chapbooks 43

Sonnet Sequences
A monthly magazine publishing the
Modern American Sonnet
Murray and Hazel Marshall (ed.)
#350 & #355
July & Dec. 1957
Bladensburg, MD


Each “issue” of this magazine is unnumbered with a stiff paper stock cover. They retailed for a quarter. #350 is entirely made up of 12 translated sonnets by Paul Verlaine. The translations were done by Murray Marshall.

There is precise little on the Net currently about Murray L Marshall, his wife Hazel S. Marshall, or their publication, Modern American Sonnet. M.A.S. appears in special collections now online and in various libraries. A very few copies appear for sale on the standard online platforms. Not much to go on.

#355 has sonnets in it by Margaret G Hindes, Bessie Berg, Alfred Leland Mooney, Mildred W. Bradley, Bonnie May Malody, and Joseph Upper along with Murray L Marshall. Now at least I was able to find something on these people – they were more than NAMES. They had recorded lives!

Margaret G. Hindes was married to Osmond Molarsky in 1971 until her death in 2002. They lived the San Francisco area. Ms. Hindes had been a social worker and poet. Molarsky had been an author and radio personality.

Bessie Berg’s work appeared throughout the 1950s in publications like Desert Magazine. She lived in Rio Linda, California.

Alfred Leland Mooney was an educator and a poet whose work appeared in newspapers and magazines in his day. He died in 1977 at the age of 70.

Joseph Upper had a piece in the Poets Lore – that was issue #33 – in 1922.

Mildred W Bradley was the author of the collection Living and Gleaning published in 1977 by Prairie Poet Books.

Bonnie May Malody lived in California and wrote haiku as well as sonnets.

each chapbook is a story in itself

Each chapbook is a story in itself - the publisher, the poet/author, the designer/illustrator - each has a story and a history. Along the way, I have found many tales and yarns. Some fascinating and others truly pitiful. Part of the reason I write this admittedly infrequent blog is that these authors - these publishers - these people need to be remembered in some fashion. Their chapbooks alone acknowledge their existence as people. Their names live on, however delicately, through their "thin slivers of nothing" (the weight of a chapbook when stacked on a shelf with various TOMES between)

It takes people like me to find and collect them. It takes others to create them and others to bring them to a weary public, forever put upon to be amazed at the new next wave of material splashing against the shoreline of their attention span. The shoreline is always in recession.

It's not so much a matter of locating a priceless gem of a chapbook but simply to find one whose author and publisher and illustrators have disappeared from our consciousness. And to bring them back to life - just by mentioning the details .... the very EXISTENCE .... of the chapbook again.

I have up until now, presented the details as clinically as possible, when merited I have gone into a bit of detail more but not much. My purpose has to been to acknowledge the chapbooks themselves. Sometimes it was been to bemoan the making of a dreadful creation, sometimes trees should not have fallen for a book's making. But for the most part, I have been incredibly surprised by the backstory of some presses and some authors.

Even the recent finds of chapbooks by a Pegasus Buchanan proved worthwhile although I would never had purchased them for their literary merit (don't like that style of poetry, I am afraid) but for their production quality and thoughtful creation. Someone was thinking about the presentation of the work - I admire that.

Instead of writing about groups of 4 or 5 chapbooks at a time, I am going to see if I can write more about a single chapbook at a time and see how that goes. I do have a small and committed audience (thank you) and I won't try and bore anyone.

Look for something different tomorrow!

till then,


stevenallenmay

Pegasus Buchanan

I found 2 chapbooks by a Pegasus Buchanan on ebay for very little money. Never heard of her, the seller lived in California. Why not? What I got when they arrived were two rather interesting enigmas.


River Path
Pegasus Buchanan
self published
Ponoma, California
(c) 1965

Chestnut Street
Pegasus Buchanan
self published
Ponoma, California
(c)1965

Pegasus Buchanan is as much "from another generation" as poets in the 1850's would have been to her. She is what I would call a "watercolorist" as a poet. Her poems, not surprisingly, were often published in various US magazines in the 1950s & 1960s. Each of her chapbooks were illustrated by someone named Jane Forsyth.

Ms. Buchanan was born in 1918 and died in 2006. In her adult life she was known as a mainstay of the California Federation of Chaparral Poets. She had served as President of this organization over many years and sat on their annual poetry contest committee.

