Introduction

Michael McClure was born in the Midwest during the Depression and grew up in Seattle. He moved to San Francisco as a young man and apprenticed himself to Robert Duncan. His mammalian poetics engages with a Dionysian, the ruthless and a cannibalistic pulse of nature. The poet wrote the lyrics for Janis Joplin's seminal Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? And made an explosive contribution to American theatre with plays such as Josephine - which was shut down by the LA police for a record 14 nights.