The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003
A landmark publication in computer-generated poetry drawn from the works of Gertrude Stein.

The Stein poems of Jackson Mac Low (1922–2004) were written between 1998 and 2003. Comprising more than 500 pages of text, this edited series of 161 poems—most of them never published—is the poet’s last great work, composed during the final years of a lifetime of prolific creation.

The raw material of each poem was produced through Mac Low’s diastic text-selection method of reading through passages of either Ulla E. Dydo’s A Stein Reader or a corrected version of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons. Guided by Charles O. Hartman’s 1994 DIASTEX5 computer program, which replicates the diastic method first developed by Mac Low in 1963, the process requires that words be drawn sequentially from the source text in accordance with their rule-driven, algorithmic correspondence with a seed text.

Taken as a whole, these poems are a breathtaking invitation to the reader into a space of creative possibilities and unforeseen encounters.
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The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003
A landmark publication in computer-generated poetry drawn from the works of Gertrude Stein.

The Stein poems of Jackson Mac Low (1922–2004) were written between 1998 and 2003. Comprising more than 500 pages of text, this edited series of 161 poems—most of them never published—is the poet’s last great work, composed during the final years of a lifetime of prolific creation.

The raw material of each poem was produced through Mac Low’s diastic text-selection method of reading through passages of either Ulla E. Dydo’s A Stein Reader or a corrected version of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons. Guided by Charles O. Hartman’s 1994 DIASTEX5 computer program, which replicates the diastic method first developed by Mac Low in 1963, the process requires that words be drawn sequentially from the source text in accordance with their rule-driven, algorithmic correspondence with a seed text.

Taken as a whole, these poems are a breathtaking invitation to the reader into a space of creative possibilities and unforeseen encounters.
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The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003

The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003

The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003

The Complete Stein Poems, 1998-2003

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Overview

A landmark publication in computer-generated poetry drawn from the works of Gertrude Stein.

The Stein poems of Jackson Mac Low (1922–2004) were written between 1998 and 2003. Comprising more than 500 pages of text, this edited series of 161 poems—most of them never published—is the poet’s last great work, composed during the final years of a lifetime of prolific creation.

The raw material of each poem was produced through Mac Low’s diastic text-selection method of reading through passages of either Ulla E. Dydo’s A Stein Reader or a corrected version of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons. Guided by Charles O. Hartman’s 1994 DIASTEX5 computer program, which replicates the diastic method first developed by Mac Low in 1963, the process requires that words be drawn sequentially from the source text in accordance with their rule-driven, algorithmic correspondence with a seed text.

Taken as a whole, these poems are a breathtaking invitation to the reader into a space of creative possibilities and unforeseen encounters.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780262383752
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication date: 08/19/2025
Series: Hardcopy
Sold by: Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format: eBook
Pages: 612

About the Author

Jackson Mac Low was a leading member of the Fluxus group, an innovator of procedural poetics and liminal compositional forms, and a progenitor of the Language Poets and other conceptual artists.

Michael O'Driscoll is Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta. Along with Anne Tardos, he is the coeditor of Jackson Mac Low’s The Complete Light Poems.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In his inventive interactions with Gertrude Stein on one side and his computer on the other, Mac Low brought Stein’s modernist word composition into the digital twenty-first century. Michael O’Driscoll’s commendable edition now makes these marvelous works fully accessible to artists and scholars.”
—Tyrus Miller, Distinguished Professor of Art History and English, University of California, Irvine

“A must for anybody interested in experimental poetry.”
—Rosmarie Waldrop, poet, translator, editor

“‘What are Masterpieces?’ The Stein Poems are the culminating achievement of Mac Low’s ‘writingways,’ a refunctioning of Stein’s oeuvre by algorithmic and human decisions.”
—Barrett Watten, poet and critic, Wayne State University

“Jackson Mac Low’s love affair with Gertude Stein’s minimalist language alchemy defies comparison. This collection is a cut-up of echoes with teeth, tenacity, homey wit, and aural revelation. Viva the excesses of the Post Modernism Liberation Experimental Revolution!”
—Anne Waldman, Poet, Founder and Artistic Director, Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, Summer Writing Program, Naropa University

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