CLASSIFICATION
Swallow ID:
1273
Partner Institution:
Concordia University
Source Collection Label:
SGWU Reading Series-Concordia University Department of English fonds
Series:
The Poetry Series
Sub Series:
SGWU Reading Series-Concordia University Department of English fonds
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Title:
George Oppen at Sir George Williams University, The Poetry Series, 25 November 1968
Title Source:
Cataloguer
Title Note:
"(GEORGE) G OPPEN Poetry Oct 25/68 I086-11-040" written on the spine of the tape's box. "G. OPPEN Poetry I086-11-040" also written on sticker on the reel. "RT 523" written on sticker on the front of the tape's box
Language:
English
Production Context:
Documentary recording
Genre:
Reading: Poetry
Identifiers:
[]
Rights
CREATORS
Name:
Oppen, George
Dates:
1908-1984
Role:
"Author",
"Performer"
Notes:
Poet George Oppen was born on April 24, 1908 in New Rochelle, New York. Spending much of his childhood in San Francisco, Oppen enrolled in the Agricultural College at Corvallis (now University of Oregon) in 1926. He met his future wife, Mary Colby there, and they married in 1928. Oppen attended a prep school in Oakland in the hopes of enrolling at the University at Berkeley, but instead the couple made their way to New York in the hopes of meeting Ezra Pound. In New York City, they met Charles Reznikoff and Louis Zukofsky, and in 1931 they formed the Objectivist movement. Having finally met Ezra Pound, Oppen’s poetry was published in his Active Anthology in 1933 (Faber and Faber). Oppen’s first collection of poetry, written in 1929, Discrete Series, was published by the Objectivist Press in 1934 and opened with a preface by Ezra Pound. From that point onwards, Oppen stopped writing poetry. The Depression had hit and the Oppens spent their time in the 30’s and 40’s organizing the unemployed in Brooklyn. Oppen served for the U.S. Army from 1943-1945 and received a Purple Heart among other honours. After the war, his family moved to Los Angeles, until 1950 when they were harassed by the McCarthy House Un-American Activities Committee for their affiliations with Communism. They fled to Mexico and resided there for eight years. By the time the Oppen family moved back to New York in 1958, Oppen had taken up poetry again. In 1962, Oppen published his second collection of poems, The Materials (New Directions Press), followed in 1965 with This In Which and Of Being Numerous in 1968 (New Directions Press), which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1969. Seascape: Needle’s Eye was published in 1972 (Sumac Press), and in 1975 Oppen compiled his previously published material with new poems in Collected Poems (New Directions). His final collection of poetry, Primitive was published in 1978 (Black Sparrow Press). George Oppen died in July 1984.
CONTRIBUTORS
Name:
Kiyooka, Roy
Dates:
1926-1994
Role:
"Series organizer",
"Presenter"
MATERIAL DESCRIPTION
Recording Type:
Analogue
AV Type:
Audio
Material Designation:
Reel to Reel
Physical Composition:
Magnetic Tape
Extent:
1/4 inch
Playing Speed:
3 3/4 ips
Track Configuration:
Half-track
Playback Mode:
Mono
Tape Brand:
Scotch
Sound Quality:
Poor
DIGITAL FILE DESCRIPTION
File Path:
files.spokenweb.ca>concordia>sgw>audio>all_mp3
Duration:
00:40:12
Size:
96.5 MB
Content:
Roy Kiyooka
00:00:00
This evening, we're having George Oppen
, who is going to start off the third series, now I want to keep this introduction to George very succinct, and I'm going to quote a part of the letter that he sent to us, regarding his activities, I think it adequately, perhaps, sums up what he's been about. It goes like this: "A bibliography, in so far as my memory will produce it. Objectivist Issue of Poetry, Chicago
, circa 1932. A book, Discrete Series, Objectivist Press, 1934, re-issued by Asphodel Press
, 463 The Arcade, Cleveland
, Ohio
. Pound's Active Anthology, 1936, a number of little magazines during 33, 34, Hound and Horn, I believe, Lion and Crown, etc. There it is, you'll see, 25 year gap. Touched on in some of the poems including “Pro Nobis” in This In Which. A forthcoming book, Of Being Numerous, New Directions
scheduled for the spring of 1968." And he ends by saying, "If there is a moral it is one has in fact a great deal of triumph, and then, recently, he has had the following books done: This in Which, by New Directions, 1957, The Materials, New Directions again, 1962, Of Being Numerous, 1968. Now if there's any a book of poems, Discrete Series, there is a long preface by Ezra Pound
, I'd like to quote a segment of that, which goes like this: "I salute a serious craftsman, a sensibility which is not every man's sensibility, and which is not been got out of other man's books." Ladies and gentlemen, George Oppen.
Unknown
00:02:47
[Cut or edit made in tape. Unknown amount of time elapsed].
George Oppen
00:02:48
I think I will, I plan to read two of the longer poems in the last volume, so I will just read the poems. Without pleasantries and so on. We can easily make a conversation if you want afterwards, but I think I better just read the books, read the poems, and I'll make a few intermissions, it's a great deal of poetry both for you and for me, at a single sitting, and we'll make intermissions as however you think, however I think. I'll start with the poem in Of Being Numerous, called "The Route". That's r-o-u-t-e, route.
George Oppen
00:03:37
Reads "The Route" from Of Being Numerous.
Unknown
00:18:45
Silence [cut or edit made in tape].
George Oppen
00:18:58
Resumes reading “The Route’
Unknown
00:22:14
[Cut or edit made in tape].
