Diane Wakoski

Diane Wakoski
Born	1937 Whittier, California, U.S.
Occupation	poet, essayist
Nationality	American
Genres	French surrealism
Influences Allen Ginsberg, Robinson Jeffers, Federico Garcia Lorca, Shakespeare's sonnets, Wallace Stevens, Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams
Influenced Sharon Olds

Diane Wakoski (born August 3, 1937) is a American poet who is primarily associated with the deep image poets, as well as the confessional and Beat poets of the 1960s.^[1]

Biography

Wakoski was born in Whittier, California and studied at the University of California, Berkeley and graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts, where she participated in Thom Gunn's poetry workshops. It was there that she first read many of the modernist poets who would influence her writing style.^[2]

Her early writings were considered part of the deep image movement that also included the works of Jerome Rothenberg, Robert Kelly, and Clayton Eshleman, among others. She also cites William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg as influences. Her later work is more personal and conversational in the Williams mode.

She is best known for a series of poems collectively known as "The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems."^[1][3]

She received considerable attention in the 1980s for controversial comments linking New Formalism with Reaganism.

Wakoski is married to Sam Otter, and taught creative writing at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, retiring in 2011.^[4][5]

Awards

• William Carlos Williams Award for her book Emerald Ice.
• Guggenheim Foundation grant
• National Endowment for the Arts grant
• Fulbright grant

Bibliography

Poetry

• "Red Bandana", echonyc
• "A Valentine for Ben Franklin Who Drives a Truck in California". Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=176007. 
• The butcher's apron: new & selected poems, including "Greed: part 14". David R. Godine Publisher. 2000. ISBN 9781574231441. http://books.google.com/?id=WkVAiNGqIYsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
• The Archaeology of Movies and Books sequence:
  • Argonaut Rose. David R. Godine Publisher. 1998. ISBN 9781574230468. http://books.google.com/?id=mWV5jIXs_c8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
  • The Emerald City of Las Vegas. David R. Godine Publisher. 1995. ISBN 9780876859711. http://books.google.com/?id=AS62II_flfoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
  • Jason the Sailor. David R. Godine Publisher. 1993. ISBN 9780876859025. http://books.google.com/?id=Bl1X_xDMT6sC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
  • Medea the Sorceress. David R. Godine Publisher. 1991. ISBN 9780876858103. http://books.google.com/?id=Kkqgo1qu2ewC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
• Emerald Ice : Selected Poems 1962-1987. David R Godine Pub. 1988. ISBN 9780876857465. http://books.google.com/?id=b7d6yeOw2DwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:Diane+inauthor:Wakoski. 
• The rings of Saturn. Black Sparrow Press. 1986. ISBN 9780876856758. 
• The Collected Greed. David R. Godine Publisher. 1984. ISBN 9780876854648. 
• Waiting for the King of Spain. David R. Godine Publisher. 1980. ISBN 9780876852934. 
• Cap of darkness: including looking for the king of Spain & Pachelbel's Canon. Black Sparrow Press. 1980. ISBN 9780876854556. 
• The man who shook hands. Doubleday. 1978. ISBN 9780385134071. 
• Virtuoso literature for two and four hands. Doubleday. 1975. ISBN 9780385005326. 
• Trilogy: Coins & coffins: Discrepancies and apparitions; The George Washington poems. Doubleday. 1974. ISBN 9780385089104. 
• Dancing on the grave of a son of a bitch. Black Sparrow Press. 1973. ISBN 9780876851807. 
• The motorcycle betrayal poems. Simon and Schuster. 1971. 
• The Magellanic Clouds. Black Sparrow Press. 1970. 
• Inside the blood factory. Doubleday. 1968. 
• Coins & coffins. Hawk's Well Press. 1962. 

Anthology

• Leroi Jones, ed (1962). Four Young Lady Poets: Carol Bergé, Barbara Moraff, Rochelle Owens, Diane Wakoski. Totem Press-Corinth Books. 

Essays

• Towards a New Poetry. University of Michigan Press. 1980. ISBN 9780472063079. 

References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://www.scenemetrospace.com/2008/11/poetry-with-diane-wakoski-sapphos.htm
2. ^ http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/392
3. ^ http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=7137
4. ^ http://www.lib.msu.edu/services/spec_coll/writer/MWCDianeWakoski.html
5. ^ http://specialcollections.lib.msu.edu/html/materials/collections/michcoll/wakoski.htm

External links

• Works by or about Diane Wakoski in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Diane Wakoski at The Academy of American Poets
• RED BANDANNA: a poem

Persondata
Name	Wakoski, Diane
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 3, 1937
Place of birth	Whittier, California, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death