I
VOLUME XVII NUMBER 10
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N.C. WESLEYAN COLLEGE, ROCKY MOUNT, N.C.
MONDAY, APRIL 24. 1978
lonathan Williams to
speak at Wesleyan
Jonathan Williams, poet
and publisher from Highlands,
North Carolina, will be visiting
Wesleyan on April 25 and 26.
At 9 o’clock on the evening of
the 25th, he will give a reading
of his poems in the Browsing
Room of the Library. At 11
o’clock on the morning of the
26th, he will present a slide
lecture on twentieth century
poetry titled “An Iconography
of Poets in Our Time.” The
lecture is sponsored in part by
the North Carolina Arts
Council and is presented as
the concluding event of the
exhibition “Art and Education
at Black Mountain College.”
shown at the Rocky Mount
Arts and Crafts Center this
past January and February.
Williams a.ttended Princeton
University for two years and
studied painting and design in
Washington and Chicago
before discovering the educa
tional opportunity afforded
him nearer home by Black
Mountain College. There he
studied writing under Charles
Olson with such distinguished
contemporary writers as Joel
Oppenheimer and Fielding
Dawson. There also he found a
situation where his ideas about
writing and his ideas about
publishing could develop
together. In 1951 the first
publications of what Williams
chose to call The Jargon
Society appeared.
The Jargon Society has
continued for some 27 years as
a unique publishing venture.
So far some 90 items have
been published. All are
characterized by meticulous
attention to the design of the
book. The writing chosen for
publication is generally char
acterized by its opposition to
literary fashion. Distinguished
writers such as Williams
himself, Joel Oppenheimer,
Kenneth Patchen, Charles
Olson, Robert Creeley, Robert
Duncan, Louis Zukofsky,
Irving Layton, Denise Lever-
tov, Michael McClure, Henry
Millet, Larry Eigner, and
Russell Edson, many connect
ed with Black Mountain
College, are represented in the
series.
Williams himself has pub
lished many volumes of poetry
often in small editions by
alternative publishing vent
ures such as his own. A
selection of his poems
published between 1957 and
1967, An Ear In Bartram’s
Tree, published in paperback
by New Directions, is available
in the Wesleyan College
Bookstore, along with a more
recent collection, published by
Truck Press, called Untinears
& Antennae For Maurice
Ravel. A selection of books
written designed or published
by Williams will be on display
in the library display case
beginning April 17.
In November of 1977,
Williams was honored by the
state of North Carolina with
the Governor’s Award for
distinguished service to the
arts in North Carolina.
Wesleyan is privileged to have
him on its campus.
Ruppert Mundy
Wesleyan has first
art show
Wesleyan’s First Annual
Art Show opened on Monday
evening, Feb. 13, 1978 in The
Browsing Room of the Library.
More than fifty pieces of work
completed by faculty and
students in mediums ranging
from needlework to sculpture
were on display and were
viewed by members of the
College Community. A recep
tion was hosted for the viewers
by members of the Art Show
Committee which was chaired
by Ms. Jane Wilson.
The concept of an art show
at Wesleyan began in August
of this past year ^nd grew into
an actual event as a result of
much hard work and prodding
on the part of Jan. Students :
and members of the faculty
and staff were invited to enter
their works in the show, with
only the students being
eligible for prizes to be
awarded.
Prize money was made
available for the show by the
generous contributions of the
Wesleyan Women and the
SGA Senate. Prizes were
awarded as follows: First place
— Mary Kinley for a still life
rendered in charcoal; Second
places — Johnny MacCormick
for a photograph, “Sunrise
over Nags Head” and, Pam
Sandersen for “Sun on the
Horizon” done in loopings.
Honorable mentions were
awarded to the following:
Teresa King for two special
etchings, “Baby” and an
Untitled work; Ann Kirby for
photography and for a pencil
etching of Catfish Hunter; Jan
Wilson for “Home” done in
water colors and charcoal;
Mary Kinley for a work in ink;
Steve Bryant for “Egypt”
done in pastels; and, Ashlen
Hyatt for a needlepoint bell
pull from her original design.
Judges for the event were
Ms. Daisy Thorpe and Ms.
Bunny Ryals who is currently
serving as Artist in Residence
at Wesleyan.
The art show was consider
ed a success by the artists who
participated and by the
members of the College
Community who were in
attendance for the opening.
Plans are to continue the art
show as an annual event on the
campus.
Don’t Miss
Jonathan Williams
JONATHAN WILLIAMS
An '^Hnternationally
unknown poet’’
Like all good poetry,
Jonathan Williams’s is made
up of two apparently irrecon
cilable elements, which he
blends with humor and
intelligence. Williams calls
himself an “internationally
unknown poet” and thinks of
himself as being “insanely
refined.” His poems are filled
with references to forebears in
the arts of music, painting,
and writing, many of whose
names are unknown, or little
known, today. This gives his
poetry a surface obscurity. “It
is to sound/such unknown
men/I write —” he writes.
Such a purpose makes his
poems initially hard to read.
What brings this insane
refinement into balance is an
equally strong commitment to
the so-called “commonplace.”
Williams writes that “I like to
catch people speaking ‘poems'
who never heard of the word
poet. It has been my business,
along with many others my
superiors...to try to raise ‘the
common' to grace, to pay very
close attention to the earthy,
for one thing." "Poems.” he
says elsewhere, "are but the
deified prosaic speech of plain
men and women.” The two
j)oems printed in this news
paper show the congruence of
these two disparate ideas of
the nature and function of
poetry.
(Continued on Page 4)