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David Lerner

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David Lerner

David Lerner (November 23, 1951 – July 1, 1997) was an American renegade poet who was part of the influential poetry group the Babarians at Cafe Babar in San Francisco.[1]

Life

Lerner was born in New York City and came from a family of Russian-Jewish renegades, and grew up as a so-called "red-diaper baby". Lerner later moved to San Francisco and worked as a journalist, but left that career to live a bohemian life[2] because journalism interfered with his poetry.[3]

In the mid-Eighties he became involved with poetry readings at Cafe Babar in San Francisco's Mission District, with the group of poets there being called the Babarians. Described by Bruce Isaacson as a "poetry phenomenon"[3] for his powerful performances, under Lerner's guidance Cafe Babar soon became known as the West Coast counterpart of the poetry slam movement that was also developing in New York and Chicago locations such as the Nuyorican Poets Café and Green Mill Cocktail Lounge.[2] While the Babarians won poetry slams across the West Coast, they lacked the money to compete in elsewhere in the country.[4] However, their work was still called among the best in the United States and being representative of "the American avant-garde tradition."[5]

According to Julia Vinograd, the Cafe Babar readings died off in the mid-1990s when Bruce Isaacson moved to New York City to study with Allen Ginsberg. Lerner took Isaacson leaving as a personal desertion and stopped attending the readings.[6]

Lerner's common-law wife Maura O'Connor also published poetry. Lerner died of a drug overdose in 1997.[7]

Poetry

Robinson Jeffers, Bob Dylan and Charles Bukowski have been cited as influences on Lerner's poetry, which Alan Kaufman described as a "tightly controlled eruption of paradoxes, visions, emotions and wit.[2] His poetry has also been described as bringing "a visceral joy to readers" and being "powered by wild, associative leaps."[7] The Red Rock Review said that Lerner's poetry showcases his "angst and alienation" and that he "clearly embraces the madness and despair of ... his own dark world"[8] while The Singapore Review of Books called him an "eloquent screamer."[9]

Lerner and Bruce Isaacson co-founded Zeitgeist Press[10] and have been referred to as "the Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot of the underground."[2]

One of Lerner's most celebrated poems, "Mein Kampf", is considered a seminal statement of underground poetics in response to the weight of the mainstream[4] with the opening "all I want to do is make poetry famous" being quoted by other writers.[9].

In the poem he says:

“all I want to do
is make poetry famous
all I want to do is
burn my initials into the sun
all I want to do is
read poetry from the middle of a
burning building...”

Lerner was associated with the Lyman Family a.k.a. Fort Hill Construction, who have preserved his literary memory. Lerner's work has not yet been fully collected in an available edition. A considerable amount of Lerner's work is still unpublished, including poems, prose, and a large volume of letters.

Lerner died of a drug overdose in 1997[11] and Zeitgeist published 'The Last Five Miles to Grace' posthumously. Bucky Sinister of the San Francisco Bay Guardian wrote: "Lerner was a broken-down saint if there ever was one. He was an eloquent screamer, a soft-spoken rageoholic, a madman with a great manuscript. His poetry will always be a reminder of a time when poetry in the Mission was spontaneous, magical, and more than a little bit dangerous."[citation needed]

Legacy

After his death, Lerner was named in Alan Kaufman's poem "The Last Emphysema Gasp of the Marlboro Man"[12] while Julia Vinograd wrote the poem "For David Lerner: Death of a Poet" in his honor.[13] Richard Cohn also wrote a poem in his honor.[14]

In 2006 the anthology New American Underground Poetry, Vol 1: The Babarians of San Francisco, edited by Lerner, Vinograd and Alan Allen, was released by Trafford Publishing.[15] The anthology includes a selection of his poetry including "Mein Kampf." His poetry has also been reprinted in The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry.[2]

Bibliography

Poetry Collections

  • I Want a New Gun (1988)
  • Why Rimbaud Went to Africa (1989)
  • The American Book of the Dead (1991)
  • Pray Like the Hunted (1992)
  • The Last Five Miles to Grace (2005, new and selected poems)
  • Pirate Lerner (2006, CD, also on iTunes)

Anthologies

  • New American Underground Poetry, Vol 1: The Babarians of San Francisco edited by David Lerner, Julia Vinograd and Alan Allen (2006)

References

  1. ^ Drunken Angel: A Memoir by Alan Kaufman, Viva Editions, 2013, page 295.
  2. ^ a b c d e The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry by Alan Kaufman, Thunder's Mouth Press, New York, 1999, pages 218-19.
  3. ^ a b "About David Lerner" by Bruce Isaacson, Spirit Caller Magazine, Vol 01 Issue 01, Dangerous insect Media, July 15, 2013, page 57-9.
  4. ^ a b "Review of New American Underground Poetry. Vol. 1: The Babarians of San Francisco—Poets from Hell" by Charles P. Ries, Hiram Poetry Review; Spring 2006, Issue 67, pages 45-7.
  5. ^ "Word Up: San Francisco's Spoken Word Scene Has Some of the Best Poets Working in America Today" by Cary Tennis, San Francisco Bay Guardian, November 4, 1992, pages 35-7.
  6. ^ "Julia Vinograd," Contemporary Authors, Gale Research, volume 26, 1997, page 307.
  7. ^ a b "Poet David Lerner: Still Floating, Bobbin on the Surface of Oblivion ..." by Jeffrey McDaniel, The Spoken Word Revolution Redux edited by Mark Eleveld, Sourcebooks MediaFusion, 2007, page 94.
  8. ^ "Tribute to Outlaw Poetry: A Review of Recent Releases from Zeitgeist Press" by Rich Logsdon, Red Rock Review, page 155.
  9. ^ a b "Live in beauty and (im)possibilities" by Julie O’Yang, Singapore Review of Books, October 4, 2013.
  10. ^ "Julia Vinograd," Contemporary Authors, Gale Research, volume 26, 1997, page 307.
  11. ^ Eleveld, Mark (2007). The Spoken Word Revolution Redux. Sourcebooks. ISBN 978-1402208690.
  12. ^ Who We Are by Alan Kaufman, DAVKA: Jewish Cultural Revolution, 1997, page 61.
  13. ^ Face to face: Poems by Julia Vinograd, Zeitgeist Press, Berkeley, CA, 2005, page 14.
  14. ^ Dixi in His Cups by Richard Cohn, Malthus Press, 2003, page 24.
  15. ^ New American Underground Poetry, Vol 1: The Babarians of San Francisco edited by David Lerner, Julia Vinograd and Alan Allen, Trafford Publishing, 2010.


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