Dear John, dear Coltrane

Harper, Michael

Published by University of Pittsburgh Press, [Pittsburgh], 1970

About this Item

First edition, 8vo, pp. [10], 88, [4]; contemporary quarter blue niger over marbled boards, gilt-lettered spine. Signed simply "Harper" on the half-title, and with 8 tick marks next to 8 poems in the table of contents, and corresponding numbers (1 through 8) in the page corners of the selected poems. This is Harper's first book, and placed in a special binding either by him or for him by the publisher. Harper (1938-2016) was the first poet laureate of Rhode Island. "Known for his innovative use of jazz rhythms, cultural allusion, historical reference, and personal narrative, Harper was 'a deeply complex poet whose mission is to unite the fractured, inhumane technologies of our time with the abiding deep well of Negro folk traditions,' wrote John Callahan in the New Republic. Poetry reviewer Paul Breslin noted that Harper did this by drawing "upon black history, literature, and myth" (Poetry Foundation). When he retired from Brown University in 2013, where he had taught literature, poetry, and creative writing since 1970, he was the longest serving professor of English and Literary Arts at that institution.

Seller Inventory # 70802

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dear John, dear Coltrane
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press, [Pittsburgh]
• Publication Date: 1970
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • American Literature
  • Modern Literature
  • Poetry