Title
Robert Bly, Poetry Reading, 1963
Files
Performance Date
11-11-1963
Description
Robert Bly (born December 23, 1926) is an American poet, essayist, activist, and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His most commercially successful book to date was Iron John: A Book About Men (1990), a key text of the mythopoetic men's movement, which spent 62 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list. He won the 1968 National Book Award for Poetry for his book The Light Around the Body. Bly visited the campus of Eastern Michigan University in November of 1963 and delivered this poetry reading, in which he explains the construction of his poems, and compares himself to other notable poets of his day. Bly also quotes what he considers to be some of the worst opening lines in literature, and details what he considers to be the restrictions of iambic pentameter.
Keywords
Robert Bly, poetry, Walt Whitman, Men’s Movement, parody, Six Meditations on the History of the West, Shakespeare, Surprised by Evening
Permission To Use:
Permission to Use - Permission to quote from this performance should be requested from the University Archives ( lib_archives@emich.edu).
Copyright
The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
Recommended Citation
Bly, Robert, "Robert Bly, Poetry Reading, 1963" (1963). Performances. 15.
https://commons.emich.edu/performances/15