Hejinian, Lyn

American poet, publisher, and editor, born in San Francisco in 1941. Associated with the Language School of contemporary poetry.

Publisher of Tuumba Press chapbooks since the late 1970s and editor of Poetics journal since 1982. An important figure in promoting the avant-garde poetry of her day. Has spent most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Biography

Lyn Hejinian was born in 1941 in San Francisco. After spending high school and college years in New England, Hejinian returned to California in 1968. In the late 1970s Hejinian began publishing Tuumba chapbooks, which was to become one of the most important series of chapbooks of contemporary poetry in the United States. Her own published work began with The GREAT ADVENTURE (197_?), following which appeared A THOUGHT IS THE BRIDE OF WHAT THINKING (Tuumba, 1976), WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY (The Figures, 1978), GESUALDO (Tuumba, 1978), A MASK OF MOTION (Burning Deck, 1980), MY LIFE (Burning Deck, 1980; and Sun and Moon, 1987), THE GUARD (Tuumba, 1984) and REDO (Salt-Works Press, 1984).

From 1981 to 1999, Hejinian was the co-editor, with Barrett Wratten, of POETICS JOURNAL and is co-director, with Travis Ortiz, of the literary project Atelos. She has been a member of the Poetics Faculty at the New College of California and is a professor in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley.

Hejinian lives in Berkeley with her husband, composer-musician Larry Ochs.