Paracritical Hinge: Essays, Talks, Notes, Interviews

Paracritical Hinge is a collection of varied yet interrelated pieces highlighting Nathaniel Mackey’s multifaceted work as writer and critic. It embraces topics ranging from Walt Whitman’s interest in phrenology to the marginalization of African American experiential writing; from Kamau Brathwaite’s "calibanistic" language practices to García Lorca’s flamenco aesthetic of duende and its continuing repercussions; from H.D.’s desert measure and coastal way of knowing to the altered spatial disposition of Miles Davis’s trumpet sound; from Robert Duncan’s Vietnam War poetry to the emancipatory potential of collaborative practices; from serial poetics to diasporic syncretism; from the lyric poem’s present-day predicaments to gnosticism. Offering illuminating commentary on these and other artists including Amiri Baraka, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Wilson Harris, Jack Spicer, John Coltrane, Jay Wright, and Bob Kaufman, Paracritical Hinge also sheds light on Mackey’s own work as a poet, fiction writer, and editor.

This volume presents a collection of interrelated pieces representative of Mackey's (literature, U. of California, Santa Cruz) multifaceted work as writer and critic. The essays, talks, and notes address such topics as Robert Duncan's Vietnam War poems, Walt Whitman's interest in phrenology, and the marginalization of African American experimental writing. The volume concludes with six interviews with Mackey focusing on his poetry and fiction. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Nathaniel Mackey is professor of literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and author of several books, including Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality, and Experimental Writing.