Black Mountain College

“Black Mountain poetry is located in time; in the occasion of its composition; and above all, in the physiological and psychological identity of the poet.” -Edward Halsey Foster

Black Mountain School is a Liberal Art College located in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded by John Andrew Rice, a classics professor, during the Depression and endured into the conservative Eisenhower years. Up until 1951 Rice was the rector of the College, and in 1951 Charles Olson took over and would be the final rector of Black Mountain College.

Charles Olson is described as being one of the most influential poets to The Black Mountain Movement, and he also wanted to discover the fundamentals of the American identity through a long poem. This poem began to take shape in 1953, and his first installment (10 poems) of the Maxitnus Poems were published. In 1956 the second installment (12 poems) was published.

Through the guidance of Charles Olson other Black Mountain influential poets were born, these poets include:

1. Robert Creeley [Picture] [Audio] 4. Jonathan Williams [Picture] [Audio]

2. Robert Duncan [Picture] [Audio] 5. Paul Blackburn [Picture] [Audio]

3. Edward Dorn [Picture] [Audio] 6. Denise Levertov [Picture]

The work done by these poets became known as the Black Mountain Movement. It received this name because of the campus publication, The Black Mountain Review (The Black Mountain Review came out in quarterly issues, and was the leading edge in avant-garde writing).

The Black Mountain Movement encouraged the discovery of the underlying realities of American politics and social movements, and to uncover the hidden forces of the American life. The Black Mountain Movement had similar views and coincided with the Beat Movement, The San Francisco Poets, and had some association with Language poets.

Black Mountain was a big part of the American experience. All different types of artist, from poets to dancers were educated at Black Mountain. Only 1,200 students received the opportunity to study in this creative educational environment, where they were taught about individuality, experimentation, and the cross pollination of arts.

Black Mountain was opened for 23 years, from 1933 until 1956.

[Black Mountain Poems]

Black Mountain Poets included in our text:

1. Denise Levertov, [The Ache of Marriage] (pg.517)

2. Robert Creeley, When I think (pg. 449)