Patchen, Kenneth, 1911-1972

Patchen and MacLeish, were both American poets.

American poet, novelist, artist.

American poet.

Kenneth Patchen (1911-1972) was an American poet, novelist and artist. Patchen was an early experimental poet who began writing and publishing in the late 1930s. He was the first poet to begin reading poetry while accompanied by jazz music, and became a major influence on later Beat poets such as Allen Ginsberg. Patchen also experimented with "picture poems," which were illustrated by his own paintings and drawings.

Kenneth Patchen was a writer, poet, and artist. The third of five children, Kenneth was born on December 13, 1911, in Niles, Ohio, to Eva and Wayne Patchen. Writing, a life-long pursuit, began for Kenneth around his twelfth year when he started keeping a diary. Publication of his writing first appeared in his high school newspaper High School Life, in 1928. His scholastic abilities were complimented by his athletic accomplishments in football and track in high school and in college. Patchen worked two summers in the steel mills with his father and brother to supplement his college scholarship. From 1929-1930 he attended the Alexander Meilejohn's Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin. Following his mentor, Meilejohn to the Commonwealth College in Mena Arkansas, Patchen became disenchanted with academics and left after one semester to travel around the country.

Doing odd jobs and traveling in the United States and Canada from 1930-1933, Patchen continued his writing and had two sonnets published in the New York Times. While at a Christmas party in Boston in 1933, Patchen met Miriam Oikemus, and on June 28, 1934, they were married.

Before the Brave, Patchen's first book of poetry, was published in 1936. In 1937, Patchen damaged his back severely while trying to separate the locked bumpers of two cars that had collided. It wasn't until 1950, when he had surgery to fix the slipped disk that he was temporarily relived of this chronic pain. In 1956, a spinal fusion gave Patchen the mobility to tour around the country giving concert performances of poetry and jazz. This activity was unfortunately short lived. In 1959, Patchen was undergoing exploratory surgery when a surgical mishap occurred. Patchen fell off the operating table, permanently damaging his spine, and was bedridden the remainder of his life. This however, did not prevent him from continuing to write and paint.

From 1936-1972, Kenneth Patchen published over 36 books and pioneered experiments in the anti-novel, concrete poetry, poetry and jazz, irrational tales and verse, as well as painting and poetry experiments which he termed painted books, poems and drawings, and picture poems. Patchen's unique work followed no particular group or style, and he wrote and painted for his own pleasure, not for recognition by academics or for commercial acceptance. On January 8, 1972 Kenneth Patchen died from a heart attack.

Richard G. Morgan was born on December 17, 1950. He married Lissa Fischer on May 19, 1975. While writing several books on Kenneth Patchen, Morgan taught English and creative writing at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. Morgan is the author of Patchen's Lost Plays (1977); Kenneth Patchen: A Collection of Essays (1977); Kenneth Patchen: An Annotated, Descriptive Bibliography (1978); and Tiger in the Air (1979). Poems and essays of Morgan's have appeared in periodicals in the United States, Canada, England, France, and Australia.