Olson, Charles

Olson, Charles, 1910–70, American critic and poet, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1933). His literary reputation was established with Call Me Ishmael (1947), a study of the influence of Shakespeare and other writers on Melville's Moby-Dick. Later he became noted as a poet. Olson wrote what he called "projective" (open) verse, which he believed transmitted energy from the past to the reader. His works include The Maximus Poems (1960 and 1968), Casual Mythology (1969), and Poetry and Truth (1971).

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Olson, Charles (John) (1910–70) poet, writer; born in Worcester, Mass. He studied at Yale, Harvard, and Wesleyan (B.A. 1932; M.A. 1933). He taught at several institutions, including Harvard (1936–39), and, as rector and teacher, at Black Mountain College, N.C. (1948–56). Long based in Gloucester, Mass., he is noted for his difficult experimental poetry, especially the Maximus series (1953–68), which used what he called "projective verse."