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tags: bucky fuller, Jonathan Williams, green design, poetry, kuroyama, black mountain
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An Evening with Jonathan Williams and Thomas Meyer
Friday, September 30th, 8:00 pm
Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center
56 Broadway, downtown Asheville
Admission: $5 / $3 for BMCM+AC members and students w/ID
Praise for Jonathan Williams
“Of all the Black Mountain poets (teachers and disciples alike), Jonathan Williams is the wittiest, the least constrained, the most joyous.” –
Thomas Lask, The New York Times
“Indispensable! Jonathan Williams is our Johnny Appleseed. We need him more than we know.”
R. Buckminster Fuller
Praise for Thomas Meyer
“...an absolute knockout in every way – the poems have such quiet, elegant clarity, things are so actual in them, air, light, presence of objects, persons. It’s a lovely company to come into.” –
Robert Creeley, poet, writing about Thomas Meyer’s At Dusk Iridescent (A Gathering of Poems 1971-1996)
“The poems make me feel alert and freshly alive. Bottle them!”
Elizabeth Matheson, photographer
On Friday, September 30th at 8:00 pm poets Jonathan Williams and Thomas Meyer will read their work at the Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center located at 56 Broadway in downtown Asheville. The authors will have books for sale at the event.
Born in Asheville, North Carolina (Jonathan Williams) and Seattle, Washington (Thomas Meyer), their combined talents have resulted in two fascinating, occasionally overlapping bodies of work. Working adeptly in many fields, Williams and Meyer delve most deeply into poetry, prose, translations of ancient texts, photography and, of course, publishing.
The Jargon Press, started by Jonathan Williams in 1951 when he was a student at Black Mountain College, carries on the difficult task of publishing as a small press in a big press world. Under the umbrella of The Jargon Society (Mission Statement: "To keep afloat the Ark of Culture in these dark and tacky times!") Jargon has become one of the most active small publishers in the United States. Williams and Meyer, Jargon Director and Assistant Director respectively, have published poetry by the likes of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Kenneth Patchen, Denise Levertov, Paul Metcalf, and many others, as well as photographic monographs and books about Southern folk art.
Williams’ and Meyer’s individual pursuits tend to be as eclectic as their publishing venture. Jonathan Williams has more than fifty published books including An Ear in Bartram's Tree (1969), Blues and Roots/Rue and Bluets (1971), The Loco Logodaedalus in Situ (1972), Elite/Elate Poems (1979) and the recent Jubilant Thicket (2005). As a photographer he created some of the most unforgettable and iconic images associated with Black Mountain College including portraits of the poets, artists and musicians in residence there. Among his many honors are a Guggenheim Fellowship for Poetry, numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, honorary degrees, and the 1977 North Carolina Award in Fine Arts. In 1980 he was one of 21 poets invited by Rosalynn Carter to read at the White House during a “Salute to American Poetry and Poets”.
Thomas Meyer’s numerous books include The Bang Book (1971), Uranian Roses (1977), Sappho’s Raft (1982), Sonnets & Tableaux (with Sandra Fisher, artist) (1987), At Dusk Iridescent (A Gathering of Poems 1971-1996) (1999), and the forthcoming translation Daode jing (Tao te ching) (2005). Awards and honors for Meyer’s work include The Wilton Moore Lockwood Prize
for distinguished writing in course (Bard College) 1969, NEA Creative Fellowship in Poetry 1980, Ingram-Merrill Award for Poetry 1982, NEA Opera & Music Theater (New American Works), and the Creative Fellowship for Librettists 1987.
