Talk:David Gitin

"Minor" by choice, but not by history

David Gitin was one of three poets who qualified for inclusion into my 1986 anthology, In the American Tree, who was not finally included. In his case, it was because he was choosing at that point in his career not to publish and to deliberately withdraw from the "hustle" of the poetry scene, a position he shared with Emily Dickinson and many other poets. The other two were Curtis Faville and Abigail Child. Gitin was also instrumental in the start of Tottel's, the 1970-1981 newsletter that been called the first true publication of Language Writing. The seventh issue was devoted entirely to his work.

One could discuss Gitin's distrust of editors -- George Mattingly of Blue Wind Press being perhaps the only real exception -- at length. I personally saw it as a combination of perfectionism and a need to control the appearance of the text (again quite common in mid- to late-20th century poets, including Robert Duncan, Larry Eigner, Paul Blackburn, Robert Grenier and Jackson Mac Low).

The alternative he chose, to self-publish small volumes (with the exception of the works from Blue Wind and maybe one other volume) that he distributed to a small list of readers was a model that has been employed repeatedly by writers as diverse as Walt Whitman and Kathy Acker. At the same time, Gitin is an essential connector between language writing, Objectivism and the Black Mountain School of the New American Poetry. His work connecting American poetry to world music remains to be fully explored, but a project like the Conference of Birds podcast is unthinkable without his earlier work in the Monterey area.

It strikes me as bizarre to think of deleting Gitin from Wikipedia -- you would have eliminate half of the poets here if you employ the same criteria proposed here. This seems antithetical to the spirit of the project -- if anything, Wikipedia is precisely where one should be turning for information on those "American isolatos" such as Gitin, Besmilr Brigham, James Koller, Frank Samperi, Lorine Niedecker and others who generally preferred to work outside of the academic mainstream. Ron Silliman (talk) 20:36, 24 August 2016 (UTC)Ron SillimanRon Silliman (talk) 20:36, 24 August 2016 (UTC) August 23, 2016

• Thanks so much to Ron Silliman for his insightful comments. is there are anyway to include some of them in the article itself? The lack of citations is a problem I'm having trouble solving. Most of the quotes about Gitin's work are on the backs of his books, or in private letters. There is this interview with Michael McClure in the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anis-shivani/exclusive-beat-poet-mcclure_b_823425.html "McClure: In spite of the smothering effort by many in the academy and by the ignorant, poetry is alive. It is often hard to find, because it is dodging the samsaric breakers and one-dimensional undertow, or it is in plain hearing in the art of Bob Dylan, or kept a little out of the way from readers in the dimness of misinformation about poetry. There is no finer poet than Diane di Prima who, like Joanne Kyger, does not broadcast or flaunt her rich creation. Amiri Baraka seems to be in the midst of a personal renaissance of commitment and clarity. Jerome Rothenberg continues bringing me news of poetry that I never imagined. Clayton Eshleman is exploring the Paleolithic galleries of his person. Philip Lamantia’s almost lost poetry will be published soon, in a Collected Poems by a major university press. Poets of modesty, brevity, and intense genius like David Gitin can be found in small press editions. Online sites contain shimmering ongoing streams of poetry by younger people who do not press for public recognition—they have to be sought out."

Or this article about David Gitin which may explain again, his lack of notoriety although not as deeply as Ron Silliman above: http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/news/local_news/after-a-long-hiatus-local-poet-david-gitin-publishes-a/article_be620444-0da2-5cc7-a40e-5fa61ff6c155.html. David Gitin's papers are in the archives at: Stanford: http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/ft7v19n8w4/entire_text/ Worcester Polytechnic: https://www.wpi.edu/Images/CMS/Library/MS34_David_and_Maria_Gitin_Collection.pdf Cornell: http://rmc.library.cornell.edu/EAD/htmldocs/RMM04679.html UC San Diego: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/speccoll/findingaids/mss0075.html Northwestern University: http://findingaids.library.northwestern.edu/catalog/inu-ead-spec-archon-112 The review of one of his earlier books from ALA Booklist was subsequently used on the backs of his many books but I haven't been able to track down the original review in the online database. There are many quotes from notable authors about his work on the backs of his books but I don't know if those can be used in the article. Michael McClure's blurb on a back cover: "Gitin is a master of subtle rhythms that ear and eye blend on the field of the senses. Meadowlarks and irises move in spirit-dances and ellipses through Legwork. Objectivist poets and Issa might converse in this world." Here is Ron Silliman's post on first meeting & publishing David Gitin "...Gitin as always is at once the most precise writer imaginable & a very restless imagination, a great combination. These poems push-pull on the reader in ways that are as unpredictable as writing as they are as real-world experiences...." BlueWind13 (talk)

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