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{{short description|American dramatist}}
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{{BLP sources|date=January 2013}}
'''Douglas Messerli''' (born in [[Waterloo, Iowa]], 1947) is an American writer and publisher.
{{Infobox person
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/douglasmesserli.html|title=Douglas Messerli|publisher=Foundation for Contemporary Arts|date=2002}} </ref>
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|known_for = founding [[Green Integer]] and [[Sun & Moon (publisher)|Sun & Moon]] press
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|occupation = Writer, professor, publisher
|years_active = 1976–present
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'''Douglas Messerli''' (born May 30, 1947) is an American writer, professor, and publisher based in [[Los Angeles, California]]. In 1976, he started ''Sun & Moon'', a magazine of art and literature, which became [[Sun & Moon (publisher)|Sun & Moon]] press, and later [[Green Integer]] press. He has taught at [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia, and [[Otis College of Art and Design]] in Los Angeles.
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/grant_recipients/douglasmesserli.html|title=Douglas Messerli|publisher=Foundation for Contemporary Arts|year=2002}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.writing.upenn.edu/epc/authors/messerli/messerli_pub.html|title=The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing|publisher=University of Pennsylvania}}</ref>


==Biography==
==Biography==


He grew up in a very ordinary American home. His father, a former coach, was the superintendent of the public schools and his mother, a former schoolteacher, was a home-bound housewife. Messerli’s brother later became a football coach and teacher, and his sister works as a college administrator. Within this seemingly normal home life, Messerli developed at a young age a passion for theater, reading American and European figures such as [[Eugène Ionesco]], [[Harold Pinter]], [[Edward Albee]], and [[Jean Genet]]. At sixteen he traveled to [[Norway]] for one year, attending school there. Upon his return to the USA, he attended the [[University of Wisconsin]], dropping out after this junior year to live for a period in New York City, during which time he studied dance at the [[Joffrey Ballet Company]] and worked as Assistant to Protocol at [[Columbia University]]. In 1969 he returned to Wisconsin, where he met his life-long companion, Howard Fox, at the first [[gay liberation]] meeting on campus. Together they moved to Washington, D.C. in 1970. For a while, Messerli worked as a librarian at [[American University]], but ultimately returned to finish his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at the [[University of Maryland]].
Messerli grew up in a very ordinary American home. His father, a former coach, was the superintendent of the public schools, and his mother, a former schoolteacher, was a home-bound housewife. Messerli’s brother later became a football coach and teacher, and his sister works for the Iowa State Department of Education. Within this seemingly normal home life, Messerli developed at a young age a passion for theater, reading American and European figures such as [[Eugène Ionesco]], [[Harold Pinter]], [[Edward Albee]], and [[Jean Genet]]. At sixteen he traveled to [[Norway]] for one year, attending school there. Upon his return to the USA, he attended the [[University of Wisconsin]], dropping out after this junior year to live for a period in New York City, during which time he studied dance at the [[Joffrey Ballet Company]] and worked as Assistant to Protocol at [[Columbia University]]. In 1969 he returned to Wisconsin, where he met his lifelong companion, Howard Fox, at the first [[gay liberation]] meeting on campus. Together they moved to Washington, D.C. in 1970. For a while, Messerli worked as a librarian at [[American University]], but ultimately returned to finish his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at the [[University of Maryland]].


