Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth

A senior figure of American letters whose works span more than five decades of creativity, Gerrit Lansing has been an icon of the American cultural underground since the late 1950s and has been a friend and mentor to generations of creative people. Lansing was a close friend and colleague of legendary folklorist and filmmaker Harry Smith and literary giant Charles Olson (who acknowledged Lansing’s influence), among countless others. Poet Robert Kelly has characterized him as “the most learned among us, and the most fun.”

Like Emily Dickinson, Lansing has patiently crafted a body of poetic work that includes brilliant and memorable high spots (“The Heavenly Tree Grows Downward” and “In Northern Earth,” from which this collection takes its title, as well as the alchemy themed cycle “The Soluble Forest”). His work also represents an integrated whole whose lasting place in the canon of American literature is assured. With themes at once personal and universal, spiritual and esoteric, human and erotic, Heavenly Tree, Northern Earth captures the creative spirit of an unsung master of modern poetry.