The Charles Olson Society will sponsor a session at the upcoming Re-Viewing Black Mountain College Conference, to be held in Asheville, NC, September 25-27, 2025. In keeping with this year’s conference theme of “Performance at Black Mountain College,” we are especially interested in abstracts that address aspects of performativity in relation to Black Mountain poetics, though more general proposals focused on broader topics within the work of Black Mountain poets, projective verse, or the New American Poetry more broadly construed will also be considered. As poets and scholars from Lorenzo Thomas to Daniel Kane have argued, Olson’s attention to the role of “breath” in projective or open field poetics involved a reconsideration of the body’s centrality in the performance of a text. Such haptic poetics share overlapping concerns with related arts as practiced at Black Mountain, from sculpture and painting to music and dance. In addition, these concerns are evident in various forms in the work of fellow New American poets, as well as in subsequent writing inspired by their efforts. Consequently, we welcome proposals that explore one or more of these topics at this year’s gathering.

Those interested should send a 250 word abstract to Joshua Hoeynck (jsh115@case.edu) and Joseph Pizza (josephpizza@bac.edu) no later than Friday, June 20th. Please include your academic affiliation (if any) and a brief biographical note with your abstract.