Early poetry

[Deleted]

I like Grant's poetry very much, and was wondering if we might see a collection of his early work, assuming it has survived?

[Michael Staley]

Yes, early work has survived. Having said that, the last published collection - Convolvulus - was originally written in the late 1940s and early 1950s, though of course revised and added you across the years.

[Vadge Moore]

Is it true that Kenneth kept a copy of Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal at his bedside for many years?

[Michael Staley]

I'm afraid that I don't know if that was the case, Vadge.

[Vadge Moore]

I seem to recall that Jan Fries, in a memorial blog, had declared this. It would make sense. Baudelaire's themes were very Typhonian.

[Michael Staley]

If Jan said this, then it's likely that Kenneth told him this in a letter. Kenneth's library includes a 1920 edition of the book

[Vadge Moore]

Wow! What I wouldn't pay to own a 1920 edition of that. Baudelaire has resonated to me my whole life...since I was a child. I've always thought of Kenneth as an occult Baudelaire, even though Baudelaire touched on those themes through his reading of Levi and Swedenborg. Kenneth was also very influenced by Mallarme, if I'm not mistaken?

[Michael Staley]

Yes, he was.

[Marc]

Hi Michael/Vadge,

I have never read of Beaudelaire's work. I read about it in the memorial that you mentioned. I guess it would be good for me to acquire that particular book since it seems to be of importance to the Typhonian current.

[Vadge Moore]

Marc- I highly recommend the Robert Howard translation, published by Godine. The translation is the best I've read and the book itself is beautiful to behold.

[Vadge Moore]

Ooops...sorry...Richard Howard is the translator's name.