Nada Gordon (born 1964) is an American poet. She is a pioneer of
Flarf poetry and a founding member of the
Flarf Collective.
Life
Nada Gordon was born in 1964 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 ...
. Gordon was a precocious poet, exposed to poetry early by parents who both wrote poetry, she remembers dictating poems to her mother at seven. Her junior high school poetry teacher was
Cole Swensen. While still in her teens, she taught a poetry workshop at the
Berkeley YWCA
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swit ...
.
In 1988, she emigrated to Japan. There she taught English, performed vocals for the band IRO
and co-edited the magazine AYA. In 1999, she returned to the US and settled in Brooklyn.
Education
In her late teens, Gordon took a classes at
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
, working with
Kathleen Fraser,
Stephen Rodefer, and
Barrett Watten
Barrett Watten (born October 3, 1948) is an American poet, editor, and educator associated with the Language poets. He is a professor of English at Wayne State University in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, where he teaches modernism and cultural stu ...
. Fraser's curriculum included talks with visiting writers and through these Gordon was exposed to
Carla Harryman,
Steve Benson,
Anne Rice,
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 ...
.
She received an
MA in Literature at
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
, completing her thesis on poet
Bernadette Mayer
Bernadette Mayer (May 12, 1945 – November 22, 2022) was an American poet, writer, and visual artist associated with both the Language poets and the New York School (art), New York School.
Early life and education
Bernadette Mayer was born ...
in 1986.
Work
In 2000, Gordon, along with Gary Sullivan, Mitch Highfill, Drew Gardner and K Silem Mohammad began the practice that resulted in the creation of the
Flarf movement, submitting intentionally atrocious poems to the website Poetry.com, which had scammed Sullivan's father, to see if the vanity press would draw the line at publishing their compositions.
Awards
* 2014, Stacy Doris Memorial Poetry Award
List of works
Poetry collections
* ''Vile Lilt '' (Roof Books, 2013)
* ''Scented Rushes'' (Roof Books, 2010)
* ''Folly'' (Roof Books, 2007)
* ''V. Imp'' (Faux Pr, 2002)
* ''Foriegnn Bodie'' (Detour Press, 2001)
* ''Swoon (Granary)'' (Granary Books, 2001)
* ''Are Not Our Lowing Heifers Sleeker Than Night-Swollen Mushrooms?'' (Spuyten Duyvil, 2001)
References
External links
Form's Life: An Exploration of the Works of Bernadette Mayerby Nada Gordon.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Nada
1964 births
Living people
21st-century American poets
20th-century American poets
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American women writers
American women poets
Writers from Oakland, California
Poets from California
University of California, Berkeley alumni
San Francisco State University alumni