Messerli concentrated on fiction until he met critic and teacher [[Marjorie Perloff]], whose influence shifted his interests to poetry. In 1975 he and Fox began a journal of literature and art, ''Sun & Moon'', which focused on contemporary and experimental writing and art. In the late 1970s he began to publish books under that name by major literary figures such as [[David Antin]], [[Charles Bernstein]], [[Paul Auster]], [[Steve Katz (writer)|Steve Katz]], [[Russell Banks]], and [[Djuna Barnes]]. He also began writing poetry himself, and in 1979 published ''Dinner on the Lawn'' (revised in 1982). ''Some Distance'' and ''River to Rivet: A Manifesto'' followed, making up a trilogy of books of and about poetry and poetics. In the early 1980s Messerli became a professor of literature at [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia. Commuting between Washington and Philadelphia, he continued to write, working on a new book of poetry, ''Maxims from My Mother’s Milk/Hymns to Him'', and a series of three books of combined poetry/fiction/performance collectively titled ''The Structure of Destruction'', the last volume of which, ''Letters from Hanusse'', was published under the pseudonym of Joshua Haigh.
Messerli concentrated on fiction until he met critic and teacher [[Marjorie Perloff]], whose influence shifted his interests to poetry. In 1975 he and Fox began a journal of literature and art, ''Sun & Moon'', which focused on contemporary and experimental writing and art. In the late 1970s he began to publish books under that name by major literary figures such as [[David Antin]], [[Charles Bernstein (poet)|Charles Bernstein]], [[Paul Auster]], [[Steve Katz (writer)|Steve Katz]], [[Russell Banks]], and [[Djuna Barnes]]. He also began writing poetry himself, and in 1979 published ''Dinner on the Lawn'' (revised in 1982). ''Some Distance'' and ''River to Rivet: A Manifesto'' followed, making up a trilogy of books of and about poetry and poetics. In the early 1980s Messerli became a professor of literature at [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia. Commuting between Washington and Philadelphia, he continued to write, working on a new book of poetry, ''Maxims from My Mother’s Milk/Hymns to Him'', and a series of three books of combined poetry/fiction/performance collectively titled ''The Structure of Destruction'', the last volume of which, ''[[Letters from Hanusse]]'', was published under the pseudonym of Joshua Haigh.


Meanwhile, Messerli returned to his first love, writing shorter and longer plays, including ''Silence All Round Marked: An Historical Play in Hysteria Writ'' (published under his own name), ''The Confirmation'', and ''A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Six Short Plays'' (the latter two books published under his pseudonym, Kier Peters). The title play of this volume was performed in [[Brazil]], and another play from this book, ''The Sorry Play'', was written in [[São Paulo]].
Meanwhile, Messerli returned to his first love, writing shorter and longer plays, including ''Silence All Round Marked: An Historical Play in Hysteria Writ'' (published under his own name), ''The Confirmation'', and ''A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Six Short Plays'' (the latter two books published under his pseudonym, Kier Peters). The title play of this volume was performed in [[Brazil]], and another play from this book, ''The Sorry Play'', was written in [[São Paulo]].


In 1985 Messerli left his tenure-track professorship to edit Sun & Moon Press full time. The same year Fox was named Curator of [[Contemporary Art]] at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]], and the two of them moved to Los Angeles, where they continue to live today.
In 1985 Messerli left his tenure-track professorship to edit Sun & Moon Press full-time. The same year Fox was named Curator of [[Contemporary Art]] at the [[Los Angeles County Museum of Art]], and the two of them moved to Los Angeles, where they continue to live today.


Through the next eighteen years, Messerli continued to edit Sun & Moon Press and his later imprint, Green Integer, as well as writing poetry, fiction, drama and other works. He also edited ''From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry 1960-1990'' and, with dramatist [[Mac Wellman]], ''From the Other Side of the Century II: A New American Drama 1960-1995''. In 2000 he began the ongoing series of international poetry, ''The Project for Innovative Poems Anthologies of World Poetry'', for which he projects at least 50 volumes of international writing. Recently, he began a similar series for fiction: ''1001 Great Stories''.
Through the next eighteen years, Messerli continued to edit Sun & Moon Press and his later imprint, [[Green Integer]], as well as writing poetry, fiction, drama and other works. He also edited ''From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry 1960–1990'' and, with dramatist [[Mac Wellman]], ''From the Other Side of the Century II: A New American Drama 1960–1995''. In 2000 he began the ongoing series of international poetry, ''The Project for Innovative Poems Anthologies of World Poetry'', for which he projects at least 50 volumes of international writing. Recently, he began a similar series for fiction: ''1001 Great Stories''.


