By Venisa Wallace, Staff Writer
He describes himself as a “Jack of all trades,” working at the University of Texas for 30 years before retiring. Others describe him as a “prolific writer and wonderful person.” Indeed, one may argue that Dave Oliphant has an impressive repertoire. Mr. Oliphant has been a poet, translator, publisher and teacher. He has translated several books by renown poets, including Nicanor Parra and has contributed greatly to his home state of Texas.
Invited by his close friend Mr. Kurt Wilt, a professor at Saint Leo University, to speak about his achievements and poems, Mr. Oliphant found himself in Pasco County Florida, at Saint Leo University, a campus that reminded him of Vidor Texas. The presentation was scheduled to begin at 7:30 October 27 and took place at The Daniel A. Cannon Memorial Library. Everyone sat patiently as Mr. Oliphant was introduced by Mr. Brent Short, director of the library, and Mr. Kurt Wilt.
Once Mr. Oliphant began talking he made it clear that the “real” artists were the two Chilean poets whose work he has translated. These poets are Nicanor Parra and Enrique Lihn. Mr. Oliphant spent much time speaking about these two poets. Mr. Parra, age 96, is described as a popular witty ‘anti-poet.’ Mr. Parra was nominated for the Nobel Prize several times in recognition of his poems; however, ‘political’ reasons prevented him from actually winning these prizes. One such ‘political’ issue was the fact that there have been two Chilean Nobel Prize winners. Moreover, no other Latin American country has won the Nobel Prize this many times. Mr. Oliphant met Mr. Parra first in 1965 and commented on how amazed he was that Mr. Parra still writes avidly and at a profound level.
One poem written by Mr. Parra that Mr. Oliphant translated and read was titled Protest Song. In this poem Mr. Parra displayed his wit by re-writing a popular children’s song that alludes to the struggles of citizen’s problems with the government. An audient fluent in Spanish commented on how beautifully. Oliphant had translated the poem, keeping the tone and emotion of the poem. Mr. Oliphant also talked about Figures of Speech; poetries written by Enrique Lihn that he had translated. Enrique Lihn admired Nicanora, Parra and so his poems were of similar nature. One poem that Mr. Oliphant translated, that was written by Enrique Lihn, was If Poetry is to be Written Right.
Dave Oliphant has not only written books based on the translation of other artists’ work, but has written several books of his own poetry and about jazz. Books. Mr. Oliphant has written are: Jazz Mavericks of the Lone Star State, Backtracking and Memories of Texas Towns and Cities. At the presentation on October 27, Mr. Oliphant read two poems from Backtracking, one entitled Isabella’s Pebbles and the other Maria’s sewing machine. Both poems are about Oliphant’s family. Isabella’s Pebbles is about Mr. Oliphant’s granddaughter and Maria’s sewing machine is about his wife. Another poem that Mr. Oliphant read was about Vidor, Texas from his book Memories of Texas, Towns and Cities. In this poem Oliphant describes the small town through visual and audio imagery. Having heard the poem about Vidor, Oliphant’s musician friend decided to compose a musical piece that captured the essence of the poem. Mr. Oliphant played this musical piece at his presentation. Mr. Oliphant also gave the audience a preview to a jazz biography that he is presently writing. This biography is about a jazz musician from Texas, Kenny Durum who was popularly known as K.D.
Throughout the presentation, Mr. Oliphant expressed his love for jazz and his love for music. It is obvious from his writing and his various books on jazz history that jazz has impacted upon Mr. Oliphant’s writing. Furthermore, Mr. Oliphant admitted that writing about jazz musicians and translating poems gave him a way to “payback” these artists for their contributions to the world. Additionally, Oliphant expresses that writing enables him to experience another person’s life. Oliphant also said that writing was fulfilling for him but was not very lucrative.
What makes Dave Oliphant the unique writer he is? Oliphant shared his idiosyncrasies. One interesting characteristic Oliphant identified with himself is that he is a determined individual that pursues his dreams and goals despite the obstacles and dissuasion by other people. Mr. Oliphant also pointed out that his poems are not punctuated. He says that he has been criticized for this, but he believes the absence of punctuation enables his poems to be more flexible. Finally, he confided that he is never satisfied with his work. Mr. Oliphant believes that poetry influence many novelists and exemplifies with books script such as Raisin in the Sun that begins with a poem. He also states that poetry prompts readers to think deeply about topics presented because they are often not directly stated.
Mr. Oliphant described himself as “a jack of all trades” while he worked at the University of Texas; where he was editor of the scholarly journal “The Library Chronicle,” Lecturer of rhetoric and composition as well as an assistant in teaching English. He worked at the university for 30 years before retiring. In addition to teaching and writing, Mr. Oliphant also published literature for 25 years. His press was titled Prickly Pear Press. Mr. Oliphant expressed that he started this small publishing business because he realized there was not an accessible outlet for Texan writers to publish their work.
Mr. Oliphant is an artist who expresses his love for music, his family and his home, Texas, through his writing. He has accomplished a lot through his career, spreading his talent in all directions. He also uses his talent to expose artists from his home state and to aid in the development of literature. After Mr. Oliphant’s presentation, the audience was invited to have refreshments and a book table was set up for the sale of Mr. Oliphant’s books. Mr. Oliphant was also available to sign books and for further discussion.
