Robin Blaser
Robin Blaser (1925-2009) was an influential American poet whose work reflects a deep engagement with narrative poetry and the complexities of social class. Born in Denver, Colorado, and raised in Idaho, Blaser drew inspiration from his family's diverse backgrounds, particularly from the stories told by his grandmother, which fostered his love for storytelling in poetry. He pursued higher education at several institutions, ultimately earning his B.A. and M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, where he formed significant relationships with fellow poets Jack Spicer and Robert Duncan.
Blaser began his career as a librarian at Harvard University, which marked a turning point in his poetic development. His first major work, *The Holy Forest*, published in 1956, showcased his unique voice and innovative approach to narrative, emphasizing a structure that embraces a sequence of energies rather than a linear story. Throughout his career, Blaser's poetry sought to bridge the gap between social classes, reflecting the influences of his upbringing while also striving for a broader understanding of human experience. His contributions have solidified his reputation within the literary community as a vital figure in 20th-century American poetry.
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Robin Blaser
Poet
- Born: May 18, 1925
- Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
- Died: May 7, 2009
Biography
Robin Blaser was born on May 18, 1925, in Denver, Colorado, to truck driver Robert Augustus and homemaker Ina May Celestine (McCready) Blaser. He grew up in desert communities in Idaho, where his father and maternal grandmother, Sophia Nichols, worked the railways. Nichols’s tales and stories gave Blaser a penchant for lifelong narrative poetry writing, and his grandmother paid for his college education.
Blaser said his childhood experiences led him to retain the “resentment and defensiveness” of his father’s working class stance against the “old American pretensions” of his wife’s side of the family. However, his poetry displays a more balanced effort to understand and acknowledge the intentions of both social classes on both sides of his extended family.
Blaser attended Northwestern University and the College of Idaho in Caldwell before enrolling at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his B.A. in 1952. While at Berkeley, he met poets Jack Spicer and Robert Duncan, whom Blaser has called his “two real companions in poetry.” He earned an M.A. at Berkeley in 1954 and a library science degree from that school in 1955.
Blaser took a job as a librarian at the Widener Library at Harvard University in 1956, a date he describes as one year after he began to be a poet in his own right, departing in voice, style, and mechanics from mentors, colleagues, and other poets. His newfound style is evident in his first major work, The Holy Forest (1956), which established Blaser’s poetic voice, imagery, and use of diction. The Holy Forest also introduced Blaser’s favored style, one he described in his autobiographical essay as a particular kind of narrative that “refuses to adopt an imposed story line,” that completes itself only in sequence, and that, acting as a sequence “of energies,” run out when “so much of the story is told.”