Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982)[1] was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in theSan Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement.[2][3] Although he did not consider himself to be aBeat poet, and disliked the association, he was dubbed the "Father of the Beats" byTime magazine.[4] Largely self-educated, Rexroth learned several languages and translated poems fromChinese,French,Spanish, andJapanese.[5]
In the 1930s, Rexroth was associated with theObjectivists, a largely New York group gathered aroundLouis Zukofsky andGeorge Oppen.[9] He was included in the 1931 issue ofPoetry magazine dedicated to Objectivist poetry, and in the 1932An “Objectivists” Anthology.[10] Much of Rexroth's work can be classified as "erotic" or "love poetry", given his deep fascination with transcendent love. According toHamill and Kleiner, "nowhere is Rexroth's verse more fully realized than in hiserotic poetry".[4]
WithThe Love Poems of Marichiko, Rexroth claimed to have translated the poetry of a contemporary, "young Japanese woman poet", but it was later disclosed that he was the author, and he gained critical recognition for having conveyed so authentically the feelings of someone of another gender and culture.[11] Linda Hamalian, his biographer, suggests that, "translating the work of women poets from China and Japan reveals a transformation of both heart and mind".[4]
Kenneth Rexroth Street in San Francisco, California
Rexroth trained as an artist and was an avid painter into his 40s. His mediums were usually wax and silica on Masonite or board. In his introduction to an undated auction catalog of Rexroth's paintings, criticBradford Morrow observes that his early works were mainly abstract, often geometric reminiscent ofMondrian, but that as time went on, Rexroth turned to morefigurative treatment of his subjects.[16]
Rexroth died inSanta Barbara, California, on June 6, 1982.[6] He had spent his final years translating Japanese and Chinese women poets, as well as promoting the work of female poets in America and overseas. The year before his death, on Easter, Rexroth converted toRoman Catholicism.[17]
Fourteen Poems by O. V. de L.-Milosz. (1952), San Francisco: Peregrine Press. Translated by Kenneth Rexroth, with illustrations byEdward Hagedorn. Second edition. (Port Townsend, WA): Copper Canyon Press, (1983). Paperbound. Issued without the Hagedorn illustrations.
30 Spanish Poems of Love and Exile (1956), San Francisco: City Lights Books.
One Hundred Poems from the Japanese (1955), New York: New Directions.
^Beat Museum, The. "Books by Jack Kerouac-Real Names and their Aliases". self-published, N.D., unpaginated.
^Wroe, Nicholas (July 1, 2006)."Last of the bohemians"(Interview).The Guardian. London. RetrievedJune 8, 2008.He called himself a 'philosophical anarchist'...
Hartzell, James and Zumwinkle, Richard. "Kenneth Rexroth. A Checklist of His Published Writings". Los Angeles: Friends of the UCLA Library, 1967. (Hardcopy and paper)
Perkins, David (1987).A History of Modern Poetry: Modernism and After. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Perron, Lee. Kenneth Rexroth. "A Bibliographic Checklist". Bennett Valley, CA: Sun Moon Bear Editions, 2009. (Paper)
Kenneth Rexroth Archive, a collection of works by and about Rexroth, part of Ken Knabb'sBureau of Public Secrets site.
In fall 2006, the literary journalChicago ReviewArchived January 8, 2007, at theWayback Machine published a special issue on Rexroth that includes a large collection of his correspondence, an interview conducted byBradford Morrow, and several essays and poems in his honor.
On Rexroth's PoetryArchived April 30, 2006, at theWayback Machine; 1999; Donald K. Gutierrez essay, from Kenneth Rexroth'sModern American Poetry page; Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
