The Dharma Gaze of Poet Anne Waldman: an Interview on the Founding of Naropa University and its “Infrastructure Poetics”

Abstract

I first met Anne Waldman in Paris, at a Poets & Critics symposium in 20141. In June 2019, I was at Naropa University for the Summer Writing Program, trying to better understand the connection between Waldman, her work and the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. The Summer Writing Program has been the Jack Kerouac School’s central event ever since the first summer reading in 1974. It includes poetry readings and performances, master classes, panels and creative workshops. I participated in Waldman’s creative workshop and had informal exchanges with her about poetry. She also sat with me for a long interview which is published here. In this conversation, she goes over the history of the Jack Kerouac School and explains how important the Naropa community is to her. She also talks about her poetics and her work, referring in particular to Trickster Feminism2.