Joanne Kyger (November 19, 1934 – March 22, 2017) was an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...

. The author of over 30 books of poetry and prose, Kyger was associated with the poets of the

San Francisco Renaissance The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s. However, others (e.g., Alan Watts ...

, the

Beat Generation The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatio ...

, Black Mountain, and the New York School. Although Kyger is often characterized as a prominent female Beat poet in the predominately male inner circle of Beat Generation writers, she never considered herself as belonging to the Beat movement. Nor did she formally identify with any other movement; her work invokes various schools of poetry without belonging to any of them. In ''Reconstructing the Beats'', Amy L. Friedman calls Kyger "an important link between several major axes of American poetry and writing in the twentieth century." Linda Russo, in the webzine

Jacket A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...

's edition devoted to Kyger, notes that "there is no one way to talk about her work except as that of a singular individual." Kyger's early poetry was influenced by

Charles Olson Charles Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was a second generation modern American poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York ...

's "projective verse" concept of letting breath and open construction, rather than rhyme and syntax, guide poetic composition. This influence continued to shape her mature work. In a 2010 interview Kyger says, "You want to make it so that someone could say it. I try to 'score' the lines for the page with that in mind, the breathing, the timing." Unlike Olson, notes Dale Smith in his essay "Joanne Kyger and the Narrative of Every Day," Kyger "focuses on events and happenings, moving herself out of the way as a kind of recording instrument . . . faithful to specific moments in time and attendant to the many spirits or moods of landscape." In a 2007 review of Kyger's book ''About Now: Collected Poems'',

Lewis MacAdams Lewis MacAdams (October 12, 1944 – April 21, 2020) was an American poet, journalist, political activist, and filmmaker.Zen Buddhism Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

, study of consciousness, explorations of ancient Greek and Native American mythologies, frequent travels to Mexico, observations of the natural landscape, and daily life in a small coastal town—continue from book to book, like installments in an autobiography. In a 2011 interview, Kyger says, "I think of notebook writing like a practice—I try and do it whether I have anything good or bad or interesting to say. And the chronology becomes the narrative, a history of a writing 'self.'"

Biography

Early life and education

Joanne Elizabeth Kyger was born on November 19, 1934, in

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California and the second largest city in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the city had a population of 126,090 at the 2020 census. Vallejo is home to the ...

, to Jacob Kyger, a Navy captain, and Anne (Lamont) Kyger, a

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

, city employee of Canadian descent. Kyger moved often, living in China, California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, until the age of 14, when the family (including Kyger's two sisters) settled in Santa Barbara. Her parents separated permanently in 1949. Kyger's first published poem appeared in her school's literary magazine when she was five. At

Santa Barbara High School Santa Barbara Senior High School, "Home of the Dons," is situated on a sprawling campus in Santa Barbara, California in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Among the oldest high schools in California and one of five high schools in the Dis ...

, Kyger co-edited the features column of the school newspaper with

Leland Hickman Leland Hickman (September 15, 1934 – May 12, 1991) was an American poet, editing, editor, actor, and literary magazine publisher. During his lifetime, Hickman was best known as the publisher and editor of the influential magazine ''Temblor'' wh ...

. In 1952, she enrolled at Santa Barbara College (later

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

), where she studied philosophy and literature and started the school's first literary magazine. Renowned critic

Hugh Kenner William Hugh Kenner (January 7, 1923 – November 24, 2003) was a Canadian literary scholar, critic and professor. He published widely on Modernist literature with particular emphasis on James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and Samuel Beckett. His major ...

introduced her to the works of Modernist poets, such as

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

and

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

, while

Paul Wienpahl Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

introduced her to the works of

Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...

and

Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...

. In her 2015 notes from an earlier interview, Kyger recalls that the philosophers inspired her interest in Zen Buddhism: "Heidegger had come to the study of 'nothing.' Then I found

D. T. Suzuki , self-rendered in 1894 as "Daisetz", was a Japanese-American Buddhist monk, essayist, philosopher, religious scholar, translator, and writer. He was a scholar and author of books and essays on Buddhism, Zen and Shin that were instrumental in sp ...

