In Myself Painting Clarence Major seeks to re-create for readers the inexpressible feeling that comes from creating art, with poems that speak not of painting itself but of its underlying process. Major incorporates the techniques of painting—particularly that of Post-Expressionism—into his verse, describing scenery with an artist's eye and using form and color to evoke striking images: "Desire, artichoke green . . . leaves all radiant, / creating the thickness of blue shadows." A master of highly structured free verse, Major also paints sounds, enthralling the reader in a real world of private symbols and dream visions. Using dynamic, surreal images, this original collection invites readers into the poet's own fascinating world.
Prize-winning poet, painter, and novelist Clarence Major is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis. He was a 1999 Bronze Medal National Book Award finalist in poetry, and in 2015 the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts. In 2016, he received the PEN Oakland Lifetime Achievement Award. He is the author of more than thirty volumes of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction.
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