David Meltzer was born in Rochester, New York, and raised in Brooklyn. He began his literary career during the San Francisco Beat and Berkeley Renaissance period in California, and his work was included in the anthology, The New American Poetry 1945-1960. At the age of 20 he recorded his poetry with jazz musicians in Los Angeles and also became a singer-songwriter and guitarist for several bands during the 1960s, including The Serpent Power. He is the author of over 40 volumes of poetry, and has also published fiction and essays, and has edited numerous anthologies and collections of interviews.
David Meltzer Checklist:
Section A: Books and Broadsides
Section B: Contributions to Books and Other Publications
Section C: Contributions to Periodicals
Section D: Publications Edited and Published
Meltzer taught in the humanities and poetics programs at the New College of California in San Francisco for 30 years. In 2008, he received the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists Award. He was also given the Bay Area Guardian’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2012 was nominated for the Northern California Book Award in Poetry.
Diane di Prima has said, “David Meltzer is a hidden adept, one of the secret treasures on our planet. Great poet, musician, comic; mystic unsurpassed, performer with few peers.”
References Consulted:
Bohn, Dave. OYEZ: THE AUTHORIZED CHECKLIST
Berkeley: n.p., 1997
Johnston, Alastair. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE AUERHAHN PRESS & ITS SUCCESSOR DAVE HASELWOOD BOOKS
Berkeley: Poltroon Press, 1976
Kherdian, David. DAVID MELTZER: A SKETCH FROM MEMORY AND DESCRIPTIVE CHECKLIST
Berkeley: Oyez, 1965
Lepper, Gary M. A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL INTRODUCTION TO SEVENTY-FIVE MODERN AMERICAN AUTHORS
Berkeley: Serendipity Books, 1976
Morrow, Bradford and Seamus Cooney. A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE BLACK SPARROW PRESS, 1966-1978
Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1981
Online Resources:
· Big Bridge – tribute to David Meltzer