# Richard Kenney (poet)

Richard L. Kenney (born 1948) is a poet and professor of English at the University of Washington. He is the author of five books of poetry: The Evolution of the Flightless Bird, Orrery, The Invention of the Zero, The One-Strand River, and Terminator.

## Biography

Richard Kenney was born to Laurence and Martha (Clare) Kenney on August 10, 1948, in Glens Falls, New York.
After graduating from Dartmouth College in 1970, Kenney won a Reynolds Fellowship and studied Celtic lore in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. He teaches in the English department at the University of Washington and has published in many magazines and journals, including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, and The American Scholar. Kenney and his family live in Port Townsend, Washington.

### Achievements and awards

* 1983 Yale Series of Younger Poets Prize, Yale University Press, for The Evolution of the Flightless Bird
* 1985 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellow
* 1986 Peter I. B. Lavan Younger Poet Award, Academy of American Poets
* 1986 American Academy in Rome fellowship in literature, American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
* 1987 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellow
* 1994 Lannan Literary Award, $50,000
* 2002 Bogliasco Foundation Fellow

### Influences

Drawing from many great writers and thinkers throughout time, Kenney often includes references to them in his works. James Merrill influenced him the most, and, fittingly so, his third book, The Invention of the Zero, is dedicated to him. Other notable influences include W. B. Yeats, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Robert Lowell, and Philip Larkin.
The Invention of the Zero was also specifically influenced by:
•John McPhee—his geological treatises echoes the persona of 'The Invention of the Zero.'
•Samuel Beckett—evident influence in 'Epilog: Read Only Memory.'
•James Joyce—similar in abundant usage of "puns, exotic allusions, and the artist-as-the-creator theme."
•Ezra Pound—Kenney's style mirrors Pound's "rapid-fire imagery"
* Greco-Roman mythologies, biblical and historical references, and hypothetical prehistoric landmasses
$_{TakenfromHolinger'sreviewinTheMidwestQuarterly.SeeBibliography.}$

## Works

Known for having an avalanching and original style, James Merrill best sums it up in his foreword to The Evolution of the Flightless Bird:
   "The poetic wheels just spin and spin, getting nowhere fast. But Kenney--it's what one likes best about him--nearly always has an end in view, a story to tell."
•The Evolution of the Flightless Bird, Yale University Press, 1984
•Orrery, Atheneum, 1985
•The Invention of the Zero, Knopf (New York), 1993

### The Evolution of the Flightless Bird

Noted for winning the Series of Younger Poets competition in 1983, The Evolution of the Flightless Bird is the first of four books that Kenney has published so far. Contest judge James Merrill praised its daring stylistic approach in the forward. Containing three sections of poetry ('The Hours of the Day,' 'First Poems,' and 'Heroes'), the book is made up of "not well-wrought urns so much as complex molecules programmed to coalesce into larger structures" (Merrill, foreword). But what makes this book stand out is not that it consists of multiple sonnets, but that the delivery is so original and so far-fetched that its publication sparked much discussion about Kenney's style. A book with images varying from sea to battle scenes, The Evolution of the Flightless Bird marks the beginning of Kenney's career as a poet.

### Orrery

Metaphorically centered around the title$^1$, Orrery is a single story told from the inclusion of well over 70 poems written in different styles and divided into three main sections: 'Hours' (time), 'Apples' (memory), and 'Physics.' A prelude of sorts to The Invention of the Zero, Orrery poses the belief that the world is now being mechanically driven, but it presents the view in a different fashion. The book centers around a long poem based on his experience at an apple cider farm in Vermont; 'Apples.' To Kenney, the cider mill represents "a relic of that pre-electrical world ... A comprehensible world, in many ways ... None of it seems to have left this farm, at any rate-- ... crippled dance steps, disassembled stories, half-hummed tunes, all common property--disintegration projects ... with the confusion of common sense, as it sometimes seems, from the decay of the clockwork universe" (Orrery ix, Kenney). It is that "pre-electrical world" that Kenney is seeking. Somewhere along the way, in the midst of a technologically advancing contemporary life, the unification of nature and time disintegrated to bits and pieces, remnants of a former mosaic, of a former sensibility.
Written from a personal perspective of life on a farm, this in itself completely differentiates the varying approaches used in The Invention of The Zero and Orrery in tackling the subject of technological advance. Rather than possessing the mechanical, abstract, and computerized images of The Invention of The Zero, Orrery contains images of time, seasons, and nature. "The two books rescue each other. The Invention of the Zero answers Orrery, [The Invention of The Zero] is darker."
$_{1:aconstructionbuilttorepresentthemotionoftheuniverse.}$

