Born today: Paul Violi (1944-2011)

Look for Remus in the index of a book
And you are bound to get “See Romulus”
Which is perfectly logical but makes me wonder
About indexes, or indices, and why I prefer the former
As the plural except in a financial context, and how
An index to a book that may not exist may imply
A whole biography, as my friend Paul Violi
Showed in his poem “Index.” My late friend
Paul Violi, whom I still see in the street
Sometimes, walking along at an unhurried pace
So if I walk fast I will catch up to him at the corner
Before the light turns green.

-- David Lehman (2013

An avid student of history, Paul was born on 20 July 1944, an historic day; the day the plot to take Hitler's life failed.

From an interview (with Martin Stannard, May 2004):
"I was quite happy to get the award but it was that 'lifetime' modifier -- 'Lifetime Bereavement' is what I also heard. Sounded more like a gong than a bell. A 'Hey, don't rush me!' reaction. The check hasn't arrived yet. Now that always has a rejuvenating effect."
"The main thing about the NY School was the openness, the adventurousness, the links with artists and painting."
"There are poems I've been reading for decades and they're still giving me reasons to read them again. Keats' 'On First Looking at Chapman's Homer' -- That's magnificence! Images of vast silence used to describe astonishment at a "loud and bold" voice. Not bad for a 21-year old."

Michael Quattrone's profile of Paul Violi appeared in Jacket.  A brief excerpt: "Sixty-six West Twelfth Street. Paul Violi wears a Harris Tweed jacket over a pale blue Oxford shirt, a pair of chinos and practical leather shoes. He looks decidedly sheveled, although he has been shuttling between uptown and downtown campuses all day. He has just had another espresso and a smoke. He has made some last minute photocopies for this evening’s workshop, which will begin at eight. His sheaf of papers includes the student work that caught his fancy this week, as well as sample poems by Gregory Corso, Rudyard Kipling, Sir Philip Sidney, and Stephen Dunn. On a different day it might be Mayakovsky, Robert Herrick, Rilke and Verlaine."

"The critic Terence Diggory, whose readings Violi admires, was the first to posit that Violi acts the part of Renaissance Fool. That characterization of the poems is appealing because it accounts for their humor without neglecting the more serious concerns of craft or depth. In a review of Breakers, Diggory writes, ‘The spirit of spoof is so prevalent in Violi’s work that it is easy to mistake it for mere game playing.’ He adds that the work ‘reveals serious aesthetic, cultural, even metaphysical implications.’"

"A partial inventory of the mundane forms Violi has poetically adapted includes: a page of errata, a glossary, a multiple choice exam, and a survival guide; the notes of a naturalist, an elevator notice, mock histories, mock translations, and a product testimonial; one catalogue of fireworks, one of used books, and a third of damaged antiquities; a motivational flier, the advertisement of a sponsor, a radio pledge drive, and a police blotter; clues to a crossword puzzle (whose numbers follow the Fibonacci sequence), a cover letter, a television listing, an acknowledgements page, and a personality survey." -- Michael Quattrone

William Grimes's obituary appeared in the New York Times on April 15, 2011.

For poems by Paul Violi, including "Index," click here.
For Paul's comment on his poem "Index," click here.

And here's a link to Coldfront's ten-part celebration of Paul's life and work (scroll down for links to the 9 previous parts): http://coldfrontmag.com/celebrate-the-life-and-work-of-paul-violi-by-robert-hershon-and-paul-violi-part-10/

Comments

[Michael Quattrone]

And here's a link to Coldfront's ten-part celebration of Paul's life and work (scroll down for links to the 9 previous parts): http://coldfrontmag.com/celebrate-the-life-and-work-of-paul-violi-by-robert-hershon-and-paul-violi-part-10/

[The Best American Poetry]

Thank you, MQ. -- DL