Over the years Messerli’s poetry has transformed from a poetry centered in comedy and wit to a highly lyrical and seemingly romantically-inspired writing. But its subjects—the difficulty of communicating and the isolation of each human being—have remained the same. It has also become increasingly apparent that Messerli’s work centers on a dialogue between or interchange with the community at large and the many aspects of self. He uses several pseudonyms and personas to explore, through various forms of writing, the multitude of selves within any one being. And he has used similar strategies in his larger writing project with others. In ''Between'', for example, Messerli wrote “through” the works of poet friends, sending the results to these friends and asking them, in turn, to respond to his work. ''Bow Down'' is a book of poetry (published in both Italian and English) in which the author wrote through the writings of various contemporary Italian poets while—in several of the poems—also attending to images of art by noted Los Angeles artist [[John Baldessari]]. And in numerous works, Messerli’s counter-ego, Claude Richochet—through his imaginary critical writings, films, and essays—is quoted extensively. More recently, Messerli has begun a long series of encounters with cultural events—fiction, poetry, film, dance, music, art, and personal experiences—of each year, which he projects as a series of autobiographical volumes each titled ''My Year''.
Over the years Messerli’s poetry has transformed from a poetry centered in comedy and wit to a highly lyrical and seemingly romantically-inspired writing. But its subjects—the difficulty of communicating and the isolation of each human being—have remained the same. It has also become increasingly apparent that Messerli’s work centers on a dialogue between or interchange with the community at large and the many aspects of self. He uses several pseudonyms and personas to explore, through various forms of writing, the multitude of selves within any one being. And he has used similar strategies in his larger writing project with others. In ''Between'', for example, Messerli wrote “through” the works of poet friends, sending the results to these friends and asking them, in turn, to respond to his work. ''Bow Down'' is a book of poetry (published in both Italian and English) in which the author wrote through the writings of various contemporary Italian poets while—in several of the poems—also attending to images of art by noted Los Angeles artist [[John Baldessari]]. And in numerous works, Messerli’s counter-ego, Claude Ricochet—through his imaginary critical writings, films, and essays—is quoted extensively. More recently, Messerli has begun a long series of encounters with cultural events—fiction, poetry, film, dance, music, art, and personal experiences—of each year, which he projects as a series of autobiographical volumes each titled ''My Year''.


In 2002-2003 Messerli was awarded a grant from the [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts|Foundation for Contemporary Performance]]. He has received numerous other awards, including the [[American Book Award]] and the [[National Translation Award|ALTA Award]] for Dedication to Translation for his publishing. In 2004 he was named [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] by the French government.
He was awarded the [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts]] Grants to Artist award (2002). He has received numerous other awards, including the [[American Book Award]] and the [[National Translation Award|ALTA Award]] for Dedication to Translation for his publishing. In 2004 he was named [[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres|Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] by the French government.


More recently, Messerli has focused on his six on-line sites that explore poetry, fiction, cinema, American cultural treasures, drama, and general cultural experiences. His book ''Reading Films: My International Cinema'' will be published in 2012.<ref>Messerli, Douglas (editor). ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century -- Volume 5 -- Intersections: Innovative Poetry in Southern California''. Green Integer, 2005, p. 196.</ref>
More recently, Messerli has focused on his six on-line sites that explore poetry, fiction, cinema, American cultural treasures, drama, and general cultural experiences. His book ''Reading Films: My International Cinema'' was published in 2012.<ref>''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century – Volume 5 – Intersections: Innovative Poetry in Southern California''. [[Green Integer]], 2005, p. 196.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-892295-30-9|title=Letters from Hanusse|publisher=Publishers Weekly|year=2000}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foundationforcontemporaryarts.org/recipients/douglas-messerli|title=Douglas Messerli: Grants for Artists, Poetry|publisher=Foundation for Contemporary Arts|year=2002}}</ref>


==Books==
==Books==

===Poetry===
===Poetry===
* ''Dinner on the Lawn'' (College Park, MD: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1979)
* 2012: ''Dark'' (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''Some Distance'' (New York: Segue Books, 1982)
* 2002: ''Bow Down'', with [[John Baldessari]] (Piacenza, Italy: ML & NLF)
* 1998: ''After'' (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''River to Rivet: A Manifesto'' (Washington, D.C.: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1985)
* 1988: ''Maxims from My Milk/Hymns to Him: A Dialogue'' (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''Maxims from My Milk/Hymns to Him: A Dialogue'' (Los Angeles: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1988)
* 1985: ''River to Rivet: A Manifesto'' (Washington, D.C.: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''After'' (Los Angeles: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1998)
* ''Bow Down'', with [[John Baldessari]] (Piacenza, Italy: ML & NLF, 2002)
* 1982: ''Some Distance'' (New York: Segue Books)
* ''First Words'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2004)
* 1979: ''Dinner on the Lawn'' (College Park, MD: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''Dark'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2012)
* ''Stay'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2018)


