Leslie Scalapino
Leslie Scalapino is a notable contemporary avant-garde poet and publisher, known for her innovative and experimental approach to poetry and prose. Raised in Berkeley, California, she was influenced by her father's academic background in political science and Asia, which contributed to the Zen-like themes present in her work. Scalapino earned her B.A. from Reed College and later obtained an M.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley. Throughout her career, she held various academic positions at institutions like San Francisco State University and Bard College, despite developing a critical stance towards the academic establishment.
In 1986, Scalapino founded O Books, a publishing house dedicated to intergenre works, where she published her own experimental poetry and prose. One of her notable works, "R-hu," is a unique blend of essays, lyrics, poetry, and fiction inspired by her experiences while crossing the Gobi Desert. Scalapino's writing aligns with the principles of the Language school of poetry and the Objectivist movement. Over her career, she has received several prestigious awards, including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the American Book Award's Before Columbus Foundation Award for her book "Way." Scalapino's contributions to literature continue to resonate, reflecting her rich background and commitment to pushing the boundaries of poetic expression.
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Leslie Scalapino
Author
- Born: July 25, 1947
- Birthplace: Santa Barbara, California
- Died: May 28, 2010
- Place of death: Berkeley, California
Biography
Raised in Berkeley, California, where her father worked at the University of California as a political scientist whose interest was Asian politics, Leslie Scalapino from an early age was exposed to elements that would later contribute to the Zen-like qualities that frequently appear in her work. Scalapino received a B.A. from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, before returning to Berkeley to obtain an M.A, in English from the University of California. Her experiences at the University of California made her into a feminist and engendered in her a decidedly antiacademic bias.
Despite this bias, Scalapino has held a number of academic appointments, including teaching at the College of Marin, in Kentfield, California; the New College of California in San Francisco; San Francisco State University; the University of California, San Diego; and Bard College in Annandale, New York. Since 1986, however, Scalapino has concentrated most of her efforts on O Books, a publishing house she founded that year. At O Books, Scalapino publishes intergenre works as well as her own highly experimental book-length poems. Another publisher released one of Scalapino’s own intergenre works, R-hu, a compendium of essays, lyrics, poetry, and fiction which she composed while crossing the Gobi Desert. Scalapino explained that in writing R-hu “I simply put into writing what I was thinking as well as seeing.” Her words serve as an accurate description of the methods employed by other proponents of the “Language” school of poetry as well as the larger Objectivist movement.
Scalapino has been married twice, first to Wesley St. John, whom she married in June, 1968, and divorced seven years later, and then to Tom White, a biochemist whom she married in May, 1987. Widely regarded as one of the most prominent contemporary avant-garde poets, she has received numerous awards, including National Endowment for the Arts fellowships in poetry in 1976 and 1986, the Lawrence Lipton Award in 1988, and the American Book Award’s Before Columbus Foundation Award in 1989 for Way.