She was a third generation poet. Her mother and grandmother each were poets. (how rare is that in America? Three generations of women poets in the same family???!!)

While this is commendable, her work is trite and trivial. It's "safe". It's Saturday Evening Post - safe. The exact type of poetry that modern and post-modern and the Beat poets were revolting against. And the rhyme schemes? SO dull and predictable that I was bored early on in each book, I don't believe I actually read through either. Honest, not my cup of tea. I actually like TEA in my tea. Something to taste. Not simply "Isn't that nice" sentimentality. (because, of course, it isn't nice!!)

Think Woman's Club socials and after church gathering in the village green - that's what this is. Double ugh.

they came from Indiana

On the first Friday of April, two poets blew into town from Bloomington, Indiana. Tony Brewer and Joseph Kerschbaum. Together they comprise half a the Reservoir Dogwood poetry troupe. Individually, their output is also intense. Here is a brief sampling of some of the work I came away with that evening :


Dead Starts Have No Graves
Joseph Kerschbaum
Pathwise Press
Erie, PA
©2006

a single long poem, 36 pages. Done on extremely nice paper. Fine quality work. Silver lettering on black cover stock. Very cool chapbook.

Yet to be dismantled
new poems
Joseph Kerschbaum & Tony Brewer
Matrix Magazine
Bloomington, IN
publication date unknown

an interesting little tease booklet of some new poems and artwork.

Reservoir Dogwood
Indiana Poetry Tour booklet
Kerschbaum Brewer Jackson Ammerman


a single poem by each member of the troupe with photos and a tour schedule on the back.

Your Casual Survival
(the air and the echo)
Joseph Kerschbaum
Plan B Press
Alexandria, VA
©2010

Cover art by Amy Casey. 30 pages, various poetry styles explored in this collection. All with two titles (2titles).

Much of Kerschbaum’s work sparkles off the page. He also has two spoken word CDs and 3 previous books. It was quite an evening and quite a haul. Keep an eye on this one, he's got the stuff to make people notice and the talent to get them in the house!

Save A Tree

In this case the tree was felled in 1971 or '72. The chapbook is 8 1/2 X 5 1/2". Yellow cover with drawings by the author. The chapbook is entitled Haiku and other poems by Sam B. Field. It was self published in Marlborough, MA.

The poems are not Haiku. They are like Haiku or styled to resemble Haiku, but they are simply terrible. The drawings are better than the poems. The copy I have was signed by the author's brother...... the purpose of which is unknown to me as he was neither a co-writer nor the illustrator.

This unfortunate chapbook goes straight to the pulper. Ugh! Save a tree!!!

chapbooks 42

Chapbooks 42

I have been fortunate enough to meet Tony Mancus, one of the founders of Flying Guillotine Press who has relocated to Northern VA. As a connoisseur of the chapbook form, I recognized right away the uniqueness of each of their chapbooks and the uniqueness of their concept (among other things, they only make 74 copies of any of their books) Read more about this press Here. A sampling of their work:

The Saint’s Notebook
Kate Schapira
Flying Guillotine Press
© 2009

The smallest of the 3 chapbooks, sown design on burlap material. 4 ½ x 5 ¾ “. Unnumbered pages. The poetry is good. The choice of cover material does make this item one that need to be unhandled – or one that will quickly disintegrate. Either way, it’s very cool.

Circus
Michael Robins
Flying Guillotine Press
©2009

5 ¾ x 5 ¾ “. Cover paper cover with photo of flower on front cover. Photo is held on by photo corners, very old school. Poetry is good.


All the Little Red Girls
Angela Veronica Wong
Flying Guillotine Press
©2009

Vellum covering over red cloth ribbon. Finger print in upper right corner of front cover. 8 ½ x 5 ½ “. The most standard sized chapbook of the batch.

Gathering Down Women
Michael Gushue
Pudding House Chapbook Series
Columbus, Ohio
©2007

The poetry here is fantastic. A great collection, bound by title and theme extremely well; a fine chapbook. As far as substance, yes. As far as style or originality of design; NO. This is not the doing of the author. Pudding House books look like, well, Pudding House books. Same paperstock. Same bewildering image selection. Same introductory note/disclaimer on back of title page. I have to say I am not a fan of Pudding House Press. At the same time, I am a fan of Michael Gushue’s work. Look past the appearance and feast on the words. They are wonderful words.

