Jack Spicer died in 1965 of alcohol abuse, but the posthumously published Book of Magazine Verse proves that Spicer was still writing at a high level near the end of his life. The book is dedicated to Denise Levertov of The Nation and Henry Rago of Poetry. Spicer's confrontations with Levertov are well documented. For some (notably Ron Silliman), Rago directed Poetry through a renaissance in the mid to late 1960s that made this old maid relevant by publishing important work by the likes of Robert Duncan and Louis Zukofsky. Yet for others he was the Cerebrus guarding the gateway to the poetry establishment.
Spicer must have bristled at the presence of Robert Duncan in Poetry. See above. Further evidence of Duncan's selling out. Book of Magazine Verse, designed by Graham Mackintosh, is a brilliant merging of form and content. The pages of the White Rabbit publication mimic the pages of the various magazines Spicer dedicates his poems to. So the poems to Tish are on blue mimeo paper and the poems to The Sporting News are on newsprint. In addition the cover of Spicer's book detourns the design of Poetry. The design is clever but with bite and not precious or cute. It is a fine line and Mackintosh does a great job here.
Here is some information from Jacket on Spicer's lecture on Book of Magazine Verse
MIMEO MIMEO #8: CURATORS' CHOICE features 16 bibliophiles on 6 highlights from their personal or institutional collections. Contributors include Steve Clay, Wendy Burk, Tony White, Brian Cassidy, Thurston Moore, J.A. Lee, Michelle Strizever, Adam Davis, Michael Basinski, Joseph Newland, Alastair Johnston, Tate Shaw, Michael Kasper, Steve Woodall, Molly Schwartzberg, Nancy Kuhl, James Maynard, and the Utah posse (Becky Thomas, Marnie Powers-Torrey, Craig Dworkin, Emily Tipps, Luise Poulton, & David Wolske)
MIMEO MIMEO #7: THE LEWIS WARSH ISSUE is the first magazine ever devoted in its entirety to poet, novelist, publisher, teacher, and collage artist Lewis Warsh. Warsh was born in 1944 in the Bronx, co-founded Angel Hair Magazine and Books with Anne Waldman in 1966, and went on to co-found United Artists Magazine and Books with Bernadette Mayer in 1977. He is the author of over thirty books of poetry, fiction and autobiography, the Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Long Island University in Brooklyn, and as you’ll soon discover, so much more. Includes an introduction by Daniel Kane, an interview conducted by Steve Clay, 10 new stories, 5 new poems, dozens of photographs and collages, and an anecdotal bibliography.
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #6: THE POETRY ISSUE is devoted to new work by eight poets who have consistently composed quality writing that has influenced and inspired generations since the golden era of the mimeo revolution. Contributors include Bill Berkson, John Godfrey, Ted Greenwald, Joanne Kyger, Kit Robinson, Rosmarie Waldrop, Lewis Warsh, and Geoffrey Young. Cover art by George Schneeman.
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #3: THE DANNY SNELSON ISSUE examines the relationship between structuralism and the poetries of the mimeo era by presenting a detailed analysis of Form (a Cambridge-UK magazine published in 1966) and Alcheringa (a journal published by Boston University in 1975), two exemplary gatherings that illuminate the historical, material and social circumstances under which theory informed art (and vice versa) in the early works of some of today's most celebrated experimental writers. Also includes a special insert, The Infernal Method, written, designed and printed by Aaron Cohick (NewLights Press).
OUT OF PRINT
MIMEO MIMEO #2: features Emily McVarish on her artist's book Flicker; James Maynard on poet Robert Duncan's early experiences as an editor and typesetter; Derek Beaulieu on the relationship between the influential Canadian poetry journal Tish and Black Mountain College; and an extensive interview with Australian poet and typographer Alan Loney conducted by Kyle Schlesinger. Cover is by Emily McVarish.
OUT OF PRINT
0 comments:
Post a Comment