Weldon Kees: The Disappearing Poet

Weldon Kees is the most mysterious American poet of the twentieth century. He was brilliant, polymathic, and doomed. I first discovered Weldon Kees over fifty years in a Minnesota public library while reading a poetry anthology. As I finished the last of the eighteen selections of Weldon Kees included, I knew that I had found a major poet. How had such a superb contemporary poet escaped my ken? I resolved to go out immediately and find every collection of his work. However, there was very little about Kees. Over the next fifty years I researched and wrote about Kees extensively and have gathered an enormous amount of photo material and primary sources about Kees. This documentary film is a survey of Weldon Kees' strange and unhappy life. This video is the first major documentary film about Weldon Kees. I should note in 1993 Simon Armitage produced a segment for BBC called "Looking for Robinson" that was shot in a faux-documentary (what you would today call mockumentary style), though it focused mostly on Armitage's search rather than Kees himself and is no longer available anywhere. Weldon Kees Poems: "Robinson": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem... "Aspects of Robinson": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem... "For My Daughter": https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem... My Essays on Weldon Kees: https://danagioia.com/essays/reviews-... https://danagioia.com/essays/reviews-... https://danagioia.com/essays/reviews-... Video Table of Contents 1:13 Kees' Early Life in Nebraska 4:14 College Years and Literary Ambition 8:31 Mentor, First Publications, and Early Career 14:15 Denver: Marriage & Turning to Poetry 22:41 New York Literary Scene and Early Books 28:39 Writing for Time Magazine 32:20 Paramount Newsreel work 35:00 - Guest interview w/ Boris Dralyuk 44:11 Painting & New York Art World 54:43 Visiting Ezra Pound with Elizabeth Bishop 56:07 California Years 59:24 Kees' Disappearance Film Credits Script and Narration by Dana Gioia Produced by Mike Gioia Cinematography & Editing by Isaak Kimmel Music score by Isaak Kimmel Guest Interview with Boris Dralyuk