### The Invention of the Zero

Taking Kenney ten years to write, The Invention of the Zero features six long poems: A 'Colloquy of Ancient Men,' 'The Invention of the Zero,' 'The Encantadas,' 'Typhoon,' 'Lucifer,' and 'Epilog: Read Only Memory.' All tell one story, however. Though four are set in World War II, all examine the history of the universe and its evolution from the Big Bang to the invention of computers to the development of the atomic bomb. Free verse and with extravagant style, The Invention of the Zero provokes questions about invention and whether or not technology has actually helped humanity or just furthered the disparity between science and different aspects of faith.
In writing The Invention of the Zero, Kenney says that he "was on the edge of [his] powers imaginatively. The material would grow and retract on a daily basis, and it was definitely an experiment, and emotionally draining." Though the Lannan Literary Award is accredited in acknowledging all of Kenney's books, the publication of The Invention of the Zero is what really won it for him.

## Criticism

The following is a review of multiple criticisms, providing a brief summary of each book review.

### The Evolution of the Flightless Bird

→James Merrill. "Foreword." The Evolution of the Flightless Bird 1984, Yale University Press. Foreword.
$_{AninfluentialpoetandpersoninKenney'slife,MerrillreviewsandgetstheaudiencereadyforTheEvolutionoftheFlightlessBird.Notcontainingmuchsummaryduetothearticle'spurpose,theforeworddoes,however,putafewscenesintolayman'sterms.Otherthanthat,thisservesasaverywell-writtenreview.}$
$_{HestartsoutbyadmittingthatKenneychoseatopicunfamiliarandmoreabstractthanwhatpeoplewouldnormallybeusedto.Undercuttingthisidea,however,hearguesthatwithoutdoingso,thebreadthanddepthofKenney'spoetryaswellasthatofpoetryingeneral,wouldbeverylimited."Withitsagreeableeddiesoftemperament,reflectionsthatbraidandshatteronlytorecomposedownstream,thisbookmoveslikeariverinacountryofponds."ThenMerrillcontinuestoillustrateKenney'sstylisticapproachbypraisefullydescribingthebeautifulimagerythathecreatesbycombining,or"doubling,"selectwords.HegoesfurtherastodescribeKenney'sstylisticapproachas"renderingagivensceneinsoundsoartfulandimagerysoburnishedbymyththatwordsappeartohavefoundtheirpoet."}$
→Jay Parini. "Orrery." The Nation 1986, The Nation Company L.P.
$_{ThoughParnini'sarticleismainlyaboutOrrery,thefirsttwoparagraphsdoprovidesomecriticalreviewofTheEvolutionoftheFlightlessBird.ParninialsotakesthesamedefensiveapproachasMerrill,admittingtheobscurityobtainedattimesduetothe"complicatedthought"and"intricatepatternsin[Kenney's]language,"butunderminingitwiththehighergoal—achievementoforiginality.Hesaysthatit"wasmorethandecorative;itwasintellectuallyandspirituallyambitious."}$

### Orrery

Though both reviews do not agree on whether or not the book was written well, they both agree on the subject matter and on Kenney's use of fanciful language.
→Jay Parini. "Star Turns." The Nation April 26, 1986, Vol. 242 Issue 16, p594-595, 2p. Book Review.
$_{PolaroppositetoMuratori'scriticism,"StarTurns"praisesandconstantlydefendsKenney'sbook,callingit"adazzling,book-length'poemofthemind.'"ParniniclaimsthatthecentralgoalofOrreryistorediscover"thesensibleorderofnature"thatKenneywasabletofindandexperienceduringhistimeonthefarm.Kenney,heargues,islookingfor"theunifiedphysicalandmoralworldseemingly'blownto[pieces]'bythesenseofrelativitythatgovernscontemporarylife."Summarizingthethreedifferentsectionsofthebook,hedescribeshowtheyallmeshtogether,linking'Hours'to'Physics'and'Apples'toallthree.}$
→Fred Muratori. "Kenney, Richard. Orrerry." Cornell University Library Journal Nov 15, 1985, Vol. 110 Issue 19, p100, 1/8p. Brief Book Review.
$_{Withextremesarcasm,Muratoriridiculesnotonlythesubjectofthebook,butalsothestyleaswell.GrantingKenneystylisticability,hetakesittoalevelofsarcasmbycomparingOrrerytoadisplayoffireworks.Itisoverlybombasticinopinionbecauseofitsbriefness.Wereheabletowritemoreandincludemoreanalyticevidence,thisreviewmightnotbeabadsourcefornegativecriticism.}$

