Jack Anderson 02-20-1969
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Authors
Anderson, Jack
Issue Date
1969-02-20
Type
Video
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Gregory Fitzgerald and Steven Bird interview Jack Anderson. Jack Anderson, at the time of filming, had authored two collections of poetry: "The Hurricane Lamp" and "The Invention of New Jersey". Anderson opens the interview with a reading of "Smoking in Bed". The first topic of discussion is the dream-like nature of "Smoking in Bed". Anderson talks about the surrealist art and poetry that he enjoys and how he constructs the concept of the self as it relates to the objects he mentions in his work.
Anderson is invited to talk about the different schools of thought of popular art and poetry that had influence in Anderson's work. He mentioned his greatest influence was Keates, due to being profoundly impressed by his work early in his writing career. The conversation shifts to an exploration of the structure of the poem, "Smoking in Bed", and why Anderson writes in the forms he chooses and how the literary devices he uses serve his work. Anderson gives a number of different examples of different poems he has written to demonstrate the function of those literary devices. Most examples cited are from "The Hurricane Lamp".
The interview takes a beat for a reading of "Shutters".
The discussion returns as an exploration of the literary devices Anderson used in "Shutters", particularly, how Anderson's poetry lends itself to the imagery his work conjures. Anderson outlines the speakers he writes as being in a state of emotional distress and distinguishes how emotional distress and "madness" are different for him and the speakers he writes. The discussion closes with a brief explanation of his latest 1969 work "The Invention of New Jersey", a collection of poetry Anderson had written over the course of eight to ten years.
Description
Citation
Publisher
SUNY Brockport