Corman, Cid

American poet and editor of the small magazine Origin.

Highly prolific poet, translator, and prose writer, Cid Corman was born in Boston in 1924. He enrolled as an undergraduate at Tufts University in 1941, graduating in 1945. He completed post-graduate work at the University of Michigan and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Corman returned to Boston in 1948 where he made efforts to establish a "poetic community" by holding poetry events at public libraries and creating a poetry radio program on which poets read from their works. In 1950-1951, Corman began editing and publishing a little magazine called Origin which featured his own works and those of his contemporaries including Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Larry Eigner, Denise Levertov, William Bronk, Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, and Paul Blackburn. In 1954, Corman went to Europe on a Fulbright grant and studied at the Sorbonne in France. He later moved to Japan where his output, in addition to his own poetry and editing work, included translations of the works of Japanese poets. Corman continued his editorship of Origin through several more series. The Gist of Origin (featured in box 4 of this collection) describes the creation and development of the magazine from 1951 through its third series in 1971.

Cid Corman (1924- ) is a poet, editor of the journal, Origin, owner of the Origin Press, editor and translator of the work of several other poets, and literary critic. Corman, who has lived mostly in Japan since 1954, received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 1974.

Poet, translator, and editor and publisher of Origin magazine and press, of Boston, Mass.; b. Sidney Corman, 1924.

Cid Corman is an American poet, essayist, and translator.

Cid Corman was born in Boston in 1924 and was educated at University of Michigan and the Sorbonne. Corman left the U.S. for Europe and Japan during the 1950s to teach and write. During the next two decades Corman published over 20 books and worked as an editor of Origin Press and Origin Magazine. Corman's poetry has an Oriental flavor and during his tenurein Kyoto he translated several Japanese poets. In 1975 Corman published The gist of origin, an anthology of writings from the magazine.

Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX. During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption. He founded the poetry magazine Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first book, Riprap, was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights Books. Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include: "The Precious" (1955), "Sun rock man" (1970), "So Far" (1973), "For the Asking" (1976), "Identities" (1981), "And the Word" (1987), "How Now: Poems" (1995), and "For Crying Out Loud" (2002). He also translated the works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano. Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan. Frank Samperi (1933-1991), also a poet, was the author of "Lumen gloriae; poems" (1974), "The prefiguration; poems" (1971), "Quadrifariam; poems" (1973).

Cid Corman (1924- ) is a poet, editor of the journal, "Origin," owner of the Origin Press, editor and translator of the work of several other poets, and literary critic. Corman, who has lived mostly in Japan since 1954, received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize in 1974.

Named Sidney, Corman was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. from Tufts University in 1945 and did graduate work at the Universities of Michigan and North Carolina. In 1949 Corman created This is Poetry a radio program airing on WMEX in Boston which ran for three years. His next venture was a poetry magazine, Origin which featured and sometimes debuted such poets as Robert Creeley, William Bronk, Denise Levertov, Lorine Niedecker, Charles Olson, and Louis Zukofsky. Corman later established Origin Press, publishing some of these same authors as well as his own works. In the late 1950s he moved to Kyoto, Japan where he found work as a private teacher of English and poetry. He married Shizumi Konishi in 1965 and opened C.C.'s, a coffee and dessert shop that also served as a venue for poetry readings. He lived in the States several times over the years, but in 1982 moved permanently to Kyoto where he remained until his death in March 2004. His published works include over 100 books and pamphlets of poetry, translations of French, Italian and Japanese poets, and several volumes of essays.

Poet, translator and editor Cid Corman, 1924-2004.

Editor.

Poet, editor and translator, Cid Corman was born in 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts . Owner of the Origin Press, he was the editor and publisher of Origin magazine.

Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX. During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption. He founded the poetry magazine Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first book, "Riprap", was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights Books. Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include: "The Precious" (1955) "Sun Rock Man" (1970), "So Far" (1973), "For the Asking" (1976), "Identities" (1981), "And the Word" (1987), "How Now: Poems" (1995), and "For Crying Out Loud" (2002). He also translated the works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano. Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan. His correspondent, Graham Ackroyd, was a poet and artist who resided in the United Kingdom. His works include "Love feast: poems" (1993), "Poems" (1994), and "Everything passes: poem" (1996).

McPheron is the Curator for British and American Literature at Stanford University Libraries.

Poet, translator and editor.

American poet; b. Sidney Corman in Boston, Mass., 1924; lives in Japan.

Cid Corman was a Boston-born poet, editor and translator. He was owner of the Origin Press and editor and publisher of Origin magazine.

American poet; b. 1924. Editor and publisher of Origin, a poetry, magazine, which ran in three series from 1951 to 1957, from 1961 to 1964, and from 1966 to 1971.

American poet Cid (Sidney) Corman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 29, 1924. After receiving a B.A. from Tufts College in 1945, he did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Award for poetry, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston, where he organized a series of poetry groups and broadcast a radio show called "This is Poetry." This program brought Corman into contact with several established poets, including John Crowe Ransom, Archibald MacLeish, Richard Wilbur, Theodore Roethke, and Marianne Moore. The latter introduced him to the writer's colony at Yaddo, where he met William Carlos Williams, who would become a strong influence in Corman's own poetry.

