RIAMCO

Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections Online

For Participating Institutions

Larry Eigner papers (Ms. 79.10)

Brown University Library

Box A, John Hay Library
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
E-mail: hay@brown.edu

Biographical note

Larry Eigner (1927-1996), was an American poet, short-story writer and essayist, known for spare, passionate poems. Influenced by poets such as Robert Creeley, Charles Olson and William Carlos Williams, Eigner is frequently associated with Olson's Black Mountain Poets, a group known for its postmodern style.

Laurence Joel Eigner was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts, on August 7, 1927. Birth injuries led to cerebral palsy, which affected his mobility and speaking ability. Confined to a wheelchair, Eigner watched the world outside his window with profound interest. He was educated at home and furthered his schooling through correspondence courses from the University of Chicago.

In 1949 Eigner heard poet Cid Corman giving a reading of Yeats's poetry on the radio. This moment altered the course of Eigner's life. He wrote to Corman, taking issue with Corman's reading style, and the two began what would become a long correspondence. Corman introduced Eigner to established poets such as Denise Levertov, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan and Charles Olson.

In 1978, following the death of his father, Eigner moved to Berkeley, California, to be near his brother Richard. There he continued to write prolifically and became an important fixture in the Bay Area poetry scene. He died from complications of pneumonia on 3 February 1996. His final collection, Readiness/Enough/Depends/On, was published posthumously in 1999. His papers are housed at Stanford University, University of Kansas, and Brown University.

Source: Twentieth Century American Poetry, 2nd Edition