The Amphora 6 (Fall, 1971)

 The Amphora 6

edited by David Gitin

The Headstone Press

Thorp Springs Press 

Berkeley, CA

(c) 1971

I got this gem because it was edited by David Gitin who I believe to be an under appreciated poet and it was only after it arrived that I realized the uniqueness of this book. It was printed by Thorp Springs Press which was quite active in the Berkeley/SF poetry world in the late 1960s - early 1970s. The Press was headed by Paul Foreman who I have written about earlier in this on-going blog. So, he printed it. For The Headstone Press which I never heard of before. 

This volume contains work by some of the best poets writing at the time. Am I kidding? Hardly. I am talking about Diane di Palma, Larry Eigner, Clark Coolidge, Ron Silliman, Carl Rakosi, Lewis MacAdams, Denise Levertov and the editor of this volume himself.  One of Silliman's pieces is a great concrete poem. This is a great find. So happy to have been the one to find it! (okay, it's a slight brag)

Street Spices by Julia Vinograd (1973)

Street Spices
Julia Vinograd
Thorp Springs Press
Berkeley, CA
© 1973

Thorp Springs Press was the publishing child of Paul Foreman who named the press for a location in his native Texas west of Fort Worth. He started the press while studying at Berkeley and published a few of Julia Vinograd’s early chapbooks.

This is one of those. It was published in 1973. Unpaginated. Staple-bound. Filled with her street level observations and witticisms. Cover photo by David Soffa.