San Francisco
Duncan returned to San Francisco in 1945 and was befriended by Helen Adam, Madeline Gleason, and Kenneth Rexroth (with whom he had been in correspondence for some time). He returned to Berkeley to study Medieval and Renaissance literature and cultivated a reputation as a shamanistic figure in San Francisco poetry and artistic circles. His first book Heavenly City Earthly City was published by Bern Porter in 1947. He also became friends with fellow poets Jack Spicer, Robin Blaser, James Broughton and the novelist Philip K. Dick. In the early 1950s he started publishing in Cid Corman's Origin and the Black Mountain Review and in 1956 he spent a time teaching at the Black Mountain College. These connections were instrumental in getting some of the Black Mountain poets involved in the San Francisco Renaissance. He was also a prominent figure amongst a circle of San Francisco painters, including his longtime companion Jess Collins and Norris Embry.
A book titled Robert Duncan in San Francisco by Michael Rumaker, originally published in 2001, will be reprinted by City Lights as part of the Grey Fox series in 2012.
Read more about this topic: Robert Duncan (poet)
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