Koch, Kenneth (Vol. 8) - Koch, Kenneth 1925–
Koch, Kenneth 1925–
Koch is an American poet and playwright identified with the "New York School." Poetry seems to be a form of play for Koch—a way of making people feel better about the world and themselves. His best poetry is delightfully childlike and highly imaginative. A teacher as well as a writer, he has been successful in instructing both children and the aged to write verse. (See also CLC, Vol. 5, and Contemporary Authors, Vols. 1-4, rev. ed.)
The surreal absurd has a mystical intensity which one recognizes in the poetry of Ginsberg, Bly, Wakoski, Simic, Lamantia, Knott. It is a quality which lacks entirely in Kenneth Koch's poetry. Koch plays on the quirks and mannerisms of surrealist language; he is a virtuoso of the absurd image. There is an air of provocative non-sense in his work which echoes the French poets with a lightness of touch verging on coquetry…. Koch makes surrealist poetry into a field of fun; but his...
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