San Francisco Renaissance

The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centred around that city and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others (e.g., Ralph J. Gleason, Alan Watts) felt this renaissance was a broader phenomenon and should be seen as also encompassing visual and performing arts, philosophy, cross-cultural interests (particularly those that involved Asian cultures), and new social sensibilities.

First beginnings

The poet Kenneth Rexroth is generally considered to be the founding father of the renaissance. Rexroth was a prominent 2nd generation modernist poet who corresponded with Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and was published in the Objectivist Anthology. He was amongst the first American poets to explore Japanese poetry traditions such as haiku and was also heavily influenced by jazz.

Related Topics:
Kenneth Rexroth - Modernist - Ezra Pound - William Carlos Williams - Objectivist Anthology - Japanese - Haiku - Jazz

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If Rexroth was the founding father, Madeline Gleason was the founding mother. During the 1940s, both she and Rexroth befriended a group of younger Berkeley poets consisting of Robert Duncan, Jack Spicer and Robin Blaser. Gleason and Duncan were particularly close and read and criticised each other's work.

Related Topics:
Madeline Gleason - Berkeley - Robert Duncan - Jack Spicer - Robin Blaser

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