Writer, educator. David Bromige was born in London, England in 1933. His work is often associated with the Black Mountain School—via his peripheral involvement with the poets centred around TISH magazine—and the language poets, though it departs from pure language poetry in its thematic unity, its lyricism, and its romanticism. Bromige received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of British Columbia in 1962 (studying under Earle Birney), and a Master of Arts (1964) and a Doctorate of Philosophy (1970) from the University of California, Berkeley. While at the University of British Columbia, Bromige met poets George Bowering, Frank Davey, David Dawson, and Jamie Reid, who encouraged him to write and publish his work. At the 1963 Vancouver Poetry Festival, organized in part by University of British Columbia professor Warren Tallman, Bromige was introduced to Black Mountain and Beat poets Robert Creeley, Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, Allen Ginsberg, and Robert Duncan.
Bromige published his first book of poetry, The Gathering, in 1965, and is the author of over thirty-five volumes of poetry, fiction, and song. In addition to his literary career, he has worked as a free-lance critic for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, an editor of Northwest Review and Open Reading, and an instructor at the University of British Columbia, the University of California, Berkeley, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute, and Sonoma State University where he is professor emeritus, having taught there since 1970. Bromige received the 1988 Western States Book Award for Desire: Selected Poems, was twice honoured by the National Endowment for the Arts, and served as poet laureate of Sonoma County (2002-2003).
Discrete project sites documenting the work of specific artists and collectives in detail.
Essays and conversation providing a context for exploring the Project Sites and Archives.
Video interviews conducted between December 2008 and May 2009 reflecting on Vancouver’s art scene in the sixties.