Ed Dorn facts for kids
Edward Merton Dorn (born April 2, 1929 – died December 10, 1999) was an American poet and teacher. He is often linked with a group called the Black Mountain poets. His most well-known work is a long poem called Gunslinger.
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About Edward Dorn
Edward Dorn grew up in Villa Grove, Illinois. His childhood was during the Great Depression. He went to a small, one-room school for his first eight years. Later, he studied at the University of Illinois. He also attended Black Mountain College from 1950 to 1955. There, he met Charles Olson, who greatly influenced his writing and his view of himself as a poet.
Dorn's final teacher at Black Mountain was Robert Creeley. Along with poet Robert Duncan, Dorn became known as one of the younger poets connected to Black Mountain College and Charles Olson.
Early Life and Travels
In 1951, Dorn left Black Mountain College. He traveled to the Pacific Northwest and worked hard jobs. He met his first wife, Helene, there. They returned to Black Mountain College in late 1954. After graduating, Dorn and his family traveled for two years. They then settled in Washington state. This area became the setting for his book By the Sound. This book talks about living in poverty.
In 1961, Dorn started his first teaching job. This was at Idaho State University. While there, he published a magazine called Wild Dog. His first book of poems, The Newly Fallen, came out in 1961. It was published by LeRoi Jones.
Time in England
In 1965, Dorn visited Native American reservations. He worked with photographer Leroy Lucas for a book called The Shoshoneans. That fall, a British poet named Donald Davie invited him to teach. Dorn joined the Literature Department at the new University of Essex in England. He lived in England for almost five years. During this time, he published several poetry books. He also wrote the first part of Gunslinger.
While in England, he started translating Latin American texts. He worked with Gordon Brotherston on these projects. He also became good friends with British poet J.H. Prynne. It was also in England that he met his second wife, Jennifer Dunbar.
Teaching and Later Life
After returning to the United States, Dorn taught at many universities. In San Francisco, he worked with artists Holbrook Teter and Michael Myers. They created projects like the Bean News. They also made a comic book version of Recollections of Gran Apachería. In 1974, the complete Gunslinger poem was put into print.
In 1977, Dorn became a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He taught there for the rest of his life. He also directed the Creative Writing Program. With his wife Jennifer, he edited a literary newspaper called Rolling Stock. Its motto was “If It Moves Print It.”
In the 1990s, Dorn visited Paul Valery University in Montpellier, France. This trip made him interested in the Cathars of Southern France. He began working on a book called Languedoc Variorum. He also wrote another long poem, Westward Haut. In his last two and a half years, he wrote poems for Chemo Sabe. These poems were about his cancer treatments. This book was published after his death.
His Famous Poem: Gunslinger
Dorn's most important work is Gunslinger. It is a long poem with five parts. The first part was published in 1968. The full poem came out in 1974. Other important books by Dorn include The Collected Poems: 1956-1974 (1975) and Recollections of Gran Apacheria (1975). He also wrote Abhorrences (1989) and High West Rendezvous: A Sampler (1997). A collection called [Way More West: New and Selected Poems] was published in 2008.
Famous horror writer Stephen King admired Dorn's work. King called his poetry "perfect writing." He even named the first book of his The Dark Tower series, "The Gunslinger," after Dorn's poem. King used a line from Dorn, "We need help, the Poet reckoned," at the start and end of his novel "The Stand."
Death
Edward Dorn passed away from pancreatic cancer on December 10, 1999. He died in Denver, Colorado. His writings and papers are kept at the University of Connecticut and Indiana University.
Dorn's Teaching Career
Edward Dorn taught at many colleges and universities during his life.
- Idaho State University in Pocatello (1961–1965)
- The University of Essex in England (1965-1970) as a Fulbright lecturer
- Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago (1970-1971)
- Kent State University, Ohio (1973–1974)
- The University of Colorado (1977-1999)
His second wife, Jennifer Dunbar Dorn, was English. He met her while teaching in Essex. In the early 1970s, Dorn was a visiting poet at Kent State University. He supported the music group Devo and its founders, Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis.
Major Works
Edward Dorn wrote many books of poetry, translations, and prose.
Poetry Books
- 1961: The Newly Fallen
- 1964: Hands Up!
- 1968: Gunslinger (Parts I and II were published separately before the full version)
- 1974: Slinger (This book contained the complete Gunslinger poem)
- 1975: Collected Poems: 1956-1974
- 1989: Abhorrences
- 2001: Chemo Sábe (published after his death)
- 2007: Way More West: New & Selected Poems (published after his death)
Translations
Dorn also translated works from other languages. He often worked with Gordon Brotherston.
- 1968: Our Word: Guerilla Poems From Latin America
- 1976: Selected Poems of Cesar Vallejo
Prose and Essays
He wrote non-fiction and stories too.
- 1965: The Rites of Passage: A Brief History
- 1966: The Shoshoneans: The People of the Basin-Plateau
- 1969: By the Sound (a novel)
- 1971: Some Business Recently Transacted in the White World (short stories)
- 1993: Way West: Stories, Essays and Verse accounts, 1963-1993