's book on Japanese Zen and I thought, Oh! this is where you go with this mind. This 'nothing' is really 'something.'" Kyger left the university in 1956, one freshman biology course short of a degree in philosophy and literature.

San Francisco Renaissance and the Beats

Kyger moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

1957 at the age of 22, where she met

Richard Brautigan Richard Gary Brautigan (January 30, 1935 – c. September 16, 1984) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. A prolific writer, he wrote throughout his life and published ten novels, two collections of short stories, and four bo ...

, who introduced her to

City Lights Bookstore City Lights is an independent bookstore-publisher combination in San Francisco, California, that specializes in world literature, the arts, and progressive politics. It also houses the nonprofit City Lights Foundation, which publishes selected tit ...

and the bohemian neighborhood of North Beach. Working in

Brentano's Brentano's was an American bookstore chain with numerous locations in the United States. As of the 1970s, there were three Brentano's in New York: the Fifth Avenue flagship store at Rockefeller Center, one in Greenwich Village, and one in Whit ...

bookstore in the City of Paris department store by day and sharing her poetry at The Place bar by night, Kyger became a part of the literary scene that included

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...

Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian a ...

Michael McClure Michael McClure (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020) was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous ...

Kenneth Rexroth Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (1905–1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Although he did not consider h ...

John Wieners John Joseph Wieners (January 6, 1934 – March 1, 2002) was an American poet. Early life Born in Milton, Massachusetts, Wieners attended St. Gregory Elementary School in Dorchester, Massachusetts and Boston College High School. From 1950 to 195 ...

, and former Black Mountain students William McNeill, Ebbe Borregaard, and Michael Rumaker. San Francisco Renaissance poets Robert Duncan and

Jack Spicer Jack Spicer (January 30, 1925 – August 17, 1965) was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, ''My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer'' won the American Book Award for poetry. H ...

became Kyger's mentors, and she was invited to join the Sunday Meetings, presided over by Spicer, where she read her poems aloud. In 1958, Kyger met

Gary Snyder Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. His early poetry has been associated with the Beat Generation and the San Francisco Renaissance and he has been described as the "poet laureate of ...

, whom she would marry in 1960. Snyder introduced Kyger to

Philip Whalen Philip Glenn Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation. Biography Born in Portland, Oregon, Whalen grew up in The Dalles f ...

, and they became lifelong friends, sharing the sensibilities that defined their similar poetic styles. Kyger's print debut, "Tapestry #3," appeared in Spicer's mimeographed magazine ''J'' No. 4 in 1959, and she gave her first public poetry reading on March 7, 1959, at the Beer and Wine Mission. During this period she moved to the East-West House, a communal center for those interested in Asian studies, and studied with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi at the Sokoji Temple in

Japantown is a common name for Japanese communities in cities and towns outside Japan. Alternatively, a Japantown may be called J-town, Little Tokyo or , the first two being common names for Japantown, San Francisco, Japantown, San Jose and Little To ...

Japan and India

On January 30, 1960, Kyger left California by ship to join Snyder in Kyoto, Japan. Since Japanese customs frowned upon unmarried couples living together, they were married at the American Consulate in Kobe on February 23, three days after Kyger arrived in Japan, followed by a Zen marriage ceremony performed at

Daitoku-ji is a Buddhist temple, one of fourteen autonomous branches of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen. It is located in Kita-ku, Kyoto, Japan. The "mountain name" ('' sangō'') by which it is known is . The Daitoku-ji temple complex today covers more ...

in Kyoto five days later. While living in Japan, Kyger wrote poetry, studied Buddhism with

Ruth Fuller Sasaki Ruth Fuller Sasaki (October 31, 1892 – October 24, 1967), born Ruth Fuller, was an American writer and Buddhist teacher. She was important figure in the development of Buddhism in the United States. As Ruth Fuller Everett (during her first ...

at Ryosen-an—the zendo of the First Zen Institute's Kyoto branch, learned flower arranging, taught English, and acted in small roles in Japanese

B movies A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double feature ...

