Michael O'Brien (January 29, 1939 – November 10, 2016) was an American poet.
He began his poetry career as part of the "Eventorium", a relatively obscure group of New York City artists with an interest in surrealism. O’Brien’s early work is now extremely difficult to find, according to a 2007 review of his Sleeping and Waking by David Orr in The New York Times.[1]
His book, Sleeping and Waking was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Critics Circle award.[2] According to Orr, poetry critic of The New York Times, the poems in the collection are "heavy on isolated images, dream logic, bits of overheard conversation (typically urban conversation) and memories, with larger themes emerging through juxtapositions and repetitions. Indeed, many poems consist of nothing but juxtapositions and repetitions."[1]
Works
edit- Sleeping and Waking Flood Editions, 2007
- Sills: Selected Poems, Zoland, 2000
- At Schoodic, Cairn Editions, 2000
- The Ruin, an assortment of translations, 1986
- The Summer Poems, Eventorium Press, 1967
Notes
edit- ^ a b Review by David Orr in The New York Times On Poetry: Words of the World"], New York Times Book Review, December 9, 2007, accessed April 17, 2008
- ^ "National Book Critics Circle Announces Awards Finalists", news release from the National Book Critics Circle, January 12, 2008, accessed April 17, 2008
External links
edit- Reviews of Sleeping and Waking
- Review by David Orr in The New York Times
- Review by Maureen N. McLane at "Zoland Poetry"