===Plays===
===Plays===
* 2004: ''The Confirmation'', as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Seven Short Plays'', as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 2003)
* 2003: ''A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Seven Short Plays'', as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press)
* ''The Confirmation'', as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 2004)


===Fiction===
===Fiction===
* 2000: ''Letters from Hanusse'', as Joshua Haigh (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''[[Letters from Hanusse]]'', as Joshua Haigh (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2000)


===Non-Fiction===
===Non-fiction===


* 2012: ''Reading Films: My International Cinema'' (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''Reading Films: My International Cinema'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2012)
* 2010: ''My Year 2005: Terrifying Times'' (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''On Marriage: The Imagination of Being'' (Los Angeles, Magra Books, 2018)
* 2009: ''My Year 2006: Serving'' (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''My Year 2000: Leaving Something Behind'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2018)
* 2008: ''My Year 2004: Under Our Skin'' (Los Angeles: Green Integer)
* ''My Year 2001: Keeping History a Secret'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2016)
* ''My Year 2002: Love, Death, and Transfiguration'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2015)
* ''My Year 2003: Voice Without a Voice'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2013)
* ''My Year 2004: Under Our Skin'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2008)
* ''My Year 2005: Terrifying Times'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2010)
* ''My Year 2006: Serving'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2009)
* ''My Year 2007: To the Dogs'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2015)
* ''My Year 2008: In the Gap'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2015)
* ''My Year 2009: Facing the Heat'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2016)
* ''My Year 2010: Shadows'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2017)
* ''My Year 2011: No One's Home'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2018)
* ''My Year 2012: Centers Collapse'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2019)
* ''My Year 2013: Murderers and Angels'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2019)


===Edited===
==Honors, Awards, and Grants==


* ''Language Poetries: An Anthology'' (New York: [[New Directions Publishing|New Directions]], 1987)
* 2003: Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres (France)
* ''[[From the Other Side of the Century|From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry 1960–1990]]'' (Los Angeles: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1995)
* 1998: American Book Award for Publishing
* ''From the Other Side of the Century II: A New American Drama 1960-1995'' (Los Angeles: [[Sun & Moon Press]], 1998)
* 1994: The Harry Ford Editing Award
* ''Listen to the Mockingbird: American Folksongs and Popular Music Lyrics of the 19th Century'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2004)
* 1987: Carey-Thomas Award for Creative Publishing
* ''1001 Great Stories, Volume 1'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2005)
* ''1001 Great Stories, Volume 2'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2005)
* ''The PIP (Project for Innovative Poetry) Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 1'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2000)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 2'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2000)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 3: Nothing the Sun Could Not Explain—20 Contemporary Brazilian Poets'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2001)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 4'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2004)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 5: Intersections—Innovative Poetry in Southern California'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2005)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 6: Living Space: Poems of the Dutch Fiftiers'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2006)
* ''The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 7: At Villa Aurora: Nine Contemporary Poets Writing in German'' (Los Angeles: [[Green Integer]], 2006)

==Honors, awards, and grants==

* [[Carey–Thomas Award]] for Creative Publishing, 1987
* The Harry Ford Editing Award, 1994
* American Book Award for Publishing, 1998
* [[Foundation for Contemporary Arts]], Grants to Artists, Poetry, 2002
* [[Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] (France), 2003
* [[Beyond_Baroque_Literary_Arts_Center|Beyond Baroque]]'s Distinguished Service Award, 2024<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lamag.com/arts-and-entertainment/la-weekend-guide-lets-fly-at-the-balloon-museum-beautycon-beyond-baroque-gala|title=L.A. Weekend Guide|author=Lecaro, Lina|publisher=Los Angeles Magazine|date=2024-10-31}}</ref>


== References ==
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
* [http://www.greeninteger.com Green Integer website]
* [http://www.greeninteger.com Green Integer website]
* [http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_neil_young_rocks ''Jacket'' interview with Douglas Messerli (in conversation with Charles Bernstein)]
* [http://jacketmagazine.com/28/bern-iv-mess.html ''Jacket'' interview with Douglas Messerli (in conversation with Charles Bernstein)]
* [http://worldartsreview.com/ ''World Arts Review''], Douglas Messerli's blog


