Charles Olson

Charles Olson was a second generation modernist American poet who was a link between earlier modernist figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the third generation modernist New American poets.

Olson first taught at the college on weekends during the 1948-1949 school year. He returned to the faculty in 1951 and became Rector in 1953 after many staff members departed. Inheriting a deeply divided institution, he attempted to rebuild the school with a particular focus on writing and poetry.

There are Olson paper collections at many institutions including the University of Connecticut, Wesleyan University, Western Regional Archives, and many more.

Relationships

Wife: Constance Olson, joined Charles at the college while he taught