On February 8, 2018 the Gloucester Writer’s Center presented Fred Dewey, author of The School of Public Life, in conversation with Peter Anastas, on his 1992 book, Maximus to Gloucester and the ongoing fight to save Gloucester’s character and history begun by poet Charles Olson in 1962.
Poets & the Civic: A Tribute to Peter Anastas & Olson’s Imprecations Against Loss
Can a town’s own people preserve their physical conditions, landscape, and memory? The official answer is, sadly, no, but poets can disagree. Tonight, we host a discussion with Gloucester author, novelist, and activist PETER ANASTAS on editing Maximus to Gloucester, poet Charles Olson’s immortal imprecations to his city, 1962-1969 on saving its character and fishing history. With writer and activist FRED DEWEY, author of The School of Public Life (errant bodies/doormats 2015), this week’s writer in residence at the Gloucester Writers Center.
Fred Dewey’s The School of Public Life (errant bodies/doormats 2015) focused on his successful campaign for council democracy at the neighborhood level in Los Angeles. Dewey was director of LA’s Beyond Baroque, which featured Gloucester poet Vincent Ferrini often. Dewey edited and published a collection of essays by Ammiel Alcalay, a little history, on Gloucester poet Charles Olson’s groundbreaking exploration of poetry and the fight for meaning in the Cold War.