{{Authority control}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->

| NAME = Messerli, Douglas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerli, Douglas}}
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Kier Peters
[[Category:American male poets]]
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = writer, publisher
[[Category:20th-century American dramatists and playwrights]]
| DATE OF BIRTH = 1947
[[Category:American publishers (people)]]
| PLACE OF BIRTH = Waterloo, Iowa
[[Category:Writers from Waterloo, Iowa]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
[[Category:Living people]]
| PLACE OF DEATH =
[[Category:1947 births]]
}}
[[Category:American male dramatists and playwrights]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messerli, John}}
[[:Category:American poets]]
[[Category:Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[:Category:American dramatists and playwrights]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[:Category:American writers]]
[[:Category:American publishers]]
[[:Category:Living people]]

Latest revision as of 16:53, 20 November 2024

Douglas Messerli
Born (1947-05-30) May 30, 1947 (age 77)
Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
Occupation(s)Writer, professor, publisher
Years active1976–present
Known forfounding Green Integer and Sun & Moon press
TitleOfficier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)

Douglas Messerli (born May 30, 1947) is an American writer, professor, and publisher based in Los Angeles, California. In 1976, he started Sun & Moon, a magazine of art and literature, which became Sun & Moon press, and later Green Integer press. He has taught at Temple University in Philadelphia, and Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. [1][2]

Biography

[edit]

Messerli grew up in a very ordinary American home. His father, a former coach, was the superintendent of the public schools, and his mother, a former schoolteacher, was a home-bound housewife. Messerli’s brother later became a football coach and teacher, and his sister works for the Iowa State Department of Education. Within this seemingly normal home life, Messerli developed at a young age a passion for theater, reading American and European figures such as Eugène Ionesco, Harold Pinter, Edward Albee, and Jean Genet. At sixteen he traveled to Norway for one year, attending school there. Upon his return to the USA, he attended the University of Wisconsin, dropping out after this junior year to live for a period in New York City, during which time he studied dance at the Joffrey Ballet Company and worked as Assistant to Protocol at Columbia University. In 1969 he returned to Wisconsin, where he met his lifelong companion, Howard Fox, at the first gay liberation meeting on campus. Together they moved to Washington, D.C. in 1970. For a while, Messerli worked as a librarian at American University, but ultimately returned to finish his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at the University of Maryland.

Messerli concentrated on fiction until he met critic and teacher Marjorie Perloff, whose influence shifted his interests to poetry. In 1975 he and Fox began a journal of literature and art, Sun & Moon, which focused on contemporary and experimental writing and art. In the late 1970s he began to publish books under that name by major literary figures such as David Antin, Charles Bernstein, Paul Auster, Steve Katz, Russell Banks, and Djuna Barnes. He also began writing poetry himself, and in 1979 published Dinner on the Lawn (revised in 1982). Some Distance and River to Rivet: A Manifesto followed, making up a trilogy of books of and about poetry and poetics. In the early 1980s Messerli became a professor of literature at Temple University in Philadelphia. Commuting between Washington and Philadelphia, he continued to write, working on a new book of poetry, Maxims from My Mother’s Milk/Hymns to Him, and a series of three books of combined poetry/fiction/performance collectively titled The Structure of Destruction, the last volume of which, Letters from Hanusse, was published under the pseudonym of Joshua Haigh.

Meanwhile, Messerli returned to his first love, writing shorter and longer plays, including Silence All Round Marked: An Historical Play in Hysteria Writ (published under his own name), The Confirmation, and A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Six Short Plays (the latter two books published under his pseudonym, Kier Peters). The title play of this volume was performed in Brazil, and another play from this book, The Sorry Play, was written in São Paulo.

In 1985 Messerli left his tenure-track professorship to edit Sun & Moon Press full-time. The same year Fox was named Curator of Contemporary Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the two of them moved to Los Angeles, where they continue to live today.

Through the next eighteen years, Messerli continued to edit Sun & Moon Press and his later imprint, Green Integer, as well as writing poetry, fiction, drama and other works. He also edited From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry 1960–1990 and, with dramatist Mac Wellman, From the Other Side of the Century II: A New American Drama 1960–1995. In 2000 he began the ongoing series of international poetry, The Project for Innovative Poems Anthologies of World Poetry, for which he projects at least 50 volumes of international writing. Recently, he began a similar series for fiction: 1001 Great Stories.

