Charles Kenneth Williams was born in Newark, New Jersey. He was educated at Bucknell University and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he took the B.A. in 1959. Since 1972 he has been a contribu...
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In the following excerpt, Stitt concludes that Tar is Williams's “best book,” noting that the poet is at his finest when observing the concrete external world, and at his worst wh...
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In the following interview, originally conducted on October 30, 1991, Williams discusses the function of poetic form in his own work, the historical and narrative aspects of poetry, trends in contempo...
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In the following excerpt, Altieri examines the philosophical notion of subjective agency and its manifestation in the poetry of Williams and John Ashbery as an alternative to poststructural theory.
If...
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In the following review of A Dream of Mind, Hirsch examines the development of Williams's poetic style and thematic concerns.
C. K. Williams is a poet of disquietudes, of the mind aggressively...
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In the following positive review of A Dream of Mind, Michaels concludes that Williams is “an important poet.”
“I couldn't put it down” is a phrase not often associat...
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In the following excerpt, Herd offers a favorable assessment of A Dream of Mind.
At one point in the title poem of C. K. Williams’ A Dream of Mind, the poet's rigorous speculations carry...
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In the following excerpt, Saunders offers a generally positive assessment of A Dream of Mind, while noting that Williams's long lines and ordinary language occasionally fall flat.
Doubters who ...
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In the following review of A Dream of Mind, Norfolk praises Williams's “masterly” technical skill and his “extraordinary, magisterial” approach to unanswered philoso...
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In the following review, Dick offers a positive assessment of A Dream of Mind, noting that the collection is an important work of poetry.
Using his familiar combination of long and short lines, C. K. ...
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In the following excerpt, Kitchen offers a mixed assessment of A Dream of Mind.
“Poetry in motion!”—the announcer bursts forth with the old cliché as soon as the skaters hi...
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In the following review of A Dream of Mind, Howard concludes that Williams's shorter poems mitigate the shortcomings of his longer poems in “this uneven collection.”
“The p...
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In the following excerpt, McDowell comments on the narrative modes of contemporary poetry and offers a favorable assessment of Tar.
If poets today are up to anything it may be this: recombinations of ...
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In the following excerpt, Feld discusses distinctions between prose and poetry, and offers a favorable assessment of Williams's Selected Poems, drawing attention to the use and effect of Willia...
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In the following review, Brown offers a positive assessment of Williams's Selected Poems.
Selected Poems represents C. K. Williams very well at the height of his career. He has become known for...
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In the following excerpt, Disch offers a positive assessment of Williams's Selected Poems.
Readers with only a casual, or dutiful, interest in poetry seek out poets they can be comfortable with...
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In the following review, Jeffery offers a positive assessment of New and Selected Poems, though he regrets its small selection from Williams's early volumes, which are unavailable in Britain.
C...
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In the following review, Murphy offers a positive assessment of Selected Poems, drawing attention to Williams's effective use of the long line.
The “big line” of C. K. Williams so...
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In the following excerpt, Pollack offers a tempered evaluation of The Vigil. While noting the great achievement of A Dream of Mind, Pollack finds shortcomings in Williams's subsequent inability...
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In the following review, McKendrick commends Williams's intensity and empathy in The Vigil, but finds shortcomings in his tendency to allegorize and to employ dubious shifts of perspective in t...
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In the following review, Brown offers a positive assessment of The Vigil.
The Vigil follows C. K. Williams's Selected Poems by only three years. The poet has published seven volumes since 1969,...
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In the following excerpt, Muske offers a positive assessment of Repair. According to Muske, “These poems demand everything of the reader, and thus they are political and social in the most prof...
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In the following excerpt, Lehman comments on the prose quality of contemporary poetry and offers a tempered assessment of Tar. According to Lehman, Williams's long lines are often well-suited t...
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In the following review of Repair, Lund agrees with Williams's status as a “major poet,” but finds the volume “inconsistent.”
Some poets are perfect for reading at t...
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In the following review, Phillips objects to Williams's overly explanatory verse in Repair and suggests that the long lines are essentially indistinguishable from prose, and thus do not serve a...
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In the following interview, originally conducted on November 21, 1985, Williams discusses the political role of poetry, his literary influences and preferred poets, his approach to writing and aesthet...
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In the following review of Flesh and Blood, Brown commends the distinctiveness and accessibility of Williams's poetry.
C. K. Williams is a rather curious case among contemporary American poets....
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In the following excerpt, McClatchy praises Williams's collected work in Poems, 1963–1983, drawing attention to Williams's distinct style and social consciousness.
To accompany C....
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In the following review of Poems, 1963–1983, Leddy comments that he finds Williams's later poetry in With Ignorance and Tar richer than that of his earliest volumes.
Poems, 1963–1...
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In the following review of Flesh and Blood and Poems, 1963–1983, Santos examines the development of Williams's distinct poetic voice and style from the 1960s to present.
1
After two deca...
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In the following excerpt, Collier praises aspects of Williams's more mature work, but finds his early poetry marred by too much raw emotion.
C. K. Williams's Poems, 1963–1983 brin...
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C(harles) K(enneth) Williams
