Philip Whalen
Philip Glenn Whalen | |
---|---|
Shunryu Suzuki | |
Education | Reed College |
Philip Glenn Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was an American poet,
Beat generation
.
Biography
Born in
The New American Poetry 1945-1960
.
Whalen's first interest in
D. T. Suzuki. With Snyder, Whalen attended a study group at the Jōdo Shinshū Buddhist Church in Berkeley.[4] Ultimately, Zen became his chosen path.[5]
Whalen spent 1966 and 1967 in
the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a job teaching English. There, he practiced zazen daily, and wrote some forty poems and a second novel.[6]
He moved into the
Zentatsu Richard Baker in 1972. The following year, he became a monk. He became head monk of Dharma Sangha, in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 1984. In 1987, he received transmission from Baker, and in 1991, he returned to San Francisco to lead the Hartford Street Zen Center until ill health forced him to retire.[6]
Poetry
- The Calendar, a Book of Poems. Reed College, thesis (B.A.), Portland, Ore. 1951.
- Self Portrait from Another Direction. (Broadside), Auerhahn Press, San Francisco 1959.
- Memoirs of an Interglacial Age. Auerhahn Press, San Francisco 1960.
- Like I Say. Totem Press/Corinth Books, New York 1960
- Monday in the Evening, 21:VII:61. Pezzoli, Milan 1964
- Every Day. Coyote's Journal, Eugene, Oregon 1965
- Highgrade: Doodles, Poems. Coyote's Journal, San Francisco 1966
- On Bear's Head. Harcourt, Brace & World/Coyote, New York 1969
- Scenes of Life at the Capital. Maya, San Francisco 1970
- Enough Said: Fluctuat Nec Mergitur: Poems 1974-1979. Grey Fox Press, San Francisco 1980.
- Heavy Breathing: Poems 1967-1980. Grey Fox Press, San Francisco 1983
- Canoeing up Cabarga Creek: Buddhist Poems 1955-1986. Parallax Press, Berkeley 1996.
- Overtime: Selected Poems by Philip Whalen. Penguin, New York 1999.
- The Collected Poems of Philip Whalen. Wesleyan University Press, Middletown, Connecticut 2007.
Both the Collected and Selected Poems were edited by Michael Rothenberg.
Prose
- You Didn't Even Try. Coyote, San Francisco 1967. (novel)
- Imaginary Speeches for a Brazen Head. Black Sparrow Press, Los Angeles 1972. (novel)
- Off the Wall: Interviews with Philip Whalen. Donald Allen, editor. Grey Fox Press, Bolinas, California 1978.
- The Diamond Noodle. Poltroon Press, Berkeley 1980. (memoirs)
- Winning His Way, or, the Rise of William Johnson: a diverting history for the instruction & improvement of the breed. Free Print Shop, San Francisco, California, 1983.
- Two Novels. Zephyr Press, Somerville, Mass. 1985.
- Goof Book (for Jack Kerouac). Big Bridge Press, Guerneville, Calif. 2001. (journal)
See also
Notes
References
- Fields, Rick (1992). How the Swans Came to the Lake: A Narrative History of Buddhism in America. ISBN 0-87773-631-6.
- Charters, Ann (ed.). The Portable Beat Reader. Penguin Books. New York. 1992. ISBN 0-14-015102-8(pbk)
- Suiter, John. Poets on the Peaks (2002) Counterpoint. ISBN 1-58243-294-5(pbk)
Further reading
- David Schneider. Crowded by Beauty: The Life and Zen of Poet Philip Whalen. University of California Press, Berkeley, 2015. ISBN 978-0520247468
External links
- Philip Whalen Papers at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Columbia University
- Whalen homepage at the EPC
- Tributes and poem
- Essay on Whalen
- Whalen chapbook at Big Bridge
- Whalen's hand-drawn fable "The Invention of the Letter"
- Guide to the Philip Whalen Papers at The Bancroft Library
- Transcription of extensive biographical interview with Phillip Whalen by David Meltzer, Jacket Magazine
- Records of Philip Whalen are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books