Larry Eigner

Lawrence Joel “Larry” Eigner was born in Swampscott, Massachusetts with cerebral palsy due to a doctor’s misuse of forceps during his delivery. Despite his disability, he was an accomplished student in high school and college, which he completed via correspondence. He published more than forty collections of poetry and one volume of prose, most of which he composed using his finger and thumb on a 1940 manual typewriter. His poems appeared frequently in The Black Mountain Review and the journal L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E, which led to his being considered a principal figure in both the Black Mountain and Language schools of poetry.