Barrett Watten (born October 3, 1948) is an American poet, editor, and educator associated with the

Language poets The Language poets (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (magazine), ''L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E'' poets, after the magazine of that name) are an avant-garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The poets included: Berna ...

. He is a professor of English at

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, where he teaches

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an academic field that explores the dynamics of contemporary culture (including the politics of popular culture) and its social and historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers investigate how cultural practices rel ...

Early life and education

Watten was born in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, in 1948, the son of a US Navy physician. As a child, he moved frequently, including time in Japan and Taiwan. He graduated high school in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, in 1965, and briefly attended

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. He graduated with an AB in biochemistry from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

in 1969. While at Berkeley, he met fellow poet Robert Grenier, and participated in student protests against the Vietnam War. He then attended the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

, graduating in 1972 with an MFA. Watten's association with Grenier continued when they began publishing

This This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This (Egypt), or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France * This, a country mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythraea ...

magazine.

Career

In 1976, he and other poets founded the reading series at the Grand Piano coffeehouse in San Francisco that ran through 1980. From 2006 to 2010 ten members of the group published ''The Grand Piano'', a "collective autobiography" of that period. In 1971, Watten and Robert Grenier began the poetry journal ''

'', which he edited with Grenier for the first three years and then alone until 1982. In 1989, he began graduate studies at Berkeley, receiving a PhD in English in 1995. In 1995, the poetry magazine '' Aerial'' published a special issue about Watten. Between 1981 and 1998, Watten served as an editor for ''Poetics Journal'' along with

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian ( ; May 17, 1941 – February 24, 2024) was an American poet, essayist, translator, and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon (publisher), Sun & Moon, 198 ...

. In 2013, an anthology of essays from the journal was published, followed by an e-book of the entire journal's content in 2015. Watten joined the English department at

in 1994. In 2019, some students reported Watten to the university administration for misbehavior and later published their collective testimonials in a blog, including allegations of Watten being "hostile, verbally abusive, and manipulative with female students". The university hired an independent investigator and removed him from teaching in November 2019. Watten's faculty union, the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...

(AAUP), filed grievances citing a lack of required due process and a restraint of free speech, and requested the restrictions be withdrawn. The details of the disciplinary action were published after a FOIA request, which was protested by Watten as "outrageous". Watten returned to teaching classes in 2023.

Major work and publications

Watten's poetry is associated with a loosely-affiliated group of avant-garde poets referred to as the West Coast

Language Poets The Language poets (or L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (magazine), ''L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E'' poets, after the magazine of that name) are an avant-garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The poets included: Berna ...

. This group includes Robert Grenier,

Ron Silliman Ron Silliman (born August 5, 1946) is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman w ...

, Steve Benson,

Carla Harryman Carla Harryman (born January 11, 1952) is an American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with the Language poets. She teaches Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery School of ...

, Michael Palmer,

Bob Perelman Bob Perelman (born December 2, 1947) is an American poet, critic, editor, and teacher. He was an early exponent of the Language poets, an avant-garde movement, originating in the 1970s. He has helped shape a "formally adventurous, politically e ...

Kit Robinson Kit Robinson (born May 17, 1949) is an American poet, translator, writer and musician. An early member of the San Francisco Language poets circle, he has published 28 books of poetry. Life and work Born in Evanston, Illinois, Robinson graduated ...

, and

Leslie Scalapino Leslie Scalapino (July 25, 1944 – May 28, 2010) was an American poet, experimental prose writer, playwright, essayist, and editor, sometimes grouped in with the Language poets, though she felt closely tied to the Beat poets. Writes Hejinian: ...

. The group shared an opposition to America's involvement in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, as well as "skepticism about the appropriation of truth by meaning". Since the early 1970s and up until today, the latter group of poets have been able to distinguish themselves from the preceding literary generations and movements, in particular the New American Poets, through an emphasis on self-reflexive experiences with language rather than the physical body. Watten's early creative work is collected in ''Frame (1971–1990),'' which appeared in 1997. Two book–length poems—''Progress'' (1985) and ''Under Erasure'' (1991)—were republished with a new preface as ''Progress''/''Under Erasure'' (2004). ''Bad History'', a book-length prose poem, appeared in 1998. Watten is co-author, with Michael Davidson, Lyn Hejinian, and Ron Silliman, of ''Leningrad: American Writers in the Soviet Union'' (1991). He has published three volumes of literary and cultural criticism: ''Total Syntax'' (1985);''The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text to Cultural Poetics'' (2003); and ''Questions of Poetics: Language Writing and Consequences'' (2016). Watten is also co-author, with Tom Mandel, Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman, Kit Robinson, Carla Harryman,

Rae Armantrout Rae Armantrout (born April 13, 1947) is an American poet generally associated with the Language poets. She has published more than two dozen books, including both poetry and prose. Armantrout was awarded the 2009 National Book Critics Circle Aw ...

Ted Pearson Ted Pearson (born 1948 in Palo Alto, California) is an American poet. He is often associated with the Language poets. Life and work Pearson was born in 1948 in Palo Alto, California. He began studying music in 1960 and began writing poetry in 196 ...

, Steve Benson, and Bob Perelman of ''The Grand Piano: An Experiment in Collective Autobiography.'' (Detroit, MI: Mode A/This Press, 2006–2010). He also co-edited ''A Guide to Poetics Journal: Writing in the Expanded Field'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2013) with

and ''Diasporic Avant-Gardes: Experimental Poetics and Cultural Displacement'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) with Carrie Noland.

Awards and recognition

The American Comparative Literature Association awarded him the 2004 René Wellek Prize for his book ''The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text to Cultural Poetics''.

Personal life

Watten is married to poet (and collaborator) Carla Harryman.

Notes

References

External links

Faculty webpageBarrett Watten.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watten, Barrett American male poets Language poets Writers from Long Beach, California 1948 births Living people American literary critics Wayne State University faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of Iowa alumni Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni American magazine founders American male non-fiction writers