In the Midst: Writings 1962-1992

W.J. Keith is a retired professor of English at the University of Toronto and author A Sense of Style: Studies in the Art of Fiction in English-Speaking Canada.

Warren Tallman, an independent maverick and poetry instructor at the
University of British Columbia, has been “in the midst” of the new
movement in North American poetry for some 40 years, and was especially
influential as friend, champion, and mentor of the young Canadian poets
who published Tish magazine in the 1960s.

This is a generation of poets about whom responses are likely to be
extreme: one either considers them the creative writers of our time or
dismisses them as dull or incomprehensible. The important thing to be
said about this book is that, whatever one’s position, it is essential
for an understanding of how these poets live, work, think, and interact
with each other.

It is, however, a frustrating book. One of the difficulties is that,
for the most part, Tallman assumes a sympathetic “in-group” audience
(writers are as often as not referred to only by their first names), and
he rarely explains references that could be obscure to outsiders. Still,
we overhear him, learn as we listen, and come to comprehend his methods
and tastes (though we may not share them).

In the Midst, though entertaining, can also be infuriating: relaxed,
colloquial, “unacademic” (which is good), but also slangy, rambling,
sometimes close to incoherent (not so good). Tallman’s enthusiasm is
endearing, but, in a writer who is preoccupied with the importance of
words and language (“Mother Tongue” in his vocabulary), the numerous
spelling mistakes and other stylistic blunders can be disturbing.

The essays, letters, notes, informal talks that make up the text are
written in a breezy, gee-whiz sort of style that is often refreshing
even if one doubts (as I do) whether it’s an adequate vehicle for
truly probing literary criticism. “I’m an impressionist,” Tallman
argues, “who tends to re-enact the work in view rather than simply
explicate it.” One can quibble about “simply,” and even wonder if
he’s offering literary criticism at all (it sometimes sounds more like
impassioned publicity), but its engagement is admirable. Anyone
seriously interested in modern poetry should read it—even if
skeptically.