As part of the 54th annual Louisville Conference on Literature and Culture, the Charles Olson Society invites papers on the theme of “Black Mountain Poetry and the Arts.” Working amidst the rich, interdisciplinary atmosphere of Black Mountain College and The Black Mountain Review, Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, and many others developed their conceptions of projectivist poetics in tandem with colleagues in painting, music, and dance. As multimedia events like the first “Happening,” which featured poetry by Olson, readings by M.C. Richards and John Cage, music by David Tudor, dance by Merce Cunningham, and painting by Robert Rouschenberg, attest, the cross-pollination of ideas incubated at the college proved infectious and enduring. How did Black Mountain Poetry intersect with developments in experimental dance, music, and the visual arts by figures like Cage, Tudor, Cunningham, Cy Twombly, Franz Kline, Ruth Asawa, Wilem de Kooning and others associated with Black Mountain College? How did those artists help shape the contours of projective poetics? For this panel, we will welcome papers on any topic relating to the collaboration between Black Mountain poets and artists. Potential topics could include collaborations between poets and artists who attended or taught at Black Mountain, as well as those who participated in the Black Mountain Review, or those whose work simply took inspiration from these creative partnerships.

Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words and a short bio to Dr. Joshua Hoeynck at jsh115@case.edu and to Dr. Joseph Pizza at josephpizza@bac.edu by September 11, 2026.