Robert Hogg & The Widening Circle of Return

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a group of poets at UBC Vancouver began a little magazine: the TISH poetry newsletter. The TISH poets would later be called one of the most cohesive writing movements in Canadian literary history. In the summer of 2019, Craig Carpenter visited one of the former editors of TISH magazine —who is also his former professor of modern Canadian poetry. Based on interviews conducted during this visit and a subsequent visit in the winter of 2019, Craig has created an episode that explores his evolving relationship with his former professor and scenes from more than 50 years of literary history. Craig takes us through the relationships and the stories that formed a part of the TISH movement and the poet that Robert Hogg has become.Craig gives a heartfelt thank you to all those who took the time to offer feedback on early script drafts: Deanna Fong, Judith Burr, Mathieu Aubin, Marjorie Mitchell. Special thanks to Dr. Karis Shearer, all of his  colleagues at the UBC Okanagan AMP Lab, and, of course, to Robert Hogg.

SpokenWeb is a monthly podcast produced by the SpokenWeb team as part of distributing the audio collected from (and created using) Canadian Literary archival recordings found at universities across Canada. To find out more about SpokenWeb visit: spokenweb.ca. If you love us, let us know! Rate us and leave a comment on Apple Podcasts or say hi on our social media @SpokenWebCanada.

Episode Producer:

Craig Carpenter is an MA student in the IGS Digital Arts & Humanities theme at the University of British Columbia (Okanagan). A poet, journalist, sound designer, and former literary editor, Craig brings a diverse set of skills to the SpokenWeb project. His thesis will explore the podcast as public scholarship and engages archival recordings of second wave TISHITES Daphne Marlatt and Robert Hogg. With particular attention to Charles Olson’s 1950 essay PROJECTIVE VERSE, he is investigating the intersection of proprioceptive poetics, the embodiment of voice in performance and sound studies. 

Musical score by Chelsea Edwardson: Chelsea Edwardson uses music as a tool to transform stories and concepts into the sonic realm, creating experiences through sound that heal and inspire. Her background in ethnomusicology brings the depth of tone and expression that transcends culture, taking the listener to worlds beyond a physical place and into a landscape of feelings. To learn more, visit https://www.chelseaedwardson.com.

Featured Guest:

Robert Hogg was born in Edmonton, AB, and grew up in Cariboo and Fraser Valley, BC. Hogg graduated from UBC with a BA in English and Creative Writing. During his time at UBC, Hogg became affiliated as a poet and co-editor a part of TISH. In 1964, Hogg hitchhiked to Toronto and visited Buffalo NY, where Charles Olson had been teaching at the time. At SUNY at Buffalo, he completed a Ph.D. on the works of Charles Olson. Shortly after, Hogg taught American and Canadian poetry at Carleton University for the following thirty-eight years. Hogg currently lives at his farm located in Ottawa.

Sound Recordings Featured:

Archival Audio from PennSound.com

Short intro clips of: Warren Tallman, Fred Wah, Daphne Marlatt, George Bowering: all from PennSound digital archives.

Recording of “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams: http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Williams-WC/the_red_wheelbarrow_multiple.php

Recording of “Often I am Permitted to Return to a Meadow” by Robert Duncan: https://media.sas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Duncan/Berk-Conf-1965/Duncan-Robert_01_Often-I-am-Permitted_Berkeley-CA_1965.mp3

Recording of “I Know a Man” by Robert Creely: http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Creeley/i_know_a_man.php

Recording of “Maximus From Dogtown I” by Charles Olson: https://media.sas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Olson/Boston-62/Olson-Charles_14_Maximus-Dogtown-2_Boston_06-62.mp3

Archival Audio from AMP Lab’s Soundbox Collection

Robert Hogg reads at Black Sheep Books, Vancouver, 1995: https://soundbox.ok.ubc.ca/

Archival Audio from KPFA

Robert Hogg reads at Berkeley Poetry Conference, 1965: http://www.kpfahistory.info/bpc/readings/Young%20poets.mp3