Ray DiPalma (1943-2016) (born in New Kensington, PA in 1943) was an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...

and

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

who published more than 40 collections of poetry, graphic work, and translations with various presses in the US and Europe. He was educated at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

(B.A., 1966) and

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 ...

(M.F.A., 1968).

Overview

DiPalma's were widely anthologized and published in numerous journals. Translations of his poems appeared in French, Portuguese, Italian, German, Spanish, and Chinese. His visual works (including

artist's book Artists' books (or book arts or book objects) are works of art that engage with and transform the form of a book. Some are mass-produced with multiple editions, some are published in small editions, while others are produced as one-of-a-kind o ...

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

s, and prints) were exhibited in numerous shows in the United States, Europe, Japan, and South America, and in a one-person show at the Stemplelplatt's Gallery in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Two videos based on his book ''January Zero'' were made in France. At the time of his death, DiPalma lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and taught at the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by Silas ...

in Manhattan. During his life, his work was seen at

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

; Special Collections,

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

;

J. Paul Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

, Los Angeles;

New York Public Library The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second-largest public library in the United States behind the Library of Congress a ...

and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

Poetics

Often 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 ...

, DiPalma was the co-author of ''L E G E N D'' (1980) with Bruce Andrews,

Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to: * Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores * Charles Bernstein (poet) (born 1950), American poet, essayist, editor, and literary scholar {{hndis, Bernstein, Cha ...

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

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 ...

, which was the only book to actually appear under the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E imprint. His work was praised by such notable poets as Jackson MacLow and

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 ...

. About his 1995 collection, ''Motion of the Cypher'', critic

Marjorie Perloff Marjorie Perloff (born Gabriele Mintz; September 28, 1931 – March 24, 2024) was an Austrian-born American poetry scholar and critic, known for her study of avant-garde poetry. Perloff was a professor at Catholic University, the University of ...

has written, "These chiseled lyric meditations recall

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

in their density, but they are written under the sign of

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

- appropriate for the late twentieth century, that casts a cold eye on the margins, the spaces between, where we live." Of DiPalma's work, Robert Creeley wrote:

Selected publications

*''Max'' (The Body Press, 1969) *''Between the Shapes'' (Zeitgeist, 1970) *''Soli'' (Ithaca House, 1974) *''Observatory Gardens'' (Berkeley: Tuumba Press, 1979) *''Planh'' (Casement, 1979) *''January Zero'' (Coffee House Press, 1984) *''The Jukebox of Memnon'' (Potes & Poets Press, 1988) *''Raik'' (Roof Books, 1989) *''Mock Fandango'' (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1991) *''Metropolitan Corridor'' (Zasterle, 1992) *''Numbers and Tempers: Selected Early Poems'' (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1993) *''Platinum Replica'' ith Elizabeth DiPalma(Stele, 1994) *''Hôtel des Ruines'' ith Alexandre Delay (Royaumont, 1994) *''Provocations'' (Potes & Poets, 1994) *''Motion of the Cypher'' ( Roof Books, 1995) *''Letters'' (Littoral Books, 1998) *''Chartings'', 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 ...

. (Chax Press, 2000) *''45°'' (Stele, 2000) *''The Ancient Use of Stone: Journals and Daybooks 1998-2008''. (Otis Books / Seismicity Editions, 2009) :*''also of note'': ''Le Tombeau de Reverdy'' (translated to French by

Emmanuel Hocquard Emmanuel Hocquard (11 April 1940 – 27 January 2019) was a French poet. Life He grew up in Tangier, Morocco. He served as the editor of the small press ''Orange Export Ltd.'' and, with Claude Royet-Journoud, edited two anthologies of new Amer ...

& Juliette Valéry) was published in Marseille by cip/M & Un bureau sur l'Atlantique.

External links

DiPalma at TheEastVillage.com
an appreciation

new poetry (2006) by DiPalma

* Ray DiPalma Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dipalma, Ray 1943 births American male poets Language poets 2016 deaths Duquesne University alumni University of Iowa alumni People from New Kensington, Pennsylvania