Charles Olson was an unconventional American poet and essayist of the twentieth century. He was born during 1910 and died during 1970. Olson was a poet who didn't conform to the "academic" composition of poetry and instead embraced a natural approach based on one's own unique, intimate experiences of life. He considered an academic approach to creating poetry too constraining, producing artificial meaning and emotion.
Olson has had a major influence on other authors through his poetry (and essays), such as Robert Creeley, Denise Levertov, and Paul Blackburn, among others. Poet Kenneth Rexroth described his poetry as complex, emphasizing its "fragmented and experimental" nature. The height of Olson's poetic talent is displayed in the 1993 volume Selected Poems, which was edited by Creeley.
Despite his impact on the literary world, Olson didn't consider himself a professional poet or writer, according to the Poetry Foundation. Some poem titles include "As the Dead Prey Upon Us" and "The Librarian."