Book Collecting : A Primer
Thomas C. Hamm, editor
C. Dickens
Atlanta, Georgia
©1996 , 9th printing

At 75 pages, this chapbook straddles the line between forms, and formats. My own feeling is that this ought to be have been a book with a spine. While it’s beautifully made and went through several printings, its size is still more in the book world and less in the chapbook world. Great resource for those beginning book collectors.

chapbooks 41

Sad-Faced Men
William Logan
David R. Godine
Boston, MA
©1982

Previously I have discussed briefly the seeming non-literal interpretation of the word “chapbook” to include nearly anything. Case in point is this hard-bound “chapbook” with a dust cover and a photo of Logan on the back.

Yes, this is an incredibly handsome book. 40 pages of fine paper. Nice endpages. Binding tight. Part of a 4th series of “A Godine Poetry Chapbook” line of books. I would argue that this is not a chapbook. It’s the Godine version of an Easton Press book. A highly collectible book, certainly. But it’s laughable to compare this “chapbook” with something made by any number of actual fine small presses. This is not –despite its name – a chapbook.

Cattails Knee-Deep in Water
Patricia Wild
self published

This seems to have been a “beginner” book, a test run. NO publisher info, no year of publication. NO author info. NO pages count. Poems that span pages and multiple poems to other pages. It’s a mess. SAVE A TREE!!!

Party of Black
Truth Thomas
mouth mark
United Kingdom
©2006

Well-made chapbook. 41 pages. Staple-bound. Author has a connection to Washington DC, which is where I found it. Great find!

The Southern Temper
Judson Crews
Motive Book Shop
Waco, Texas
©1946

This is the first chapbook by Judson Crews. The Cover is blank, front and back. 32 pages. An illustration is on the last page. Written in August 1944. Motive Book Shop was run by Crews. After the publication of this chapbook, he moved his operations to Taos, New Mexico. This is a rare chapbook from a relatively unknown author. However, an increasing amount has been written about Judson Crews , some of which is here included:

Judson Crews, poet, editor, publisher, and book dealer, was born June 30, 1917, in Waco, Texas, to Noah George Crews and Tommie Farmer Crews. In 1947 he married Mildred Tolbert, a photographer and writer who also contributed to her husband's early publications and works. They had two children, Anna Bush and Carole Judith, before divorcing in 1980. Crews received both the B.A. (1941) and M.A. (1944) in Sociology from Baylor University, and during 1946-1947 studied fine arts at Baylor. In addition, Crews did graduate study at the University of Texas, El Paso in 1967. He has worked as an educator at Wharton County Junior College, New Mexico (1967-1970), the University of New Mexico, Gallup Branch (1971-1972), and at the University of Zambia (1974-1978). He has also been involved in social work. After two years in the U. S. Army Medical Corps during World War II, Crews moved his family and business, Motive Press, from Waco, Texas, to Taos, New Mexico, where he began his writing and publishing career in earnest.


Judson Crews was a prominent figure in the Southwest poetry scene as a poet, editor, and publisher of contemporary poetry and art magazines. Crews is known as an original and innovative poet applying the 20th-century poetic techniques of poets like Pound, Williams, and Wallace Stevens in an idiosyncratic way. Since 1935 he has contributed to a large number of little magazines, journals, and anthologies. These include Beloit Poetry Journal, Evergreen Review, Poetry Now, Wormwood Review, City Lights Anthology (1974), Poems Southwest (1968), and An Uninhibited Treasury of Erotic Poetry (1963). His published chapbooks include A Poet's Breath (1950), Come Curse the Moon (1952), The Wrath Wrenched Splendor of Love (1956), The Ogres Who Were His Henchmen (1958), and The Stones of Konarak (1966). Crews' more recent works include the chapbook, Nolo Contendere (1966), edited by Joanie Whitebird and a 1982 collection of poems, The Clock of Moss, edited by Carol Bergé.
Crews admittedly wrote under numerous pseudonyms. Of these pseudonyms, Willard Emory Betis, Trumbull Drachler, Cerise Farallon (Mrs. Trumbull Drachler, maiden name Lena Johnston), and Tobi Macadams have been clearly identified. In the instance of these, and possibly many other pseudonymous names, Crews created a fantasy world of writers to encompass, perhaps, the breadth of his literary ambitions.

