Contemporary Olson

<p>As poet critic theorist and teacher Charles Olson extended the possibilities of modern writing. From <i>Call Me Ishmael</i> his pioneering study of Herman Melville to his epic poetic project <i>The Maximus Poems</i> Olson probed the relation between language space and community. Writing in the aftermath of the Second World War he provided radical resources for the re-imagining of place and politics resources for collective thought and creative practice we are still learning how to use. <br><br> Re-situating Olson's work in relation both to his own moment and to current concerns the essays assembled in <i>Contemporary Olson</i> provide a major re-assessment of his place in postwar poetry and culture. Through a series of contextualising chapters discussions of individual poems and reflections on Olson's legacy by leading international writers and critics the book presents a poet who still informs contemporary poetry.</p>