. In December 1961, Kyger and Snyder traveled to India with

and

Peter Orlovsky Peter Anton Orlovsky (July 8, 1933 – May 30, 2010) was an American poet and actor. He was the long-time partner of Allen Ginsberg. Early life and career Orlovsky was born in the Lower East Side of New York City, the son of Katherine (née ...

. They met with the

Dalai Lama Dalai Lama (, ; ) is a title given by the Tibetan people to the foremost spiritual leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" school of Tibetan Buddhism, the newest and most dominant of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The 14th and current Dal ...

in March 1962. The following month, Kyger and Snyder continued their travels in Singapore, Vietnam, and Hong Kong. During this period, in addition to writing poems that would be included in her first book, Kyger recorded her travels in diaries, which were published in 1981 as ''The Japan and India Journals 1960–1964''. The autobiographical text—which chronicles, in part, her growing frustration with Snyder's expectations and Ginsberg's antics—is considered an important document of the Beat era, offering a rare female perspective on the male-centric movement. In the foreword of the 2000 reissue of the book,

Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (born April 2, 1945) is an American poet. Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activ ...

calls it "one of the finest books ever in the genre of 'journal writing'" and "a surprisingly (surreptitiously) feminist tract as well: woman artist struggles for identity and independence in the 1960s."

Early successes

In January 1964, Kyger left Snyder to his studies in Japan and returned alone, her marriage disintegrated, to San Francisco. She met painter and student of Buddhism

Jack Boyce Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

and married him in 1965 after divorcing Snyder. The same year, she participated in the

Berkeley Poetry Conference The Berkeley Poetry Conference was an event in which individuals presented their views and poems in seminars, lectures, individual readings, and group readings at California Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley during July 1 ...

, meeting poets

and

Ted Berrigan Ted Berrigan (November 15, 1934 – July 4, 1983) was an American poet. Early life Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining the U.S. Army. After ...

. She edited an edition of ''Wild Dog'' magazine, and ''The Tapestry and the Web'', her first book of poems—with drawings by Boyce—was published. The following year, Kyger and Boyce visited Europe. They settled in New York City for a year, befriending poets

and

Lewis Warsh Lewis Warsh (9 November 1944 – 15 November 2020) was an American poet, visual artist, professor, prose writer, editor, and publisher. He was a principal member of the second generation of the New York School poets,; however, he has said that � ...

. There, Kyger associated with New York School poets including Michael Brownstein,

Larry Fagin Larry Fagin (July 21, 1937 – May 27, 2017) was an American poet, editor, publisher, and teacher, and a member of the New York School. Biography Born in Far Rockaway, New York City, Larry Fagin grew up in New York, Hollywood, and Europe. He bega ...

, Tom Clark, and Berrigan. She was briefly associated with the Yippie movement. In 1967, Kyger received a residency at the National Center for Experiments in Television in San Francisco. Drawing on Descartes's ''

Discourse on the Method ''Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting One's Reason and of Seeking Truth in the Sciences'' (french: Discours de la Méthode Pour bien conduire sa raison, et chercher la vérité dans les sciences) is a philosophical and autobiographical ...

'', she translated the philosopher's work into a poem-video titled "Descartes and the Splendor of. A Real Drama of Everyday Life. In Six Parts." The video, Kyger's only one, aired in November 1968. During this period, she met

Carlos Castaneda Carlos Castañeda (December 25, 1925 – April 27, 1998) was an American writer. Starting with '' The Teachings of Don Juan'' in 1968, Castaneda wrote a series of books that purport to describe training in shamanism that he received under the ...

and

Michael Harner Michael James Harner (April 27, 1929 – February 3, 2018) was an anthropologist, educator and author. His 1980 book, ''The Way of the Shaman: a Guide to Power and Healing,''Harner, Michael (1980) ''The Way of the Shaman''. San Francisco: Harper ...

and discussed the illusions of a peyote vision she had in 1959.

