John Tranter
Under the horizon

John Tranter

Tranter in Jacket

...some poems, reviews, interviews, photos and articles, 1997 to 2010

John Tranter, 2011, photo by Sean Hartnett
John Tranter, 2011, photo by Sean Hartnett

John Tranter founded this magazine in 1997. In 2010 he granted it to the University of Pennsylvania. Among the thousands of poems, reviews, interviews, photographs and articles by other creative artists published in «Jacket» magazine, his own work has made an appearance from time to time. This is a listing of that work, from «Jacket» 1 in 1997, to the final «Jacket» issue, 40, in 2010.

«Jacket» 01:
 [»»] John Tranter reviews John Berger’s «Photocopies»: “IT’S SIMPLIFYING THINGS to call John Berger a Eurocentric left-wing analyst of art and culture, but I’m going to do it.”

February 21, 2013

Jonathan Williams: The lord of orchards

A giant feature in Jacket 38

Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams

INTRODUCTION:  
[»»] Jeffery Beam and Richard Owens: The Lord of Orchards: Jonathan Williams at 80: (Excerpt:) Throughout his life in poetry and the arts Williams preferred active involvement with artists and the world at large over cloistered study or administrative labor: “I clearly did not want to become a Byzantinist in the basement of The Morgan Library; or an art critic for The New Yorker; nor did I want to live in the world of competitive business.” His work in the arts thus demanded direct and persistent engagement with the world — a form of engagement that gave rise to both enduring friendships and irreconcilable conflicts. 

REMEMBERING:
[»»] Jonathan Williams: A Life in Pictures
[»»] Basil Bunting: Comment on Jonathan Williams
[»»] Dear JW: Erica Van Horn
[»»] James McGarrell: Mountainside Reader; for JW
[»»] Ann McGarrell: À mon cher Stodge
[»»] Anne Midgette: On With It
[»»] Bob Arnold: Swept in with the Rain
[»»] Charles Lambert: Acts of Kindness
[»»] Diana C. Stoll: Jonathan Williams: More Mouth on that Man
[»»] Gary Carden: The Bard of Scaly Mountain
[»»] Harry Gilonis: from Pliny: Naturalis Historia XXVII. xvi 58
[»»] John Mitzel: Jonathan Williams: An Appreciation
[»»] Michael Rumaker’s Last Letter to Jonathan Williams
[»»] Robert Kelly: Colonel Generosity — Saying Thank You to Jonathan Williams
[»»] Ronald Johnson: A Microscopic/ Telescopic Collage of «The Empire Finals at Verona»

February 18, 2013

'The New Polish Poetry'

In Jacket 29

Polish girl: photo -- Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Polish girl: photo -- Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

44 New Poems from Poland

An selection of poems from Altered State — The New Polish Poetry. Edited by Rod Mengham, Tadeusz Pióro and Piotr Szymor. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2003. Price: £10.95. This selection was chosen by Rod Mengham and John Tranter.

[»»] Marcin Baran: Hot embitterments

[»»] Julia Fiedorczuk: November on the Narew

[»»] Darek Foks: Farewell, Haiku

[»»] Mariusz Grzebalski: Slaughterhouse / Then

[»»] Krzysztof Jaworski: I used to be a slender guy

[»»] Bartłomiej Majzel: Scrumping

[»»] Maciej Melecki: Summer, getting away from yourself

February 15, 2013

Mr. Rubenking's 'Breakdown', by John Tranter

The utilisation of digital computers in the deconstruction and reconstruction of writing

Mr Rubenking's Robot
Mr. Rubenking's Robot

“History works through hindsight; and the spectacles of hindsight are tinted with irony. The model of art versus disorder was renovated early in the Industrial Revolution in the service of a Romantic idea: the construction of a role for the author as a unique creative presence rescuing spiritual value from chaos — the aristocracy were dead, God had fled, and Nature was covered with factories — and whose job it was to certify the value of a literary work on behalf of its consumers, the bourgeoisie.

February 10, 2013

Feature: Bob Perelman, edited by Kristen Gallagher

300 printed pages, in Jacket 39

Bob Perelman
Bob Perelman

I wanted to do this special feature for Jacket on the work of Bob Perelman because I noticed a dearth of writing available on the internet about his work. There is a fair amount written about Language Poetry in general, and more if you have access to the search engines JSTOR, Project Muse, etc., or if you know how to search recent dissertations. But even then, I was surprised to find fewer essays focusing on Perelman alone than I had hoped for.[...] So I decided to edit a collection, and a special issue of Jacket seemed the obvious choice. I knew their editors liked this kind of work and, rather than edit a book, I chose the format of easily accessed online materials to best serve the largest audience. Books take forever and not many people buy them anymore. I wanted people to have access to this as soon as possible and for free. — Kristen Gallagher, from her Introduction

[»»] Kristen Gallagher: Introduction
[»»] Bob Perelman: Biographical Note
 [»»] Rae Armantrout: Bob Perelman’s Grammatology
[»»] Charles Bernstein: The Importance of Being Bob
[»»] Louis Cabri: Poems
[»»] Al Filreis: The President of This Sentence: Bob Perelman’s History
[»»] Kristen Gallagher: Teaching Bob Perelman’s “The Story of My Life”

January 31, 2013