END
00:40:12
Notes:
George Oppen reads his long poem “The Route” from Of Being Numerous (New Directions Press, 1968).
00:00- Introducer (George Bowering?) introduces George Oppen [INDEX: Objectivist Issue of Poetry, 1932, Discreet Series, Objectivist Press, 1934, re-issued by Asphodel press, 462 Arcade, Cleveland Ohio: with long preface from Ezra Pound, Active Anthology ed. Ezra Pound 1936, Hound and Horn Magazine, Lion and Crown Magazine, Of Being Numerous, New Directions Press, 1968- [One year after recording won the Pulitzer Prize], The Materials, New Directions Press, 1962, This In Which, New Directions Press, 1957]
02:48- George Oppen introduces “The Route”.
03:37- Reads “The Route”. [INDEX: “The Route” in Of Being Numerous : partly about WWII, Alcace, German Nazi Soldiers]
40:12.69- END OF RECORDING
From the Howard Fink list of poems:
25/11/68
one 5” mono, single track reel, @ 3 3/4 ips, lasting 40 min.
1. “The Route”.
Content Type:
Sound Recording
Featured:
Yes
Title:
George Oppen Tape Box - Back
Credit:
Drew Bernet
Content Type:
Photograph
Title:
George Oppen Tape Box - Front
Credit:
Drew Bernet
Content Type:
Photograph
Title:
George Oppen Tape Box - Spine
Credit:
Drew Bernet
Content Type:
Photograph
Title:
George Oppen Tape Box - Reel
Content Type:
Photograph
Dates
Date:
1968 11 25
Type:
Performance Date
Source:
Accompanying Material
Notes:
Date written on the spine of the tape's box. Previous researcher statest the Gazette published the date of the reading as March 8, 1968 but may have been changed subsequently
LOCATION
Address:
1455, Boul de Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Venue:
Hall Building
Latitude:
45.4972758
Longitude:
-73.57893043
Notes:
Exact venue unknown
CONTENT
Contents:
george_oppen_i086-11-040.mp3
Roy Kiyooka
00:00:00
This evening, we're having George Oppen
, who is going to start off the third series, now I want to keep this introduction to George very succinct, and I'm going to quote a part of the letter that he sent to us, regarding his activities, I think it adequately, perhaps, sums up what he's been about. It goes like this: "A bibliography, in so far as my memory will produce it. Objectivist Issue of Poetry, Chicago
, circa 1932. A book, Discrete Series, Objectivist Press, 1934, re-issued by Asphodel Press
, 463 The Arcade, Cleveland
, Ohio
. Pound's Active Anthology, 1936, a number of little magazines during 33, 34, Hound and Horn, I believe, Lion and Crown, etc. There it is, you'll see, 25 year gap. Touched on in some of the poems including “Pro Nobis” in This In Which. A forthcoming book, Of Being Numerous, New Directions
scheduled for the spring of 1968." And he ends by saying, "If there is a moral it is one has in fact a great deal of triumph, and then, recently, he has had the following books done: This in Which, by New Directions, 1957, The Materials, New Directions again, 1962, Of Being Numerous, 1968. Now if there's any a book of poems, Discrete Series, there is a long preface by Ezra Pound
, I'd like to quote a segment of that, which goes like this: "I salute a serious craftsman, a sensibility which is not every man's sensibility, and which is not been got out of other man's books." Ladies and gentlemen, George Oppen.
Unknown
00:02:47
[Cut or edit made in tape. Unknown amount of time elapsed].
George Oppen
00:02:48
I think I will, I plan to read two of the longer poems in the last volume, so I will just read the poems. Without pleasantries and so on. We can easily make a conversation if you want afterwards, but I think I better just read the books, read the poems, and I'll make a few intermissions, it's a great deal of poetry both for you and for me, at a single sitting, and we'll make intermissions as however you think, however I think. I'll start with the poem in Of Being Numerous, called "The Route". That's r-o-u-t-e, route.
George Oppen
00:03:37
Reads "The Route" from Of Being Numerous.
Unknown
00:18:45
Silence [cut or edit made in tape].
George Oppen
00:18:58
Resumes reading “The Route’
Unknown
00:22:14
[Cut or edit made in tape].
END
00:40:12
Notes:
George Oppen reads his long poem “The Route” from Of Being Numerous (New Directions Press, 1968).
NOTES
Type:
General
Note:
Year-Specific Information:
In 1968, George Oppen published Of Being Numerous (New Directions Press, 1968).
Type:
General
Note:
Local Connections:
The direct connection between Oppen and Montreal or Sir George Williams University is unknown. Oppen was an important American poet, forming with Charles Reznikoff (also in this series) and Louis Zukofsky the Objectivist movement, and working with both William Carlos Williams and Ezra Pound.
Type:
Cataloguer
Note:
Original transcript, research, introduction and edits by Celyn Harding-Jones
Additional research and edits by Ali Barillaro
Type:
Preservation
Note:
Reel-to-reel tape>CD>digital file
RELATED WORKS
Citation:
"Oppen, George". The Oxford Companion to American Literature. James D. Hart (ed.), Phillip W. Leininger (rev). Oxford University Press 1995.
Citation:
Oppen, George. Of Being Numerous. New York: New Directions Press, 1968.
Citation:
“SGWU To Have Poetry Series”. Montreal: The Gazette. 14September 1967, page 15.
Citation:
Sutton, Mark. “Oppen, George”. Literature Online Biography. H.W. Wilson Company, Proquest, 2002.
Citation:
“Poetry Readings”. OP-ED. Montreal: Sir George Williams University, 6 October 1967, page 6.