Robert Duncan

He was born in 1919 in Oakland California, and his mother died during the childbirth. Robert was initially raised by his father who named him Edward Howard Duncan Jr. Edward senior was a day labourer and as a single parent he had difficulty in raising the child and Edwatd Jnr was subsequently adopted and raised by Edwin and Minnehaha Symmes who renamed him Robert Edward Symmes and he was known by this name until he left the army in 1941.
The Symmes were very much involved with various aspects of the occult and soRobert as he was now known became familiar with many different interpretations of life. Robert’s adoptive parents were a good and stable influence and he had an undisturbed childhood apart from an accident in the snow at the age of three which left him with impaired vision. He was well educated initially in bakersfield, California and then at the University at Berkley. He formed early friendships with amny of the literary giants of the time such as Henry Miller, Tennessee Williams, James Baldwin, Paul Goodman, Ezra Pound, H.D., Anais Nin, Kenneth Rexroth and William Carlos Williams

Probably the most notable point in his early career was the publication of a critical essay called “The Homosexual in Society” in Politics magazine in 1944. He also made contributions to such periodicals as The nation and The Experimental Review (which he edited for a time).

In the mid 1950s Robert taught at the Black Mountain College and became the most famous of the “Black mountain Poets” which include the likes of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Denise Levertov. By this time he was an integral part of the national poetry scene. He was also active in the art, film and occult circles.

His anti-war feelings became prominent during the Vietnam war period especially with the publication of his poetry collection “Bending the Bow”.

By the time of his death in 1988 Robert had became famous world wide for his readings and lectures and he was instrumental in teaching in the Poetics Program at New College of California in San Francisco where he worked alongside younger West Coast poets such as Diane diPrima and Michael Palmer.
He was the recipient of many awards including awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Guggenheim Foundation, and The National Poetry Foundation. He was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1984.