# Robin Blaser
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{{short description|Canadian poet}}
{{Infobox writer
| image = Robin Blaser.jpg
| alt = Robin Blaser
| caption = Robin Blaser
| birth_name = Robin Francis Blaser
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|05|18}}
| birth_place = [Denver](/source/Denver), [Colorado](/source/Colorado), United States
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2009|05|07|1925|05|18}}
| death_place = [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), Canada
| occupation = Playwright, poet, translator
| citizenship = American, Canadian
| alma_mater = [Simon Fraser University](/source/Simon_Fraser_University)
| period = 1964–2008
| movement = [San Francisco Renaissance](/source/San_Francisco_Renaissance)
| awards = {{Awards|award=Lifetime Recognition Award |year=2006|name= Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry}} {{Awards|award=[Griffin Poetry Prize](/source/Griffin_Poetry_Prize) |year=2008}}
| portaldisp = y
}}
'''Robin Francis Blaser''' (May 18, 1925 – May 7, 2009) was an American-born Canadian playwright, poet, and translator.
==Personal background==
Born in [Denver, Colorado](/source/Denver%2C_Colorado), Blaser grew up in [Idaho](/source/Idaho), and came to [Berkeley, California](/source/Berkeley%2C_California), in 1944. There he met [Jack Spicer](/source/Jack_Spicer) and [Robert Duncan](/source/Robert_Duncan_(poet)), becoming a key figure in the [San Francisco Renaissance](/source/San_Francisco_Renaissance) of the 1950s and early 1960s. [Nichols. Miriam. 2019. ''A Literary Biography of Robin Blaser: Mechanic of Splendor.'' Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Lewis Ellingham & Kevin Killian. 1998. ''Poetry Be Like God: Jack Spicer and the San Francisco Renaissance.'' Wesleyan University Press.] He moved to [Canada](/source/Canada) in 1966, joining the faculty of [Simon Fraser University](/source/Simon_Fraser_University); after taking early retirement in the 1980s, he held the position of [professor emeritus](/source/professor_emeritus). He lived in the [Kitsilano](/source/Kitsilano) neighborhood of [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia).{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
In June 1995, for Blaser's 70th birthday, a conference was held in Vancouver to pay tribute to his contribution to [Canadian poetry](/source/Canadian_poetry). The conference, known as the "Recovery of the Public World" (a phrase borrowed from [Hannah Arendt](/source/Hannah_Arendt)), was attended by poets from around the world, including Canadian poets [Michael Ondaatje](/source/Michael_Ondaatje), [Steve McCaffery](/source/Steve_McCaffery), [Phyllis Webb](/source/Phyllis_Webb), [George Bowering](/source/George_Bowering), [Fred Wah](/source/Fred_Wah), [Stan Persky](/source/Stan_Persky) and [Daphne Marlatt](/source/Daphne_Marlatt); and poets who reside in the [United States](/source/United_States_poetry), including [Michael Palmer](/source/Michael_Palmer_(poet)) and [Norma Cole](/source/Norma_Cole) (who was born in Canada, subsequently migrating to [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco)).
Blaser was also well known as the editor of ''[The Collected Books of Jack Spicer](/source/The_Collected_Books_of_Jack_Spicer)'', which includes Blaser's essay, ''The Practice of Outside''. The 1993 publication ''The Holy Forest'' represents his collected poems to that date.
