Dear Robert, There no form, not yet, anyway. If you'd like to join the society, make a subscription to Paideuma. With all my best, Roxana Quoting Robert Kibler <[log in to unmask]> on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 19:41:22 +0000: > where does one get the form to join the EPS? I would like one. Thanks. Robert > > "Foolish is he who stands guard over my intentions, but pays no heed > to his own. > Theognis, lines 439-40, Greek Elegiac Poetry, Loeb Classic > > Robert E. Kibler, PhD > Professor of Literature and Humanities > Minot State University, Minot North Dakota > 701 858 3876 > > > ________________________________________ > From: - Ezra Pound discussion list of the University of Maine > [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Grace Davis > [[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 1:33 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: EPS Information bulletin no.3/November 10, 2013 > > Thanks, Roxana, for this wonderful information. I did not know all > of this, certainly, and many people want to know what's what. You > are great and continue to inject life into the society. I wrote Mary > de Rachewiltz about your work, and she is happy. Love, Grace > > > ________________________________ > From: Roxana Preda <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > Sent: Sunday, November 10, 2013 2:26 PM > Subject: EPS Information bulletin no.3/November 10, 2013 > > > Dear Poundians, > > I have written the text below as a short historical report on our > society ? it is not meant to be exhaustive and final, but to settle > some important points for us and better define our society. Please > write to me if you find errors or would like to add info I may have > overlooked. > > Many people have helped me with information: warmest thanks are due > to Gail Sapiel, who gave me scans of documents from the Paideuma > archives; Prof. Barry Ahearn who generously sent me a copy of his > own historical report of 2001; Rick Catrone for adding a scan that I > circulated to friends to ask for advice, and finally Demetres > Tryphonopoulos who pointed out a very informative article by Burt > Hatlen ? you?ll find my sources at the bottom of the report. > > This short history of the society is the first part of a larger > posting about the society in the context of the other initiatives in > which Poundians are involved. But that other colourful info is > reserved for later. My first story now concerns the EPS. > > The Ezra Pound Society - The Story So Far > > Our tale begins in 1978, when Carroll F. Terrell had the initiative > of adding a ?book club? to the National Poetry Foundation. He had > created the NPF seven years previously, to enable the launching of > Paideuma. Since 1972, the journal had gathered around it the best > scholarship on Ezra Pound and implicitly created a community of > scholars who would have needed to buy books that were of great > interest to them, but too specialized for a general market. At some > point, Terrell wanted to rename the NPF ? he made the attempt of > calling it the Ezra Pound Society. However, this did not work out. > This is what he wrote: > > "Stuffed into the pages of this issue you will find ? a membership > blank which is an invitation to join the Ezra Pound Society as an > adjunct activity of the National Poetry Foundation, Inc. I had once > planned to convert the Foundation to the new name, but the red tape > and legal fees make that idea [with apologies] 'inoperative.' Since > we can accomplish the same thing by this ploy, the trouble is also > unnecessary. > ? > My idea is to form a sort of Mini-Readers Subscription Club made up > of people who will be the most interested in special studies on the > work of Pound. I expect to publish 2 to 4 books a year but will > deliberately choose those which commercial publishers or university > presses cannot print because they can be expected to have too small > a market. [?] Members of the Ezra Pound Society will receive a 50% > discount on each book." (Paideuma Bulletin Board, 8 1 Spring 1979) > > In the same number, Terrell announced the formation of two > "chapters" of the EPS: one at the University of Maine and one in > Kyoto, expressing the hope that similar organisations of minimum ten > members would be created to form a network of chapter locations in > the United States, Canada and Europe. This did not come to pass. The > two initial chapters are the only ones that have been created to > date. Membership to the society in the Western hemisphere was > established by the subscription to Paideuma, which continued to be > the axis of all Terrell?s initiatives. He wrote the initial charter > of the society, which established the minimum number of members, the > dues ($25), and the privileges (free issue of Paideuma and 50% > discount on books). This initial charter was rather unspecific as to > the kind of officers it might have needed, since Terrell assumed the > type of officer would be determined locally. Since this was to be a > network, the document also mentioned > ?delegates? to ?national meetings.? The mission of the society was > to ?promote and develop the study of Pound?s work as a poet and man > of letters.? (charter document, 1978) > The year the EPS was founded (1979, if we take it to overlap with > the announcement in Paideuma) was very critical. Terrell was > finishing the first volume of the Companion (published in 1980) and > was also retiring from full time academic duties (1981) to > concentrate on the second volume (1985). Additionally, the NPF was > enlarging its sphere of scholarly interest to the Objectivists and > other poets in the Pound tradition: Terrell founded Sagetrieb in > 1982 and after the first issue asked Burt Hatlen to take over > editorship (Hatlen 59). In 1989, Terrell gave up full-time > responsibility for the NPF, though continuing to act as consultant > for Paideuma (Hatlen 48). Membership in the EPS was in all respects > included within the NPF and its activities at Orono: the publication > of the journals, the conferences at the University of Maine (1975, > 1980, 1985, 1990), and the books that were published under the aegis > of the NPF. > > It was Burt