John Taggart (born 1942) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and critic.

Biography

He was born in Guthrie Center,

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He graduated with honors in 1965 from

Earlham College Earlham College is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. The college was established in 1847 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and has a strong focus on Quaker values such as integrity, a commitment to peace and social ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, earning a B.A. in English Literature and

Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. In 1966 he received a M.A. in English Literature and

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, and in 1974 he completed a Ph.D. in the Humanities

Interdisciplinary Studies Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

Program at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Taggart was the editor and publisher of ''Maps'', an acclaimed literary magazine. In 1978, edited an issue of "Truck" devoted to the work of

Theodore Enslin Theodore Vernon Enslin (March 25, 1925 – November 21, 2011) was an American poet associated with Cid Corman's ''Origin'' and press. He is widely regarded as one of the most musical of American avant-garde poets. Enslin was born in Chester, Penn ...

. His work has been widely published and anthologized, and as far back as 1978 his unique style was exerting an influence over his peers, poets such as

Rachel Blau DuPlessis Rachel Blau DuPlessis (born December 14, 1941) is an American poet and essayist, known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry. Her work has been widely anthologized. Early life DuPlessis w ...

and Gil Ott. For many years he was Professor of English and Director of the

Interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

Arts Program at

Shippensburg University Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Ship or SU) is a public university in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871, it later became the first teachers college in Pennsylvania ...

; he retired in 2001.

Overview

Taggart's approach to the poem is strongly rooted in Objectivist poetics, particularly the works of

Louis Zukofsky Louis Zukofsky (January 23, 1904 – May 12, 1978) was an American poet. He was the primary instigator and theorist of the so-called "Objectivist" poets, a short lived collective of poets who after several decades of obscurity would reemerge a ...

and George Oppen. Unlike most others of his generation whose poetries sprung from similar influences, Taggart stayed away from, on the one hand, the mainstream variations of the neatly packaged imagistic poem, and, on the other hand, the aggressively language-centered writing that foregrounded the materiality of text over the voice of the author.Se
Burt Kimmelman's "Quantum Syntax: John Taggart's Discrete Serialism"
which discusses some of the ways in which Taggart's work eludes easy classification.

Works

Poetry *To Construct a Clock (Elizabeth Press, 1971) *The Pyramid Is Pure Crystal (Elizabeth Press, 1974) * Prism and the Pine Twig (Elizabeth Press, 1977)

(Membrane, 1979) *Peace On Earth (Turtle Island, 1981)

(Membrane, 1983) *Loop (Sun and Moon, 1991) *Standing Wave (Lost Roads, 1993) *When the Saints (Talisman House, 1999) *Pastorelles (Flood Editions, 2004) *Crosses: Poems 1992-1998 (Stop Press, 2006) *There Are Birds (Flood Editions, 2008) *Is Music: Selected Poems (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both pop ...

, 2010) Prose *Remaining in Light: Ant Meditations on a Painting by Edward Hopper (1993, SUNY Press) *Songs of Degrees: Essays on Contemporary Poetry and Poetics (1994, University Alabama Press)

References

Sources

For further research see:
The John Taggart Papers, 1962–2002
at UC–San Diego

at

The John Taggart (re: Maps) Archive
at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

John Taggart Papers
at

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

Biography

Overview

Works

References

Sources

External links