''Outriders Poetry Project'' is a privately funded organization operating in

Buffalo, NY Buffalo is a city in the U.S. state of New York and county seat of Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River on the Canadian border. With a population of 278,349 according to ...

that sponsors readings and publishes books by poets and writers based in or associated with the greater Buffalo area. The project started in 1968.

History

Outriders was founded in 1968 by Max Wickert (then Assistant Professor of English in the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

), Dan Murray (a Buffalo M.A. candidate in Creative Writing) and Doug Eichhorn (then studying under

Donald Justice Donald Rodney Justice (August 12, 1925 – August 6, 2004) was an American poet and teacher of creative writing who won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1980. Early life and education Justice was born on August 12, 1925, in Miami. He attended the ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

). Max Wickert has been its director since 1969. In the 1970s, Outriders, with support from the

New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

and

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'' ...

, Inc., ran a series of weekly poetry readings in Buffalo bars, typically involving a reading by a featured writer, followed by an open reading, in which celebrities visiting Buffalo often also participated. From 1978 to 1980, Outriders formed part of N.E.W. (Niagara-Erie Writers), a local writers’ collective. Max Wickert served as an officer in both organizations.

Weekly poetry readings

Among distinguished poets who appeared in the series were

Robert Bly Robert Elwood Bly (December 23, 1926 – November 21, 2021) was an American poet, essayist, activist and leader of the mythopoetic men's movement. His best-known prose book is '' Iron John: A Book About Men'' (1990), which spent 62 weeks on ...

, Albert S. Cook,

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...

, Raymond Federman,

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

Lee Harwood Lee Harwood (6 June 1939 – 26 July 2015) was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival. Life Travers Rafe Lee Harwood was born in Leicester to maths teacher Wilfred Travers Lee-Harwood and Grace Ladkin Harwood, who were then ...

, David Ignatow, Milton Kessler, John Logan, A. Poulin, and John Wieners, as well poets relatively unknown at the time who eventually went on to high honors, such as Charles Baxter (

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

finalist, 2000),

Carl Dennis Carl Dennis (born September 17, 1939) is an American poet and educator. His book ''Practical Gods'' won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Life and work Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 17, 1939, Dennis attended Oberlin College and the ...

(

Ruth Lilly Prize The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation, which also publishes ''Poetry'' magazine. The prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. It honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinar ...

2000,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

2002),

Cornelius Eady Cornelius Eady (born 1954) is an American writer focusing largely on matters of race and society. His poetry often centers on jazz and blues, family life, violence, and societal problems stemming from questions of race and class. His poetry is o ...

(Lamont Prize, 1985),

Robert Hass Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award Poet Laureate of the United States A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writt ...

1995–97,

2007,

2008), and

Rosmarie Waldrop Rosmarie Waldrop (born Rosmarie Sebald; August 24, 1935) is an American poet, novelist, translator, essayist and publisher. Born in Germany, she has lived in the United States since 1958 and has settled in Providence, Rhode Island since the late ...

(

International PEN PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internati ...

Award for Poetry in Translation, 2008).

Other sponsored events

During its opening seasons, Outriders worked closely with the Buffalo area Poets-in-the-Schools Program. This program had been conceived state-wide by the

New York State Council for the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) serves to foster and advance the arts, culture, and creativity throughout New York State, according to its website. The goal of the council is to allow all New Yorkers to benefit from the contribution ...

's Galen Williams. It was established in the Buffalo area by cooperation between three agencies: Outriders, which was the recipient of the initial grant; the Department of English at the University at Buffalo; and the University's Office of Cultural Affairs, then directed by Esther Harriott, who coordinated the entire venture. During its opening years, Outriders and Poetry-in-the-Schools frequently overlapped and a number of poets appeared in both programs. (In later seasons, Poetry-in-the-Schools operated independently.) In its 1970–71 season, Outriders also ran two "Third World Poetry Festivals" that showcased Latino poets Felipe Luciano, Jose-Angel Figueroa and

Pedro Pietri Pedro Pietri (March 21, 1944 – March 3, 2004) was a Puerto Rican poet and playwright and one of the co-founders of the Nuyorican Movement. He was considered by some as the poet laureate of the Nuyorican Movement. Early years Pietri was bor ...

