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Artvoice Weekly Edition » Issue v7n17 (04/24/2008) » Section: In the Margins


Oppen in Spring: A Centenary Conversation

Today begins a series of readings, talks, and events centered on the astounding life and work of 20th century poet, George Oppen. Oppen figured prominently in the influential Objectivist group of poets who sought to bring sincerity and plain-speaking in their writing in order to further make clear the ‘objects’ of real life and experience. Coming of age intellectually in the tumultuous period between the wars, Oppen famously abandoned the practice of poetry in the mid-1930s to pursue political activism as a member of the Communist Party. During World War II, he traded mere activism for military service to physically combat fascism, earning a Purple Heart after being seriously wounded. After roughly ten years spent in Mexico to evade the American witch hunt of communism, Oppen returned to New York in 1958 and began again to write poetry, including the 1969 Pulitzer Prize winning book, Of Being Numerous. The following is a discussion among the event’s organizers and a young, local poet.



Book Review: The River of Doubt

When he lost the presidential election of 1912, Teddy Roosevelt retained what John Burroughs described as his “unbounded energy and vitality.” This led him to undertake a South American expedition that nearly killed him. He, his son Elliott, and fourteen others set out to explore a tributary of the Amazon River never previously visited by outsiders. In fact, three expedition members did die: one drowned in an episode that almost took the life of Roosevelt’s son Elliott, a second was murdered and a third, the murderer, was left in the jungle. Roosevelt himself barely made it: his leg injured in a fall, he developed abscesses and a high fever that incapacitated him for the last third of the journey. Candice Millard effectively places this absorbing story against the background of South American natural, social, and political history as well as the backgrounds of the remarkable expedition members. There have been few such challenging adventures since Benedict Arnold led the American attack on Quebec during the Revolutionary War. Backpackers and canoe trippers will especially enjoy reading this book.



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