As I said, roaming free through the Special Collection was a blast. Walking through stacks and stacks of little magazines (9000+ titles), I was literally intimidated. My mind went blank and did not know what to look for. In shock, I could only mutter to Jim Maynard: “This is incredible.” All these magazines at my fingertips and I could not bring to mind a single title.
Out of the fog, I remembered J Magazine, edited at various times by Jack Spicer, George Stanley and Harold Dull. This San Francisco mimeo was tough to get a hold of when it was published particularly if you lived west of the Golden Gate Bridge. Spicer hated the eastern publishing establishment and was reluctant to allow copies out of California. Over the years, J has proven even tougher to come by. Copies rarely come to market, which is a real shame. Clay and Phillips mention in Secret Location that J is one of the most beautiful publications of the Mimeo Revolution. The Special Collection at Buffalo possessed five of the eight copies. Looking them over I could only agree with their assessment.
The covers are wonderful, verging on book art. Beautiful manipulations of stenciling, typographic design, and original artwork. Russell FitzGerald, Fran Herndon and George Stanley all worked on the covers, Herndon especially. She served as art editor on several issues. It was quite an experience to view Herndon’s covers of J in the same room where Herndon’s portrait of Robert Duncan hangs.
As with Intrepid 39-41 and The Pirate Press Beowulf, J calls to mind a specific locale. Not the University of Buffalo or King’s, but another place of learning: The Place on 1546 Grant Avenue. Submissions were collected in a box at the bar. Jack Spicer held office hours at this watering hole, one of his many haunts in San Francisco. Blabbermouth Night, which Spicer sometimes MC’d, served as comps in this University. Whether it was at The Six Gallery, The Poetry as Magic Workshop, Aquatic Park, or The Place, Spicer dictated his knowledge to eager students in unconventional settings. So it follows that mimeo and the small press would be the ideal publishing outlet for the “teachings” of Spicer.
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
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