An experiment in collective autobiography
THE GRAND PIANO is an ongoing experiment in collective autobiography by ten writers identified with Language poetry in San Francisco. The project takes its name from a coffeehouse at 1607 Haight Street, where from 1976 to 1979 the authors took part in a reading and performance series.
THE GRAND PIANO's authors are Rae Armantrout, Steve Benson, Carla Harryman, Lyn Hejinian, Tom Mandel, Ted Pearson, Bob Perelman, Kit Robinson, Ron Silliman, and Barrett Watten. Each author contributes one section per volume, and the contributions appear in a different sequence in each volume. The 11th pianist, Alan Bernheimer, has been a key contributor, taking a leading role in organizing documentation for the books and this site.
THE GRAND PIANO is designed and published under the imprint of Mode A/This Press (Detroit) by Barrett Watten. Serial publication began in November 2006. New volumes appear at three-month intervals. Both individual copies and a series subscription are available.
::
Since the 1970s no literary group has made a more articulate contribution to thinking and practicing its groupness than the Language writers.
— Lytle ShawA deeply human and amusing map to building community through literature in this most unlikely of times. — Cole Swensen
obsessively readable — Mark Scroggins