Home › Glossary › Letter C

Charles Olson group

Movement
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Poets influenced by Charles Olson's projective verse theories, emphasizing breath-based lineation, composition by field, and the energy of the poetic act; they form a loose school of mid-century American avant-garde.

Detailed Definition
The Charles Olson group refers to mid-20th-century American poets influenced by Olson’s “Projective Verse” manifesto, emphasizing breath-based lineation, open field composition, and mythic historiography; including Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan, this cohort rejected formalism in favor of organic form, treating the poem as an energy field shaped by the poet’s physiology and perception.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Charles Olson group refers to poets influenced by or collaborating with Charles Olson.”; “Poets practicing Olson’s projective verse technique.”
Additional Notes
The loose affiliation of experimental American poets who gathered around the theories and influence of Charles Olson at Black Mountain College; Key figures included Robert Creeley and Robert Duncan; Synonymous with the Black Mountain school.
Also Known As
Black Mountain poets projectivist school Olson circle postmodern organic verse group Black Mountain Poets (US)
Skip to main content