Olson, Charles

Olson, Charles, 1910–70, American critic and poet, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1933). His literary reputation was established with Call Me Ishmael (1947), a study of the influence of Shakespeare and other writers on Melville's Moby-Dick. Later he became noted as a poet. Olson wrote what he called “projective” (open) verse, which he believed transmitted energy from the past to the reader. His works include The Maximus Poems (1960 and 1968), Casual Mythology (1969), and Poetry and Truth (1971).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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