Corbin & American Poetry - Oct 21, 2014

As I have mentioned before (here for instance) Joseph Donahue is a poet whose work has been influenced by Corbin. His newest book is now available.

"There is a relentless generosity to Joseph Donahue’s newest collection, as seemingly everything can find its place among the contours of his poetry. By turns worldy and visionary, Red Flash on a Black Field accommodates Charles Olson and David Lynch, Nietzsche and a theology bursting from pure, luminous words of radical intent. In the hands of this consummate craftsman “consciousness is a continual fire” and the world of words is ablaze." - Susan Howe

There is a good interview with Joe about this book and other things in The Conversant. He says,

"In the last few years I have been drawn to the literature of esoteric Islam, certainly for its extravagance of devotional expression and its exploration of visionary states of being, but also to help me fathom a simple and yet difficult ambition of lyric poetry, the ecstatic cry. Why is such a little mouthful of air so hard to get right? Perhaps this is so only to the ecstatically challenged, such as myself. But it seems to me the simple exclamation of joy or despair, both to utter and interpret, demands a thinking out the nature of the world: what forces large and small have brought these syllables to be?"