Ocean Crossing

"OCEAN CROSSING: NANCY CUNARD is an essay-poem that questions the concept of biography - the form of the genre and how a person is remembered. The mythic quality of Nancy Cunard as mid-20th century literary force was well-known to me. I've been curious about how and why mythic status is created. The following piece requires Netscape 2.0 or later. It begins with Pre/Misconceptions I had about Nancy Cunard and explores them. Earlier I did a similar heuristic exploration involving Willa Cather, called 'Black Hawk ("My" Antonia),' . . . . I also did a piece about Josephine Baker that follows her eyes throughout her life. Ocean Crossing tracks Nancy Cunard's ivory bracelets, charged on many levels, at times, with irony.

I expanded the biographical approach to include autobiographical material, related to jewelry and armoring, the subject that repeatedly surfaced as I read about Nancy Cunard. The use of an object to follow a life is an interesting idea. A similar method of stirring fresh associations was eloquently realized by Roland Barthes in his abecedaria treatment of his own life. The linear quality that naturally attends a lifeline was destroyed in the process. Authorial inclusion/intrusion has many historical antecedents. The increase of this tendency in the last half of this century can be attributed to many ideas, not the least of which is what I call 'The Participatory Age.'

An extensive collection of Nancy Cunard's poetry, letters and Hours Press publications are housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center in Austin, Texas. Nancy Cunard: Brave Poet, Indomitable Rebel 1896-1965, a fascinating book, features testimonials from Nancy's friends and colleagues, edited by Hugh Ford, Chilton Book Co., Philadelphia, 1968." -- from Introduction