I am interested very much in debased and demotic forms of expression. . . . They often seem so much more moving than something that is beautifully phrased and composed. The crudeness of a Hollywood sound adventure picture on the one hand and a sort of high-flown translation from the Greek on the other were both elements that attracted me and not entirely just to make fun of them either, but to sort of purify the language of the tribe. 

                  —John Ashbery, on the film Where the North Begins,                      and its influence on his plays The Philosopher and The                      Compromise. (American Poetry Review, May-June                      1984)

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ASTERISKS * indicate citations connected to specific works by Ashbery, as acknowledged by Ashbery and so identified here.

All other listings have been identified by Ashbery as being of particular interest to him or influential in some way, and as such may provide insight into Ashbery’s work.

See the statement of methodology for important cautions and disclaimers.

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