(later well known as members of the

Nuyorican Nuyorican is a portmanteau word blending "New York" (or "Nueva York" in Spanish) and "Puerto Rican," referring to Puerto Ricans located in or around New York City, their culture, or their descendants (especially those raised or currently livin ...

school) and the late Nigerian poet, Pol Ndu. In 1978 and 1979, Outriders, through its director, co-sponsored Summer Poetry Festivals with

Artpark Earl W. Brydges Artpark State Park (or Earl W. Brydges State Artpark) is a state park located in the Village of Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. The park, which is officially named after former New York State Senator Earl Brydges, is gene ...

(Lewiston, NY) and the

, featuring, among others,

Marvin Bell Marvin Hartley Bell (August 3, 1937 – December 14, 2020) was an American poet and teacher who was the first Poet Laureate of the state of Iowa. Early life and education Bell was raised in Center Moriches on Long Island. He served in the ...

, Irving Feldman, Canada’s ''Four Horsemen'' (

bpNichol Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944 – 25 September 1988), known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet, editor, creative writing teacher at York University in Toronto and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work ...

, Paul Dutton,

Steve McCaffery Steven McCaffery (born January 24, 1947) is a Canadian poet and scholar who was a professor at York University. He currently holds the David Gray Chair at the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. McCaffery was born in Sheffie ...

and Rafael Barreto-Rivera),

Anselm Hollo Anselm Paul Alexis Hollo (12 April 1934 – 29 January 2013) was a Finnish poet and translator. He lived in the United States from 1967 until his death in January 2013. Hollo published more than forty titles of poetry in the United Kingdom and ...

, David Ignatow, J.F. Nims, Carlene Polite, Mark Rudman,

Louis Simpson Louis Aston Marantz Simpson (March 27, 1923 – September 14, 2012) was an American poet born in Jamaica. He won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his work ''At the End of the Open Road''. Life and career Simpson was born in Jamaica, the s ...

, William Stafford,

Gerald Stern Gerald Daniel Stern (February 22, 1925 – October 27, 2022) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. The author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays, he taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, India ...

, Virginia Terris, and Harriett Zinnes.

Publications

During its first years, Outriders also planned a series of publications and chapbooks. Aside from a few ephemeral broadsides, only one of these appeared, Max Wickert’s ''All the Weight of the Still Midnight'' (1972; 2nd, expanded edition 2013). The weekly readings ceased in 1980 and Outriders suspended its activities for a number of years. In 2009, Wickert revived it as a small press which has since issued Ann Goldsmith’s ''The Spaces Between Us'' and Martin Pops’s ''Minoxidyl and Other Stories''(2010); Judith Slater's ''The Wind Turning Pages'' (2011), Max Wickert's ''No Cartoons'' (2011), Gail Fischer's ''Red Ball Jets'' (2011), Jeremiah Rush Bowen's ''Consolations'' (2012) and Jerry McGuire's ''Venus Transit'' as well as ''An Outriders Anthology: Poetry in Buffalo 1969-1979 and After'' (2013), Jacob Schepers' ''A Bundle of Careful Compromises'' and Linda Stern Zisquit's ''Return from Elsewhere''(2014); Edric Mesmer's ''of monody and homophonies'' (2015); the anthology ''Four Buffalo Poets: Ansie Baird, Ann Goldsmith, David Landrey, Sam Magavern'' (2016); Carole Southwood's f, the same author's non-fiction novel ''Abdoo: The Biography of a Piece of White Trash''; and most recently Sherry Robbins' "Under Woods" (2020). For five years, ending in 2015, the press conducted an annual competition open to poets and fiction writers with some significant connection to the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area. The winners of this competition were Jeremiah Rush Bowen (2011); Jerry McGuire (2012), Jacob Schepers and Linda Zisquit (co-winners 2014); and Edric Mesmer, ''Of Monodies and Homophony'' (2015). Recently Outriders, in collaboration with Carole Southwell's Niagara River Salon, established the series of occasional on-line Niagara River Salon Chapbooks, downloadable free (for personal use only) from its web site. The first of these, "A Farewell Fast Shrift for John Marvin" will be available in late 2023.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Organizations based in Buffalo, New York