Leslie Scalapino (July 25, 1944 – May 28, 2010) was an American poet, experimental prose writer, playwright, essayist, and editor, sometimes grouped in with the Language poets, though she felt closely tied to the Beat poets. Writes Hejinian: A longtime resident of California's Bay Area, she earned an M.A. in English from the University of California at Berkeley. One of Scalapino's most critically well-received works is Way (North Point Press, 1988), a long poem which won the Poetry Center Award, the Lawrence Lipton Prize, and the American Book Award.
Early life and education Scalapino was born in Santa Barbara, California and raised in Berkeley. She traveled throughout her youth and adulthood to Asia, Africa and Europe and her writing was intensely influenced by these experiences.Some of the other places Scalapino traveled included Tibet, Bhutan, Japan, India, Mongolia, Yemen, Libya In childhood Scalapino traveled with her father Robert A. Scalapino (founder of UC Berkeley's Institute of East Asian Studies), her mother, and her two sisters (Diane and Lynne). She attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon and received her B.A. in Literature in 1966 before moving on to earn her M.A. at UC Berkeley.EPC's Obituary Notice: Leslie Scalapino 1944 - 2010
Career Scalapino published her first book O and Other Poems in 1976. During her lifetime, she published more than thirty books of poetry, prose, inter-genre fiction, plays, essays, and collaborations. Other well-known works of hers include The Return of Painting, The Pearl, and Orion : A Trilogy (North Point, 1991; Talisman, 1997), Dahlia's Iris: Secret Autobiography and Fiction (FC2), Sight (a collaboration with Lyn Hejinian; Edge Books), and Zither & Autobiography (Wesleyan University Press).
Scalapino's poetry has been widely anthologized, including appearances in the influential Postmodern American Poetry, From the Other Side of the Century, and Poems for the Millennium anthologies, as well as the popular Best American Poetry and Pushcart Prize series anthologies. Her work was the subject of a special "critical feature" appearing in an issue of the online poetry journal How2.
From 1986 until 2010, Scalapino ran the Oakland, California small press she founded, O Books. Through O Books, she published collections by Paolo Javier, Brenda Iijima, Judith Goldman, Elizabeth Treadwell, Alice Notley, Aaron Shurin, and many others, as well as four volumes of War & Peace anthologies. Scalapino was also a board member of Poets in Need, assisting poets experiencing crisis.
Scalapino taught writing at various institutions, including 16 years in the MFA program at Bard College. Other schools she taught at over the years included Mills College, the San Francisco Art Institute, California College of the Arts, San Francisco State University, UC San Diego, and Naropa University.
Selected bibliography
Poetry O and Other Poems, Sand Dollar Press, 1976 The Woman who Could Read the Minds of Dogs, Sand Dollar Press, 1976 Instead of an Animal, Cloud Marauder Press, 1978 This eating and walking is associated all right, Tombouctou, 1979 Considering how exaggerated music is, North Point Press, 1982 that they were at the beach — aeolotropic series, North Point Press, 1985 way, North Point Press, 1988 Crowd and not evening or light, O Books, 1992 Sight (with Lyn Hejinian), Edge Books, 1999 New Time, Wesleyan University Press, 1999 The Tango, (with Marina Adams), Granary Press, 2001 Day Ocean State of Stars' Night: Poems & Writings 1989 & 1999-2006, Green Integer (E-L-E-PHANT Series), 2007 It's go in horizontal, Selected Poems 1974-2006, UC Press, Berkeley, 2008
Fiction The Return of Painting, DIA Foundation, 1990 The Return of Painting, The Pearl, and Orion : A Trilogy, North Point, 1991; Talisman, 1997 Defoe, Sun & Moon Press, 1995 The Front Matter, Dead Souls, Wesleyan University Press, 1996 Orchid Jetsam, Tuumba, 2001 Dahlia's Iris — Secret Autobiography and Fiction, FC2, November 2003
Inter-genre writings The Public World / Syntactically Impermanence, Wesleyan University Press, 1999 How Phenomena Appear To Unfold, Potes & Poets Press, 1991 Objects in the Terrifying Tense / Longing from Taking Place, Roof Books, 1994 Green and Black, Selected Writings, Talisman Publishers, 1996 R-hu, Atelos Press, 2000 Zither and Autobiography, Wesleyan, 2003 Floats Horse-Floats or Horse-Flows, Starcherone Books, 2010 The Dihedrons Gazelle-Dihedrals Zoom, The Post-Apollo Press / O Books, 2010
Plays Goya's L.A., a play, Potes & Poets Press, 1994 (music by Larry Ochs) Stone Marmalade (the Dreamed Title), (with Kevin Killian) Singing Horse Press, 1996 The Weatherman Turns Himself In, Zasterle Press, Spain 1999 Flow-Winged Crocodile & A Pair/Actions Are Erased/Appear, Chax Press, Tucson AZ 2010
References
External links Official website Leslie Scalapino Papers, MSS 668. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library. obituary from family at the Electronic Poetry Center How2 Special Feature: Leslie Scalapino O Books, Scalapino-founded small press Scalapino's Author Page at the Electronic Poetry Center 'The Tango' reviewed by Melissa Flores-Bórquez at poetry mag "Intercapillary Space" Disbelief: History/Memory/Body: Language is the Trace of Being written for the Segue Panel "Language Poetry and the Body", May 12, 2007 It’s go in horizontal by Leslie Scalapino A review by John Herbert Cunningham The Dihedrons Gazelle-Dihedrals Zoom: Introductory note and chapters 6–12 Writes Scalapino in the "Introductory note":–