Bibliography
Works by
Charles Olson
This
lists the more current publications of Olson's works, including the collected
editions. For a sense of the original order of publication, refer to the chronology. More detailed information on Olson's
original publications can be found in Butterick's notes to the Maximus,
collected and supplementary poems, in Allen's and Friedlander's notes to the Collected
Prose;
and see Maud's bibliography in the Selected
Letters.
Introductory
Selected Writings. Edited by
Robert Creeley. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1967.
Includes Mayan
Letters — the only source now in print — and the "dance drama" Apollonius
of Tyana.
A Charles Olson
Reader. Edited by Ralph Maud. Manchester, UK: Carcanet Press, 2005.
With an introduction and
extensive annotations; illustrated.
Poems
The Maximus Poems. Edited by
George F. Butterick. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California
Press, 1983.
The Collected Poems of Charles Olson, excluding the Maximus Poems.
Edited by George F. Butterick. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University
of California Press, 1987.
A Nation of Nothing
But Poetry: Supplementary Poems. Edited by George F.
Butterick.
Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1989.
Material that Butterick
considered publishable but did not include in Collected Poems.
Selected Poems. Edited by Robert Creeley. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1993.
Prose
The Special View of History. Edited by Ann
Charters. Berkeley: Oyez Press, 1970.
Collected Prose. Edited by Donald
Allen and Benjamin Friedlander. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of
California Press, 1997.
Includes Call Me Ishmael.
Correspondence
Pleistocene Man: Letters from
Charles Olson to John Clarke during October 1965. Buffalo: The
Institute for Further Studies, 1968.
"Volume 0" of A Curriculum
for the Study of the Soul.
Charles Olson & Ezra Pound: An Encounter at St
Elizabeths.
Edited by Catherine Seelye. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1975.
Charles Olson and Robert Creeley The Complete Correspondence.
10
volumes. Edited by George F. Butterick (1-8), Richard Blevins (9 & 10).
Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1980-1996.
Charles Olson & Cid Corman:
Complete Correspondence 1950-1964. In two volumes, edited by George
Evans. Orono, Maine: National Poetry Foundations, 1987, 1991.
Includes Olson's letters published in Letters
for Origin 1950-1956(1970)
In Love, In Sorrow: The Complete Correspondence of Charles
Olson and Edward Dahlberg. Edited by Paul Christensen. New York: Paragon House, 1990.
Maximus to Gloucester The Letters & Poems of Charles
Olson to the Editor of the Gloucester Daily Times, 1962-1969. Edited and with an
introduction by Peter Anastas; foreword by Gerrit Lansing. Gloucester, Mass:
Ten Pound Island Book Company, 1992.
Charles Olson & Francis Boldereff: A Modern
Correspondence. Edited by Ralph Maud and Sharon Thesen. Middletown, Conn:
Wesleyan University Press, 1999.
Selected Letters. Edited by Ralph Maud. Berkeley/Los
Angeles/London: University of California Press, 2000.
Poet to Publisher: Charles Olson's Correspondence with Donald Allen. Edited by Ralph Maud. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2003.
Drama
The Fiery Hunt and
Other Plays. Bolinas: Four Seasons Foundation, 1977.
Lectures and
Interviews
Muthologos: Lectures & Interviews. Revised
Second Edition. Edited by Ralph Maud. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2010.
The first edition, Muthologos: The Collected Lectures and Interviews, edited
by George F. Butterick, was published in two volumes by
the Four Seasons Foundation in 1977. In the one-volume second edition, Butterick’s annotations and notes are supplanted by Maud’s,
with many (mostly minor) changes in the text resulting from the editor’s revisiting
the audio recordings; the texts of many poems Olson read are omitted, and several
new pieces are
included (see Maud’s introduction here); in the second edition the index is
much enlarged.
Miscellaneous
OLSON: The Journal of the
Charles Olson Archives. Edited by George F. Butterick. Storrs: University of
Connecticut Library. 10 issues 1974-1978. Copies available from the library.
About Charles
Olson
Olson/Melville: A Study in Affinity by Ann
Charters. Berkeley: Oyez Press, 1968.
Charles Olson in Connecticut by Charles
Boer. Chicago: The Swallow Press, 1975.
A Guide to the Maximus Poems of Charles Olson by George F.
Butterick. Berkeley / Los Angeles / London: University of California Press,
1978.
Editing The Maximus Poems: Supplementary Notes by George F.
Butterick. Storrs: University of Connecticut Library, 1983.
Charles Olson: The Critical Reception, 1941-1983, A
Bibliographic Guide by William McPheron. New York / London: Garland Publishing,
1986.
Charles Olson: The Allegory of a Poet's Life by Tom Clark.
2nd ed., paperback. Berkeley, Ca.: North Atlantic Books, 2000.
Originally published in 1991, Clark's
work has been criticised by Olson associates and scholars for its heavy-handed
psychological interpretation. See, for example, detailed responses in Minutes
of the Charles Olson Society # 1, 12, 26, 29, 38 and 43.
Minutes of the Charles Olson Society edited by
Ralph Maud. Vancouver, B.C.: Charles Olson Literary Society, 66 issues 1993-2012.
Charles Olson's Reading: A Biography by Ralph Maud.
Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press, 1996.
What Does Not Change: The Significance of Charles Olson's
"The Kingfishers" by Ralph Maud. Madison, NJ: Farleigh
Dickinson University Press, 1998.
Charles Olson at the Harbor. A Biography by Ralph Maud. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2008.