The Bolinas years

At the end of the '60s, Kyger joined other poets following the

back-to-the-land movement A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffi ...

. In 1969 she settled in the small coastal town of

Bolinas, California Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community and census-designated place in Marin County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line dist ...

, with Jack Boyce. The community and the landscape of Bolinas would feature prominently in her work from that point on. Among her friends, neighbors, and collaborators attracted to the liberal, arts-based community were poets

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. He was close with Char ...

Bill Berkson William Craig Berkson (August 30, 1939 – June 16, 2016) was an American poet, critic, and teacher who was active in the art and literary worlds from his early twenties on. Early life and education Born in New York City on August 30, 1939, Bil ...

Jim Carroll James Dennis Carroll (August 1, 1949 – September 11, 2009) was an American author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work '' The Basketball Diaries'', which inspired a 1995 film of ...

Bobbie Louise Hawkins Bobbie Louise Hawkins (July 11, 1930 – May 4, 2018) was a short story writer, monologist, and poet. Life Hawkins was born in Abilene in west Texas, to a teenage mother. She was raised by her mother Nora Hall and her stepfather Harold Hall, wit ...

Alice Notley Alice Notley (born November 8, 1945) is an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she has always denied being involved with the New York School or any specific mo ...

Lewis MacAdams Lewis MacAdams (October 12, 1944 – April 21, 2020) was an American poet, journalist, political activist, and filmmaker.Duncan McNaughton Duncan Anderson McNaughton (December 7, 1910 – January 15, 1998) was a Canadian athlete, who competed mainly in the high jump. He went on to a career in petroleum geology. Biography McNaughton was born in Cornwall, Ontario, and grew up in V ...

, and

Aram Saroyan Aram Saroyan (born September 25, 1943) is an American poet, novelist, biographer, memoirist and playwright, who is especially known for his minimalist poetry, famous examples of which include the one-word poem "lighght" and a one-letter poem comp ...

, as well as artists

Ken Botto Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...

Joe Brainard Joe Brainard (March 11, 1942 – May 25, 1994) was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book ...

Tom Field Thomas Geoffrey Field (born 14 March 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a left back for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC. A product of the Brentford Academy, Field graduated into the senior team in 2016. A fringe player, h ...

, and

Arthur Okamura Arthur Okamura (February 24, 1932 - July 10, 2009) was an American artist, working in screen printing, drawing and painting. He lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was Professor Emeritus at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco ...

. In 1970, she separated from Jack Boyce, and the following year, she bought a house on the Bolinas Mesa, which she shared with

Peter Warshall Peter Warshall (1940–2013) was an ecologist, activist and essayist whose work centers on conservation and conservation-based development. He attended Camp Rising Sun in 1958 and 1959. After receiving ab A.B. in biology from Harvard in 1964, he w ...

. In 1971, she accompanied Warshall and a group of Harvard students to Puerto Rico to study a colony of rhesus monkeys, and embarked on a Carl Jung–inspired study of dreams that became ''Desecheo Notebook'', published the same year. Kyger and Warshall also traveled to Chiapas, Mexico. Kyger's ''All This Every Day'', was written at that time and published in 1975, the year her relationship with Warshall ended. In the mid-70s, she began teaching occasionally at the

New College of California New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission ...

, an activity she continued until 2001. In 1977, she also became a regular teacher in the summer writing program at the

Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics is a school of Naropa University, located in Boulder, Colorado, United States. It was founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg and Anne Waldman, as part of Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s 100-year experim ...

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as B ...

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

. There she met Canadian-American writer, artist, and naturalist Donald Guravich, who would become her lifelong partner and collaborator. He joined her permanently in Bolinas in 1978 and they were married in 2013. They lived in Bolinas until her death in 2017.

