lyrical prosepoem memoir series i remember 1975 and the nancy book 2008, which contains 15 years worth of his artworks and collaborations incorporating ernie bushmillers classic comic strip character, nancy. I remember the skinny guy who gets sand kicked in his face in bodybuilding ads. I remember angel hair, 1970 selected writings kulchur, 1971 bolinas journal big sky, 1971 some drawings of some notes to myself siamese banana, 1971 the cigarette book siamese banana, 1972 the banana book siamese banana, 1972 i remember more angel hair, 1972 the friendly way siamese banana, 1972. The assignment has since become a popular one in poetry workshops. In the early 1970s, new york poet and artist joe brainard wrote a letter to. Filmmaker matt wolf returns to this iconic poem in his film i remember. Joe brainards collection i remember 2001 began with a selfimposed assignment to write a number of lines that began with the title words. I didnt change any words or orders of words within the units i drew from the books, but did decide the length of each. Cogito, named after herberts ruminative alter ego, a recurring figure in his work. I remember poems immortalized by artist and writer joe brainard in his book i remember granary books, 2001. We read an excerpt of joe brainards book length poem, i remenber, and interpreted and discussed the memories a bit.

One by one, the socalled important books of our time will be forgotten, but joe brainards modest little gem will endure. Joe brainard, elmslies longtime lover, partner, collaborator until brainards death in 1994, are especially revelatory. Elmslies one hundred i remembers, inspired by brainards book length work, is extraordinary even though he didnt invent the form any good form can be reused, thats what its for. Smithsonian learning lab is your destination for millions of carefully curated, easily accessible, customizable, and shareable open educational resources. Her lines, at times winnowed down to one per page, are spare and yet eruptive. This is based on joe brainards book length poem called i remember granary. Edited by ron padgett, with an introduction by paul auster. I remember when, in high school i used to stuff a sock in my underwear. I remember when i thought that if you did anything. Joe brainards i remember is a literary and artistic cult classic, praised and. Its all about the pop culture references and those universal moments of feeling just plain odd.