Collected Poems of Kenneth Fearing

by Kenneth Fearing

Pre-eminent poetry scholar M. L. Rosenthal described Kenneth Fearing as the chief poet of the American Depression. This publication is the first complete volume of Fearing's poetry.

Genres: Poetry

149 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Kenneth Fearing (July 28, 1902 – June 26, 1961) was an American poet, novelist, and founding editor of Partisan Review. Literary critic Macha Rosenthal called him "the chief poet of the American Depression."

Fearing was born in Oak Park, Illinois, the son of Harry Lester Fearing, a successful Chicago attorney, and Olive Flexner Fearing. His parents divorced when he was a year old, and he was raised mainly by his aunt, Eva Fearing Scholl. He went to school at Oak Park and River Forest High School, and was editor of the student paper, as was his predecessor Ernest Hemingway. After studying at the University of Illinois in Urbana and the University of Wisconsin, Fearing moved to New York City where he began a career as a poet and was active in leftist politics.

In the 1920s and 1930s, he published regularly in The New Yorker and helped found Partisan Review, while also working as an editor, journalist, and speechwriter and turning out a good deal of pulp fiction. Some of Fearing's pulp fiction was soft-core pornography, often published under the pseudonym Kirk Wolff.

In 1950, he was subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C.; when asked if he was a member of the Communist Party, he is supposed to have replied, "Not yet."

Reviews

[Kevin Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Halliday has a very good review that basically argues Fearing may be a minor poet, but within his narrow range he's unlike anyone else. I totally agree with this assessment. It surprised me that until recently, I haven't really seen Fearing discussed much and I only came across him through reading a bit about Weldon Kees -- they share the same grim, American noirish register although Kees is decidedly more introspective and Fearing is more socially-oriented. There are a handful of poems in this volume that are so thoroughly American, I feel like they should be in school textbooks (i.e. "Dirge," "American Rhapsody (5)," "Statistics," "4 A.M."). The Beats were obviously indebted to Fearing, and a whole host of late 20th century/early 21st century poets like Ai, Robert Hass, and a lot of 3rd generation New York School poets really benefit from being thought of in relation to Fearing. After reading this book, I feel like I've discovered an important piece in putting together a jig-saw puzzle of American poetry. Fearing definitely deserves to be more widely read.

[Nicole Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I now like poetry.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is what the Beats thought they were doing, 20 years ahead of them. Only Fearing comes from a place of anger and of landlords, war and impossible American Dreams.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kenneth Fearing's direct, plainspoken verse is like a meeting ground between Walt Whitman and John Dos Passos. His collection Stranger at Coney Island is one of those poetry books that follow me everywhere, along with Ted Hughes' The Hawk in the Rain and Simon Armitage's Kid. Though he wasn't a journalist, Fearing really caught something essential about the trade in "Newspaperman," one of the many brilliant poems by this neglected American master.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poems by an unknown master of the dead-end street, the beauty asleep, and the lonely city night. If you've never read his poetry before, look for "Evening Song" or "Angel Arms." One of my favorite poets of any age.

[Carri · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing collection, hard to find, well worth looking for though.