Mexico

Beginning in the mid-80s and continuing for almost three decades, Kyger and Guravich frequently traveled to Mexico, often to Oaxaca, but also to Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Chiapis, Patzcuaro, Michoacan and Veracruz. These trips provided inspiration for several volumes of Kyger's poetry, including ''Phenomenological'', an edition in the series A Curriculum of the Soul that explores the nature of consciousness.

Later life and death

Kyger became the Wednesday editor of the ''Bolinas Hearsay News'' in 1984, a post she held for over 20 years. During this period, she continued teaching occasionally at Naropa University and the New College, as well as teaching at

Mills College Mills College at Northeastern University is a private college in Oakland, California and part of Northeastern University's global university system. Mills College was founded as the Young Ladies Seminary in 1852 in Benicia, California; it was ...

and offering writing classes in Bolinas. In 2000, her 1981 collection of autobiographical writings was reissued as ''Strange Big Moon: Japan and India Journals, 1960–1964''. More recent poetry collections include'' Again: Poems 1989–2000'', ''As Ever: Selected Poems'', ''The Distressed Look'', and'' God Never Dies''. In 2006 she was awarded a grant from the

Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...

Grants to Artists Award. ''About Now: Collected Poems'' was published in 2007 by the

National Poetry Foundation The National Poetry Foundation (NPF) is a book publisher founded in 1971 by Carroll F. Terrell who built its reputation with Burton Hatlen at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, Orono. Today it publishes poetry by individual authors as well as ...

and received the 2008 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles National Literary Award for Poetry. ''On Time: Poems 2005–2014'', one of her last book of poems, was published by City Lights in 2015. Kyger describes her work in her 2005 artist statement: Buddhism Without A Book Well, you had to find it some where another person passed simplicity on to you, the practice of some syllables the position of a seated body and you believe a lineage of recognition of 'mind' not perfect, but intimate with suffering and the futility of maintaining those troublesome states of fear and hate "Try this Lift the corners of your mouth slightly and take three breaths this is known as mouth yoga" ( * Yvonne Rand) It has nothing to do with smiling It has nothing to do with happiness MARCH 7, 2003 Joanne Kyger was not just a student of Zen Buddhism, but an advocate for the simpler, calmer way of life it practiced. Though she often took hallucinogenic medication to achieve such a state, she only encouraged others to search for serenity of mind, body, and soul. Per definition, "Zen meditation, is a way of vigilance and self-discovery which is practiced while sitting on a meditation cushion. It is the experience of living from moment to moment, in the here and now." She embraced this lifestyle completely as shown throughout her poetry, even in her later works. In "Buddhism Without A Book," the speaker highlights how Buddhism is not just a religion but a state of being, which one can partake in even if they do not possess an instruction manual. As the speaker states, "another person passed simplicity on to you," which suggests it is a lifestyle to be shared in hopes of helping those with "fear and hate" (2-3, 11). For those who are fearful of the proper way to meditate, she calms them with the reassurance that it is "not perfect, but intimate;" therefore, one does not need to have all the right yoga positions because all one needs is his/her "mind" (6,5). She does not want to pressure people into a philosophy, but rather a release from "the futility of maintaining/ those troublesome states" (8-9). This way of life is an antidote to a world of violence, hate, and hostility. All it takes is a moment to "lift the corners of your mouth slightly/ and take three breaths" to achieve a state of calm in a world in constant turmoil (12-3). Kyger died at age 82 on March 22, 2017, at her home in Bolinas, California, from lung cancer, in the company of her husband, Donald Guravich. Kyger had been working on a new book, ''There You Are: Interviews, Journals, and Ephemera''. It was published in September 2017 by Wave Books.

