Speaking with George Oppen : Interviews with the Poet and Mary Oppen, 1968-1987

Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012. — 281 p. — ISBN-10: 0786467886; ISBN-13: 978-0786467884. Seventeen interviews with George and Mary Oppen, conducted between 1968 and 1987, are here brought together for the first time. Two are fresh discoveries, while re-audited recordings of other interviews have given a new authoritative accuracy to the text. These conversations provide a unique account of a major American poet's evolution, through the Depression, war, exile and a return to poetry after two decades of silence. They span Oppen's early years as an Objectivist, his assessments of such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams, and his views on the merits of his later contemporaries Allen Ginsberg, Jerome Rothenburg and others. Above all, it is Oppen's detailed commentary on his own writing, and his explanations of how individual poems unfold, which gives special importance to these new collected interviews. Introduction Works by George and Mary Oppen George Oppen Interviewed by L.S. Dembo, Madison, Wisconsin, April 25, 1968 George Oppen Interviewed by L.S. Dembo, Madison, Wisconsin, May 1968 George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian and David Gitin KPFA, Berkeley, March 30, 1970 George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian and Don Branning, Polk Street, San Francisco, February 2, 1973 George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Tomlinson, BBC Radio 3, May 22, 1973 George Oppen and Ted Berrigan, with the Novelist Marvin Cohen, Interviewed by Ruth Ellen Gruber, London, June 11, 1973 George Oppen Interviewed by Reinhold Schiffer, Polk Street, San Francisco, May 1, 1975 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Kevin Power, Polk Street, San Francisco, May 25, 1975 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Michel Engelbert and Michael West, San Francisco, c. 1976 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian, KPFA, Berkeley, January/February 1976 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Serge Fauchereau, Polk Street, San Francisco, November 22, 1976 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 9, 1978 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 12, 1978 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 13, 1978 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Tom Sharp, Polk Street, San Francisco, November 10, 1978 George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Burton Hatlen and Tom Mandel, Polk Street, San Francisco, June 1980 Mary Oppen Interviewed by Dennis Young, Berkeley, July 2, 1987 Acknowledgments 8 Table of Contents 10 Introduction 12 Works by George and Mary Oppen 17 1. George Oppen Interviewed by L.S. Dembo, Madison, Wisconsin, April 25, 1968 18 2. George Oppen Interviewed by L.S. Dembo, Madison, Wisconsin, May 1968 34 3. George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian and David Gitin, KPFA, Berkeley, March 30, 1970 46 4. George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian and Don Branning, Polk Street, San Francisco, February 2, 1973 56 5. George Oppen Interviewed by Charles Tomlinson, BBC Radio 3, May 22, 1973 68 6. George Oppen and Ted Berrigan, with the Novelist Marvin Cohen, Interviewed by Ruth Ellen Gruber, London, June 11, 1973 73 7. George Oppen Interviewed by Reinhold Schiffer, Polk Street, San Francisco, May 1, 1975 86 8. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Kevin Power, Polk Street, San Francisco, May 25, 1975 97 9. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Michel Engelbert and Michael West, San Francisco, c. 1976 123 10. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Charles Amirkhanian, KPFA, Berkeley, January/February 1976 131 11. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Serge Fauchereau, Polk Street, San Francisco, November 22, 1976 137 12. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 9, 1978 154 13. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 12, 1978 167 14. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by David McAleavey, Polk Street, San Francisco, January 13, 1978 172 15. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Tom Sharp, Polk Street, San Francisco, November 10, 1978 200 16. George and Mary Oppen Interviewed by Burton Hatlen and Tom Mandel, Polk Street, San Francisco, June 1980 227 17. Mary Oppen Interviewed by Dennis Young, Berkeley, July 2, 1987 250 Index 276 Seventeen Interviews With George And Mary Oppen, Conducted Between 1968 And 1987, Are Brought Together For The First Time. These Conversations Provide A Unique Account Of A Major American Poet's Evolution. It Is Oppen's Detailed Commentary On His Own Writing, And His Explanations Of How Individual Poems Unfold, Which Gives Special Importance To These New Collected Interviews--provided By Publisher. Edited By Richard Swigg. Includes Index.