In 1951, Corman founded and edited the literary quarterly Origin, which published the work of new or little-known authors. The magazine printed works by several poets from the Black Mountain community, including Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Robert Duncan. In addition to promoting the works of many American poets, including Corman himself, Origin published several poems in translation. The magazine would eventually go through five series, the last ending in 1986.

In 1954-55, Corman received a Fulbright fellowship to study at the Sorbonne. The next year, he taught in Italy, and began publishing volumes of poetry under the Origin Press imprint. From 1958-1966, Corman taught in Kyoto, Japan, at Kyoto Joshidai, Ryukoto University, and Doshisha University. He and his wife, Shizumi Konshini, have lived primarily in Kyoto ever since, where they run a successful business, Cid Corman's Dessert Shop.

Corman has published over seventy volumes of poetry, beginning with A Thanksgiving Eclogue from Theocritus (1954), and including Sun Rock Man (1962), Livingdying (1970), Of, Vol. I-II (1990), Of: Volume Three (1998), and Nothing / Doing (1999). He has also translated several French and Japanese poems, including work by Bashõ, Kusano Shimpei, and Francis Ponge, and published four volumes of essays. His anthology, The Gist of Origin (1975) contains a brief history of the magazine and several excerpts from the first three series.

Coony, Seamus. "Cid Corman." Contemporary Poets, 6th edition. Ed. Thomas Riggs. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Corman, Cid, ed. The Gist of Origin, 1951-1971: An Anthology. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1979. Who's Who in Writers, Editors, and Poets, United States and Canada, 5th Edition. Highland Park, Il: December Press, 1996.

Coony, Seamus. “Cid Corman.” Contemporary Poets, 6th edition. Ed. Thomas Riggs. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Corman, Cid, ed. The Gist of Origin, 1951–1971: An Anthology. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1979. Who’s Who in Writers, Editors, and Poets, United States and Canada, 5th Edition. Highland Park, Il: December Press, 1996.

American poet Cid (Sidney) Corman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 29, 1924. After receiving a B.A. from Tufts College in 1945, he did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Award for poetry, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston, where he organized a series of poetry groups and broadcast a radio show called “This is Poetry.” This program brought Corman into contact with several established poets, including John Crowe Ransom, Archibald MacLeish, Richard Wilbur, Theodore Roethke, and Marianne Moore. The latter introduced him to the writer’s colony at Yaddo, where he met William Carlos Williams, who would become a strong influence in Corman’s own poetry.

In 1951, Corman founded and edited the literary quarterly Origin, which published the work of new or little-known authors. The magazine printed works by several poets from the Black Mountain community, including Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Robert Duncan. In addition to promoting the works of many American poets, including Corman himself, Origin published several poems in translation. The magazine would eventually go through five series, the last ending in 1986.

In 1954–55, Corman received a Fulbright fellowship to study at the Sorbonne. The next year, he taught in Italy, and began publishing volumes of poetry under the Origin Press imprint. From 1958–1966, Corman taught in Kyoto, Japan, at Kyoto Joshidai, Ryukoto University, and Doshisha University. He and his wife, Shizumi Konshini, have lived primarily in Kyoto ever since, where they run a successful business, Cid Corman’s Dessert Shop.

Corman has published over seventy volumes of poetry, beginning with A Thanksgiving Eclogue from Theocritus (1954), and including Sun Rock Man (1962), Livingdying (1970), Of, Vol. I-II (1990), Of: Volume Three (1998), and Nothing / Doing (1999). He has also translated several French and Japanese poems, including works by Basho, Kusano Shimpei, and Francis Ponge, and published four volumes of essays. His anthology, The Gist of Origin (1975) contains a brief history of the magazine and several excerpts from the first three series.

American poet David Giannini was born on March 19, 1948 in New York City. His first book of poetry, Opens (1971), was published by Genesis: Grasp Press, which he edited and co-founded that same year. Other publications include Stem (1982), Antonio and Clara (1992), and Seaphorisms (1993). His most recent work, Other Lines (1997), is a collection “collage haikus,” which Giannini constructs with three lines from three different poems. He has also contributed poems to various anthologies and magazines.

Biography

Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX. During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption.

He founded the poetry magazine Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first book, Riprap, was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights Books.

Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include: The Precious (1955) Sun rock man (1970), So Far (1973), For the Asking (1976), Identities (1981), And the Word (1987), How Now: Poems (1995), and For Crying Out Loud (2002). He also translated the works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano.

Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan.

Frank Samperi (1933-1991), also a poet, was the author of Lumen gloriae; poems (1974), The prefiguration; poems (1971), Quadrifariam; poems (1973).

Source:

"Sidney Corman Obituary Notice," in Contemporary Authors, v. 225. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004.

Biography

Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX. During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption.

He founded the poetry magazine Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first book, Riprap, was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights Books.

Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include: The Precious (1955) Sun Rock Man (1970), So Far (1973), For the Asking (1976), Identities (1981), And the Word (1987), How Now: Poems (1995), and For Crying Out Loud (2002). He also translated the works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano.

Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan.

His correspondent, Graham Ackroyd, was a poet and artist who resided in the United Kingdom. His works include Love feast: poems (1993), Poems (1994), and Everything passes: poem (1996).

Source:

"Sidney Corman Obituary Notice," in Contemporary Authors, v. 225. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2004.