Description
Poetry. Collecting Theodore Enslin's major work from 1993 to 2003, NINE is a companion volume to Enslin's THEN, AND NOW: SELECTED POEMS 1943-1993, published by the National Poetry Foundation in 1999. Since the late 1980s, Enslin has devoted his energies primarily to the composition of theme-and-variations sequences, exploring the musical permutations of a limited cluster of words, and NINE collects these sequences. In a review of Enslin's IN TANDEM, Tony Frazer writes, "Enslin's work has taken on a different kind of organization in recent years, in which repetition is used musically." The ultimate effect, says Frazer, is "incantatory," "captivating," "marvelous."
Author Bio
Theodore Enslin (1925-2011) is widely regarded as one of the most musical of American avant-garde poets. He was born in Chester, Pennsylvania. His father was a biblical scholar and his mother a Latin scholar. He studied musical composition at Cambridge, Mass. His teacher, Nadia Boulanger, was the first person to recognize his ability as a writer and encouraged him to pursue his interest in poetry. He said, "I like to be considered as a composer who happens to use words instead of notes." His first book, The Work Proposed, was published by Origin Press in 1958. Enslin moved to Maine in 1960 and lived in Washington County until his death, working at odd jobs and making and selling handmade walking sticks.
Author City: MILBRIDGE, ME USA