Bibliography

*''The Tapestry and the Web'' (San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1965) *''Joanne'' (Bolinas: Angel Hair, 1970) *''Places To Go'' (Los Angeles: Black Sparrow Press, 1970). Illustrations by Jack Boyce *''Desecheo Notebook'' (Berkeley: Arif Press, 1971) *''Trip Out and Fall Back'' (Berkeley: Arif Press, 1974). Illustrations by Gordon Baldwin *''Trucks: Tracks'' (Bolinas: MesaPress. 1974). With Franco Beltrametti; illustrations by Piero Resta *''All This Every Day'' (Bolinas: Big Sky, 1975) *''Lettre de Paris'' (Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 1977). With Larry Fagin *''The Wonderful Focus of You'' (Calais: Z Press, 1980). *''Mexico Blondé'' (Bolinas: Evergreen, 1981). Illustrations by Donald Guravich *''The Japan and India Journals 1960–1964'' (Bolinas: Tombouctou, 1981). Cover illustration by Ken Botto. . Reissued as ''Strange Big Moon: The Japan and India Journals, 1960–1964'' (Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 2000). *''Up My Coast'' (Point Reyes Station: Floating Island Publications, 1981). Illustrations by Inez Storer. *''Going On: Selected Poems, 1958–1980'' (New York: Dutton, 1983). (hardcover); (paperback) *''The Dharma Committee'' (Bolinas: Smithereens Press, 1986). Cover illustration by Donald Guravich *''Man & Women'' (Berkeley: Two Windows Press, 1987). With Michael Rothenberg; illustrations by Nancy Davis *''Phenomenological'' (Canton: Grove Publications for Institute of Further Studies Curriculum of the Soul Series, 1989). Illustrations by Donald Guravich. *''Just Space: Poems 1979–1989'' (Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1991). Illustrations by Arthur Okamura. *''Some Sketches from the Life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky'' (Boulder: Rodent Press and Erudite Fangs, 1996). *''Pátzcuaro : December 17, 1997–January 26, 1998'' (Bolinas: Blue Millennium Press, 1999). *''Some Life'' (Sausalito: Post-Apollo Press, 2000). *''Again: Poems 1989–2000'' (Albuquerque: La Alameda Press, 2001). *''As Ever: Selected Poems'' (New York: Penguin Poets, 2002). *''Ten Shines'' (N.p.: Nijinsky Suicide Health Club, 2002). Cover illustration by Nemi Frost *''The Distressed Look'' (Brunswick: Coyote Books, 2004) *''God Never Dies'' (Santa Cruz: Blue Press, 2004) *''Detektivgeschichten der Leidenschaft'' (Berlin: Stadtlichter Presse, 2005). *''About Now: Collected Poems'' (Orono: National Poetry Foundation, 2007). (hardcover); (paperback) *''Not Veracruz'' (New York: Libellum, 2007). *''Lo & Behold: Household and Threshold on California's North Coast'' (Taos: Voices from the American Land, 2009). Illustrations by Donald Guravich *''2012'' (Santa Cruz: Blue Press, 2013) *''On Time: Poems 2005–2014'' (San Francisco: City Lights Books, 2015). *''Amsterdam Souvenirs'' (Santa Cruz: Blue Press, 2016). With Bill Berkson *''There You Are: Interviews, Journals, and Ephemera'' (Seattle: Wave Books, 2017).

Notes

References

*Stirling, Isabel. "Zen Pioneer: The Life & Works of Ruth Fuller Sasaki" (2006) Shoemaker & Hoard.

External links

*
Joanne Kyger at the EPC
essay by Linda Russo at ''Jacket Magazine'' website *
"Add-Verse" a poetry-photo-video project Joanne Kyger participated in
MSS 0730
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.

MSS 0008
Special Collections & Archives
UC San Diego Library.

Link to her masterpiece Descartes made in The National Center for Experiments in Television (NCET) in 68 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kyger, Joanne 1934 births 2017 deaths Beat Generation writers Modernist women writers American Buddhists American women poets Modernist writers PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award winners 21st-century American women Writers from Vallejo, California Writers from Santa Barbara, California People from Bolinas, California