About Robin Blaser

Robin Blaser (1925–2009) was a North American poet who came to SFU from San Francisco in 1966 to take a faculty position in the English Department. He taught for 20 years, during which he proved a charismatic teacher and an influential poet, editor, and essayist with a growing international reputation. In 1972 he became a Canadian citizen and in 2005 was appointed to the Order of Canada. He was awarded the country's top poetry prize—the Griffin Poetry Prize—in 2008 for his opus major, The Holy Forest. In later years his collected writings were published by the University of California Press; he also has been the subject recently of a scholarly biography.

Blaser's library

Blaser's personal library contained thousands of books on a wide range of subjects, especially in the arts and humanities, and especially literary. Many of the books were top quality and quite a few were rare. Although the Library was unable to accept all the Blaser books (many are duplicates of books already owned) hundreds of volumes are being retained, including many books of poetry and modern literature—especially those of the "New American Poets" and Canadian confederates. These include rare and interesting material by Blaser himself and by his contemporary "New American" companions, the poets Jack Spicer, Robert Duncan and Charles Olson. The exhibit focuses on works from the Blaser library by these four poets.