### The Invention of the Zero

All of the listed reviews agree about the evident influence on Kenney of many great writers and thinkers of the past. They also all agree that he uses elaborate scientific and historical diction in The Invention of the Zero.
→Susan Lasher. "The Poet as curator". Parnassus: Poetry in Review 1994, Vol. 19 Issue 2. Book review.
$_{Basicallybashingthebook,Lasherarguesthatitisagaudybundleoffancylanguagewithnotruemeaning.Shesaysthatitissimplya"hodgepodgeoflanguage"tryingtocramtoomanyconceptstogetherwiththeonlyintentionofimpressinghisaudiencewiththeextravaganceofhisdictionandstyle.Thoughadmittingthat"Kenney'slinguisticacrobaticscanbedazzling,"Lasherconcludestosaythathisoverlyself-consciousnesscauseshis"artificialstyle"tobetoodistracting.}$
$_{Shecontendsthatthegoalofthebookis"toanswerthequestionofhowpoetrycanrepresenthumanexperiencewhentheworldisnolongerperceptiblebyhumansense"becauseitisoverrunwithtechnology.However,shearguesthatthisisdonepoorlybecausethebookistoomaterialisticandhistoricalinitssubjectmatter,leavingnoroomfortheimaginationorfortheinvolvementofthehumanexperience."Becauseit[is]sofixatedonthehierarchiesofthepast,[TheInventionoftheZero]inventsnothing."Itconcentrateson"theenergiesofhistoryratherthanbythediscoveriesofself."}$
→Phoebe Pettingell. "The Invention of the Zero." The New Leader Sept 6, 1993. Book review.
$_{EssentiallyPettingell'sreviewjustsummarizesthebook,detailingthecontentofitsfourdifferentsections,andlackingthenegativecriticismfoundinLasher'sreview.However,thisreviewarguesthatthebookhasadifferentgoalthandescribedbyLasher.PettingellarguesthatthetruegoalofTheInventionoftheZeroistoquestionthevalidityofinventingandtoexplorethedisparitythatinventionhascausedbetweenscienceandthehumanities.Whatarethe"consequencesofhumaningenuity[?]""Doeseveryinventionresultindestruction?"Hasfaithdiminishedbecausetechnologyhasflourished?Kenney,Pettingellsays,"strivesforawholenessofunderstanding"—amiddleground--"thatmightrestoremeaningandhopetoourearthlyendeavors."}$
→Richard Hollinger. "The Invention of the Zero." The Midwest Quarterly Summer 1996
$_{Basicallyunbiased,Hollinger'sreviewlistsmanyofKenney'sinfluences,citingtextualreferencesthroughoutthebook.Inaway,however,HollingeragreeswithLasher'stakeonKenney'sconglomeratestylewithoutnecessarilyagreeing.Whilehedoessaythat"thepoem'srapid-fireimagery"leaves"thereaderlefttoconnectdisparatemetaphorsandreferences,"Hollingerdoesnotgointofurtherdetailoranalysisonthesubject.Hedoes,however,praiseKenney's"adroituseofalliteration,consonance,andassonance,"goingfurthertocallTheInventionoftheZeroan"epicrenditionofcreation"—butnotinthereligioussense.Hollingersaysthat"thebook'ssubjectisnothinglessthanthehistoryoftheuniverse,fromChaosandtheBigBangtotheinventionofthecomputer."}$
→(Brief Article.) "The Invention of the Zero." Publishers Weekly July 19, 1993
$_{Thoughveryshort,thisarticlecombinessummarywithatwistofreview,leaningabitinthesamedirectionasLasher's.ItsaysthatTheInventionoftheZero"doesnotalwayschoosetoinvolveusinmysteryonahumanscale,"butratheritis"that'inhumanlight'[that]seemstobehispoeticfocus."}$