In 2006, Blaser received a special Lifetime Recognition Award given by the trustees of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, which also awards the annual [Griffin Poetry Prize](/source/Griffin_Poetry_Prize). Blaser won the Prize itself in 2008.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
==Bibliography==
===Poetry===
*''The Moth Poem'' (White Rabbit Press, 1964)
*''[Les Chimères](/source/The_Chimeras): Translations of Nerval for Fran Herndon'' (Open Space, 1969)
*''Cups'' (Four Seasons Foundation, 1968)
*''Image Nations 1-12 & The Stadium of the Mirror'' (Ferry Press, 1974)
*''Image Nations 13 & 14, Luck Unluck Oneluck, Sky-stone, Suddenly, Gathering'' (Cobblestone Press, 1975)
*''Harp Trees'' (Sun Stone House & Cobblestoen Press 1977)
*''Image Nation 15: The Lacquerhouse'' (W. Hoffer, 1981)
*''Syntax'' (Talonbooks, 1983)
*''The Faerie Queene and The Park'' (Fissure Books, 1987)
*''Pell Mell'' (Coach House, 1988)
*''The Holy Forest'', edited Stan Persky & Michael Ondaatje (Coach House, 1993)
*''Nomad'' (Slug Press, 1995)
*''Wanders'', with [Meredith Quartermain](/source/Meredith_Quartermain) (Nomados, 2002)
*''The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser'', revised and expanded edition, edited Miriam Nichols (University of California Press, 2007). {{ISBN|0-520-24593-8}} (winner of the 2008 Canadian [Griffin Poetry Prize](/source/Griffin_Poetry_Prize))
===Essays===
*''The Fire'', 1967
*''The Stadium of the Mirror'', 1974
*''The Practice of Outside'', 1975
*''The Violets: Charles Olson and [Alfred North Whitehead](/source/Alfred_North_Whitehead)'', 1983
*''My Vocabulary Did This To Me'' [on Jack Spicer], 1987
*''Poetry and Positivisms'', 1989
*''The Elf of It'' [on Robert Duncan], 1992
*''The Recovery of the Public World'' and ''Among Afterthoughts on This Occasion'', 1993
*''Here Lies the Woodpecker Who Was Zeus'' [on Mary Butts], 1995
* ''Bach's Belief'' (Institute of Further Studies, 1995)
*''Thinking about Irreparables, a talk'' (''Raddle Moon'', 2000)
*''The Fire: Collected Essays of Robin Blaser'', edited Miriam Nichols (University of California Press, 2006) [ Includes "Poetry and Positivisms," "The Recovery of the Public World," " 'My Vocabulary Did This to Me,' " "The 'Elf' of It," "Bach's Belief," and most of the others listed above.]
*''The Astonishment Tapes: Talks on Poetry and Autobiography'', ed. Miriam Nichols (University of Alabama Press, 2015).
===Opera libretto===
*''[The Last Supper](/source/The_Last_Supper_(opera))'', the libretto for Harrison Birtwistle's opera (2000)
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
{{external links|section|date=August 2019}}
{{Prone to spam|date=August 2019}}
*[http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/blaser/ Robin Blaser Homepage at the Electronic Poetry Center]
*[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5244 Literary Encyclopedia entry]
*[https://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/awards-and-poets/shortlists/2008-shortlist/robin-blaser/ Griffin Poetry Prize biography]
*[https://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/see-and-hear-poetry/a-g/robin-blaser/ Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip]
*[http://www.griffinpoetryprize.com/awards-and-poets/lifetime-recognition-award/robin-blaser/ Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award]
*[http://jacketmagazine.com/22/blaser-quar.html''Lyric Capability: the Syntax of Robin Blaser'', an essay by Meredith Quartermain]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120425163126/http://malahatreview.ca/issues/176reviews_cole.html "Robyn Blaser and Friendship," a review essay by Richard Cole]
*[https://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Blaser.html MP3 files of Blaser's readings and lectures]
*[https://bothbothseries.blogspot.com/2007/02/interview-with-robin-blaser-that.html Interview with Robin Blaser, conducted by John Sakkis]
*[https://archive.today/20110815182213/http://www.berkeleydaily.org/text/article.cfm?issue=09-11-07&storyID=27990 Small Press Traffic honor ]
*[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robin-blaser Blaser's entry in ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'']
*[http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/blog/#05-07-09 Robin Blaser's obituary notice] from poet [Charles Bernstein](/source/Charles_Bernstein_(poet)), including Bernstein's "Afterword" to ''The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser'' (2006)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090512202322/http://dooneyscafe.com/archives/1593 "Robin Blaser, 1925-2009: Death’s Duty"] by [Stan Persky](/source/Stan_Persky)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090529105306/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/article1136274.ece ‘Showing us things both marvellous and horrific'] by Sandra Martin in ''The Globe and Mail''
*[http://www.lib.sfu.ca/system/files/28909/finding_aid_blaser_2015.pdf Records of Robin Blaser are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202025219/http://www.lib.sfu.ca/system/files/28909/finding_aid_blaser_2015.pdf |date=2017-02-02 }}
{{Poets in The New American Poetry 1945–1960|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaser, Robin}}
Category:1925 births
Category:2009 deaths
Category:Academic staff of Simon Fraser University
Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
Category:20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
Category:20th-century Canadian male writers
Category:20th-century Canadian poets
Category:21st-century Canadian male writers
Category:21st-century Canadian poets
Category:American emigrants to Canada
Category:American gay writers
Category:American LGBTQ poets
Category:American opera librettists
Category:Canadian male poets
Category:Canadian gay writers
Category:Canadian LGBTQ poets
Category:Canadian opera librettists
Category:Gay poets
Category:Poets from Colorado
Category:Poets from Vancouver
Category:Translators of Gérard de Nerval
Category:Writers from Berkeley, California
Category:Writers from Denver
Category:Writers from Idaho
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robin Blaser](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Blaser) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Blaser?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.