Editing Language poets (section)

==History==

The movement has been highly decentralized. On the West Coast, an early seed of language poetry was the launch of ''[[This (magazine)|This]]'' magazine, edited by [[Robert Grenier (poet)|Robert Grenier]] and [[Barrett Watten]], in 1971. ''[[L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (magazine)|L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E]]'', edited by [[Bruce Andrews]] and [[Charles Bernstein (poet)|Charles Bernstein]], ran from 1978 to 1982, and was published in New York. It featured poetics, forums on writers in the movement, and themes such as "The Politics of Poetry" and "Reading Stein". [[Ron Silliman]]'s poetry newsletter ''Tottel's'' (1970–81),<ref>Available online at the ''Eclipse'' archive: [http://english.utah.edu/eclipse/projects/TOTTELS/ ''Tottel's Magazine''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807171904/http://english.utah.edu/eclipse/projects/TOTTELS/ |date=2007-08-07 }}.</ref> [[Bruce Andrews]]'s selections in a special issue of ''Toothpick'' (1973), as well as [[Lyn Hejinian]]'s editing of Tuumba Press, and [[James Sherry (poet)|James Sherry]]'s editing of ''Roof'' magazine also contributed to the development of ideas in language poetry. The first significant collection of language-centered poetics was the article, "The Politics of the Referent," edited by [[Steve McCaffery]] for the Toronto-based publication, ''Open Letter'' (1977).

In an essay from the first issue of ''This'', Grenier declared: "I HATE SPEECH". Grenier's ironic statement (itself a speech act), and a questioning attitude to the referentiality of language, became central to language poets. Ron Silliman, in the introduction to his anthology ''In the American Tree,'' appealed to a number of young U.S. poets who were dissatisfied with the work of the [[Black Mountain poets|Black Mountain]] and [[Beat generation|Beat]] poets.

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"I HATE SPEECH" — '''Robert Grenier'''
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: "Thus capitalized, these words in an essay entitled "On Speech," the second of five short critical pieces by Robert Grenier in the first issue of ''This'', the magazine he cofounded with Barrett Watten in winter, 1971, announced a breach – and a new moment in American writing.
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| style="text-align: right;" | '''Ron Silliman'''<ref>"Introduction: Language, Realism, Poetry," ''In The American Tree'' (See below "Further reading: Anthologies")</ref>
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The range of poetry published that focused on "[[Philosophy of language|language]]" in ''This,'' ''Tottel's,'' ''L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E'', and also in several other key publications and essays of the time, established the field of discussion that would emerge as Language (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E) poetry.

During the 1970s, a number of magazines published poets who would become associated with the Language movement. These included ''A Hundred Posters'' (edited by [[Alan Davies (poet)|Alan Davies]]), ''Big Deal,'' ''Dog City,'' ''Hills,'' ''Là Bas,'' ''MIAM,'' ''Oculist Witnesses,'' ''QU,'' and ''Roof.'' ''[[Poetics Journal]],'' which published writings in poetics and was edited by [[Lyn Hejinian]] and [[Barrett Watten]], appeared from 1982 to 1998. Significant early gatherings of Language writing included Bruce Andrews's selection in ''Toothpick'' (1973); Silliman's selection "The Dwelling Place: 9 Poets" in ''Alcheringa,'' (1975), and Charles Bernstein's "A Language Sampler," in ''The Paris Review'' (1982).

Certain poetry reading series, especially in New York, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, were important venues for the performance of this new work, and for the development of dialogue and collaboration among poets. Most important were Ear Inn reading series in New York, founded in 1978 by Ted Greenwald and Charles Bernstein and later organized through [[James Sherry (poet)|James Sherry]]'s Segue Foundation and curated by Mitch Highfill, Jeanne Lance, Andrew Levy, Rob Fitterman, Laynie Brown, Alan Davies, and [[The Poetry Society of New York]]; Folio Books in Washington, D.C., founded by Doug Lang; and the Grand Piano reading series in San Francisco, which was curated by [[Barrett Watten]], [[Ron Silliman]], [[Tom Mandel (poet)|Tom Mandel]], [[Rae Armantrout]], [[Ted Pearson]], [[Carla Harryman]], and [[Steve Benson (poet)|Steve Benson]] at various times.

Poets, some of whom have been mentioned above, who were associated with the first wave of Language poetry include: [[Rae Armantrout]], [[Stephen Rodefer]] (1940–2015), [[Steve Benson (poet)|Steve Benson]], [[Abigail Child]], [[Clark Coolidge]], [[Tina Darragh]], [[Alan Davies (poet)|Alan Davies]], [[Carla Harryman]], [[P. Inman]], [[Lynne Dryer]], [[Madeline Gins]], [[Michael Gottlieb (poet)|Michael Gottlieb]], [[Fanny Howe]], [[Susan Howe]], [[Tymoteusz Karpowicz]], [[Jackson Mac Low]] (1922–2004), [[Tom Mandel (poet)|Tom Mandel]], [[Bernadette Mayer]], [[Steve McCaffery]], [[Michael Palmer (poet)|Michael Palmer]], [[Ted Pearson]], [[Bob Perelman]], [[Nick Piombino]], [[Peter Seaton]] (1942–2010), [[Joan Retallack]], [[Erica Hunt]], [[James Sherry (poet)|James Sherry]], [[Jean Day]], [[Kit Robinson]], [[Ted Greenwald]], [[Leslie Scalapino]] (1944–2010), [[Diane Ward]], [[Rosmarie Waldrop]], and [[Hannah Weiner]] (1928–1997). This list accurately reflects the high proportion of [[List of women poets|female poets]] across the spectrum of the Language writing movement.<ref>{{citation|author=Ann Vickery|title=Leaving Lines of Gender: A Feminist Genealogy of Language Writing|publisher=Wesleyan University Press|year=2000}}</ref> [[African-American literature|African-American poets]] associated with the movement include Hunt, [[Nathaniel Mackey]], and [[Harryette Mullen]].