Hatlen who gave our society a degree of autonomy when he > became Director of the NPF and Secretary of the EPS in 1990. In 1992 > he revised the initial charter of the EPS and established a set of > amended by-laws that are still governing the society today. Hatlen > proposed that since membership to the society is the subscription to > the journal, a dollar from the Paideuma subscription should go into > financing the EPS. The revision of the by-laws had become necessary > because Terrell?s initial idea of the EPS as network of local > chapters had not materialized. Additionally, the society was > applying for MLA affiliate status and had to comply with the MLA > conditions: a society had to be at least four years old, have a > charter, dues paying membership, and an elected slate of officers. > Additionally, the MLA stipulated that members should have the > opportunity ?to participate in the full range of the operations of > the organisation? (Hatlen, letter to > members, July 20, 1992). > > From the bulletin board of the Paideuma (spring-fall 1992), we can > see that Hatlen?s procedures fully complied with MLA directives and > were radically democratic: he sent out cards with requests for votes > and scholars responded: > > "So far over 100 of you have returned the form which designates > $1.00 of your Paideuma subscription as dues to the Society. This > group seems large enough to allow us to move on to the next step, > which is to update the bylaws. So if you sent in your form, you will > receive, some time in May, a copy of the old by-laws along with a > set of proposed revisions and a ballot which you should return to > Burton Hatlen, the secretary of the association. In June or July we > will apply to the MLA for affiliate status. If the application is > approved, we will have one or two sessions at the 1993 MLA > convention." (Paideuma bulletin board 21 1/2). > At the same time, Hatlen ensured that the society had two slots at > the annual conference of the American Literature Association ? the > first panel organised by the EPS was at the ALA conference of 1993. > Hatlen announced: ?Anyone interested in participating in the 1993 > convention can write to me. You need not be a EPS member to give a > paper? (Paideuma bulletin board winter 21 3 1992). > Participation in the MLA conventions was delayed until 1995 (Ahearn > and Witemeyer 456). According to the amended by-laws, the society > then got its first president: Hugh Witemeyer (1992-1997). He was > followed by Barry Ahearn (1997-2001), Alec Marsh (2001-2013) and > Roxana Preda (2013-). Burton Hatlen served as Secretary until 2008 > when Demetres Tryphonopoulos took over. Alec and Demetres have run > the society since Hatlen?s passing away that year ? they have had > the help of Tim Redman and Ira Nadel. All four have consented to > become members of a society Advisory Board ? they discuss and > validate all new initiatives concerning the EPS. > Regular panels at the MLA and ALA conferences have structured the > society activity ever since 1993 and have constituted the main > service that the EPS has brought to Pound scholars. Over the years, > alliances with other societies, mainly those devoted to William > Carlos Williams, James Joyce, and H.D., have enriched and > diversified the palette of sessions. Here are some recent examples: > Ezra Pound and the San Francisco Renaissance (ALA, 2006), Teaching > Ezra Pound?s Poetry and Prose (ALA, 2009); Ezra Pound in H.D.?s Work > (ALA 2012) Prosody in the Poetry of Ezra Pound and William Carlos > Williams (MLA 2011); Ezra Pound and James Joyce: Connections and > Disconnections (MLA 2012). > In 1999, at Hugh Witemeyer?s suggestion, the society initiated its > annual award for the best book of Ezra Pound scholarship. Along the > years, the society thus honoured Alec Marsh, Margaret Fisher, Walter > Baumann and Leon Surette, among others. The award is not financed > out of the society dues (which are minimal) but out of private > sponsorship. The recipient is announced at the MLA convention. In > 2013 the society has added a prize for best article in Pound > scholarship, which will be awarded next year for the first time at > the ALA convention in Washington. > In 2013, the society has also received the opportunity to > participate with a regular panel at the Louisville conference. > Starting with 2014, the EPS has an assured slot for this major > annual event dedicated to 20th century literature in relation to the > arts. Our panel for 2014 is called: Contributions to the Poetics of > Ezra Pound?s Cantos: Epic-Image-Music. > The Paideuma number for 2013 is dedicated to Burt Hatlen and is a > memorial to his great work and service to both the Ezra Pound > Society, as long-term Secretary and to the National Poetry > Foundation, as its Director for eighteen years. In 2001, one of his > initiatives made possible a greater definition of the profiles of > both organisations: he decided to open up Paideuma to the poetry of > American modernism more generally, retaining a substantial focus on > Pound scholarship (Hatlen, letter to the EPS, June 15, 2001). This > decision, while favoring the development of the NPF away from Pound > studies strictly conceived, has proved problematic for scholars who > would prefer to remain within the more circumscribed area of author > research. > The time has now come, I think, to reconsider the by-laws of 1992, > to attune them to the situation of the scholarly community as it now > stands, and to see how we can improve the functioning of our society. > > References: > Ahearn, Barry and Hugh Witemeyer. ?The Ezra Pound Society.? > Dictionary of Literary Biography Yearbook. Ed. Matthew Bruccoli. > Detroit: Gale, 2001. 455-456. > Bulletin Board Paideuma 8 1 (Spring 1979) > Bulletin Board Paideuma 21 1-2 (Spring Fall 1992) > Bulletin Board Paideuma 21 3 (Winter 1992) > Hatlen, Burt. ?Carroll Terrell and Great American Poetry Wars.? > Paideuma 26 2-3 (Fall/Winter1997): 33-62. > Ezra Pound Society materials.pdf (compiled by Gail Sapiel) > > > --The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in > Scotland, with registration number SC005336. > > -- The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.