Over the years Messerli’s poetry has transformed from a poetry centered in comedy and wit to a highly lyrical and seemingly romantically-inspired writing. But its subjects—the difficulty of communicating and the isolation of each human being—have remained the same. It has also become increasingly apparent that Messerli’s work centers on a dialogue between or interchange with the community at large and the many aspects of self. He uses several pseudonyms and personas to explore, through various forms of writing, the multitude of selves within any one being. And he has used similar strategies in his larger writing project with others. In Between, for example, Messerli wrote “through” the works of poet friends, sending the results to these friends and asking them, in turn, to respond to his work. Bow Down is a book of poetry (published in both Italian and English) in which the author wrote through the writings of various contemporary Italian poets while—in several of the poems—also attending to images of art by noted Los Angeles artist John Baldessari. And in numerous works, Messerli’s counter-ego, Claude Ricochet—through his imaginary critical writings, films, and essays—is quoted extensively. More recently, Messerli has begun a long series of encounters with cultural events—fiction, poetry, film, dance, music, art, and personal experiences—of each year, which he projects as a series of autobiographical volumes each titled My Year.

He was awarded the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artist award (2002). He has received numerous other awards, including the American Book Award and the ALTA Award for Dedication to Translation for his publishing. In 2004 he was named Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government.

More recently, Messerli has focused on his six on-line sites that explore poetry, fiction, cinema, American cultural treasures, drama, and general cultural experiences. His book Reading Films: My International Cinema was published in 2012.[3][4][5]

Books

[edit]

Poetry

[edit]

Plays

[edit]
  • A Dog Tries to Kiss the Sky: Seven Short Plays, as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 2003)
  • The Confirmation, as Kier Peters (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 2004)

Fiction

[edit]

Non-fiction

[edit]
  • Reading Films: My International Cinema (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2012)
  • On Marriage: The Imagination of Being (Los Angeles, Magra Books, 2018)
  • My Year 2000: Leaving Something Behind (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2018)
  • My Year 2001: Keeping History a Secret (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2016)
  • My Year 2002: Love, Death, and Transfiguration (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2015)
  • My Year 2003: Voice Without a Voice (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2013)
  • My Year 2004: Under Our Skin (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2008)
  • My Year 2005: Terrifying Times (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2010)
  • My Year 2006: Serving (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2009)
  • My Year 2007: To the Dogs (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2015)
  • My Year 2008: In the Gap (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2015)
  • My Year 2009: Facing the Heat (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2016)
  • My Year 2010: Shadows (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2017)
  • My Year 2011: No One's Home (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2018)
  • My Year 2012: Centers Collapse (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2019)
  • My Year 2013: Murderers and Angels (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2019)

Edited

[edit]
  • Language Poetries: An Anthology (New York: New Directions, 1987)
  • From the Other Side of the Century: A New American Poetry 1960–1990 (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1995)
  • From the Other Side of the Century II: A New American Drama 1960-1995 (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1998)
  • Listen to the Mockingbird: American Folksongs and Popular Music Lyrics of the 19th Century (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2004)
  • 1001 Great Stories, Volume 1 (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2005)
  • 1001 Great Stories, Volume 2 (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2005)
  • The PIP (Project for Innovative Poetry) Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 1 (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2000)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 2 (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2000)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 3: Nothing the Sun Could Not Explain—20 Contemporary Brazilian Poets (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2001)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 4 (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2004)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 5: Intersections—Innovative Poetry in Southern California (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2005)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 6: Living Space: Poems of the Dutch Fiftiers (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2006)
  • The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century, Volume 7: At Villa Aurora: Nine Contemporary Poets Writing in German (Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2006)

Honors, awards, and grants

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References

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  1. ^ "Douglas Messerli". Foundation for Contemporary Arts. 2002.
  2. ^ "The Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing". University of Pennsylvania.
  3. ^ The PIP Anthology of World Poetry of the 20th Century – Volume 5 – Intersections: Innovative Poetry in Southern California. Green Integer, 2005, p. 196.
  4. ^ "Letters from Hanusse". Publishers Weekly. 2000.
  5. ^ "Douglas Messerli: Grants for Artists, Poetry". Foundation for Contemporary Arts. 2002.
  6. ^ Lecaro, Lina (2024-10-31). "L.A. Weekend Guide". Los Angeles Magazine.
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