Crews' fiction and non-fiction writing includes two unpublished novels and numerous essays. Crews was a crusader in various causes related to his writing and publishing activities. These causes include such topics as obscenity and censorship, freedom of sexual expression, and women's reproductive issues including abortion, contraception, and forced sterilization. Other essays include literary criticism, such as book reviews, as well as regional topics as found in The Southern Temper (1946), and Patocinio Barela: Taos Wood Carver (1955). In 1976 Crews began an extensive memoir which remains unpublished.
Crews' publishing activities began in earnest after his move from Texas to the Taos area. He started the Este Es Press in 1946, which remained in operation until 1966. The little magazines with which he was involved from 1940 to 1966 include The Deer and Dachshund, The Flying Fish, Motive, The Naked Ear, Poetry Taos, Suck-Egg Mule: A Recalcitrant Beast, Taos: A Deluxe Magazine of the Arts, and Vers Libre. Together with Scott Greer, he was co-editor of Crescendo: A Laboratory for Young America, and worked with Jay Waite on Gale. Crews published not only his own chapbooks and magazines but also those of his friends and colleagues, including the Zambian poet Mason Jordan Mason, among others. In conjunction with this printing activity, Crews operated the Motive Book Shop which became a focal point for the dissemination and advocacy of avant-garde poetry, important little magazines and literary reviews, as well as so-called pornographic materials. The material that Crews sold ranged from literary classics such as the works of D. H. Lawrence and Henry Miller, to hard-to-obtain domestic and foreign avant-garde journals, and nudist magazines. Crews was also a friend as well as an advocate of Henry Miller and continued to sell Miller's works after they were banned in the United States.



The text below is from an interview was first published in Mesechabe: The Journal of Surregionalism. In the words of Robert Cass: "Judson Crews was one of the first people to write to me. There was a black poet over there, that had a couple of poems in here, that wrote crazy, really good stuff. Mason Jordan Mason. You ever heard of him? He was living in Taos at that time, I don't know where he is now. He was black. And there was in that one yellow issue of Neurotica, they've got two little ones in there of his: Redbone Legends.I wish I'd a had some of those. I printed whatever Judson sent me. And I literally just got stuff from people I knew."

Judson Crews (born 1917) is an American poet, bookseller and small press publisher.
Crews was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, where he first opened his Motive Bookshop and issued his first Motive Press publications. In 1947 he moved both concerns to Taos, New Mexico. In addition to writing poetry, Crews' activity in Taos over the next three decades included editing the poetry magazines Suck-egg Mule, The Deer and Dachshund and The Naked Ear (which published poetry by Robert Creeley, Stuart Z. Perkoff, Vincent Ferrini, Larry Eigner, LeRoi Jones, Jack Anderson and Diane Di Prima, among others); and issuing his own work and work by his friend Carol Bergé, among others, through his Motive Press and Este Es Press. He has been a frequent contributor to Poetry Magazine, and has had work published in many other literary journals. Besides operating his bookshop and press, he worked in newspaper production, as a teacher (including as a lecturer at the University of Zambia, 1974-1978), and as a social worker and counselor, until his retirement.
Crews has written and published under a number of pseudonyms, including Cerise Farallon and Charley John Greasybear. It has been speculated that work published under the name Mason Jordan Mason is also Crews's, but he has never acknowledged this.

A long-time proponent of the work of his friend Henry Miller (a reprint of Miller's Maurizius Forever was one of Motive Press's earliest publications), Crews has been a lifelong activist against censorship in publishing. Much of his own output as an independent, small press publisher has been short-run, inexpensively produced literary chapbooks and magazines, making him a notable figure in the 1960s-70s movement known as the Mimeo Revolution.Select Bibliography
The Southern Temper (Waco, TX, 1946)
No is the Night (Taos, NM, 1949)
Patrocinio Barela, Taos Wood Carver (with Wendell B. Anderson and Mildred Crews, Taos, NM, 1955)
Inwade to Briney Garth (Taos, NM, 1960)
A Unicorn When Needs Be (Taos, NM, 1963)
Selected Poems (Cleveland, OH, 1964)
Three on a Match (with Wendell B. Anderson and "Cerise Farallon," Taos, NM, 1966)
Nolo Contendere (Houston, TX, 1978)
Songs (as "Charley John Greasybear," Boise, ID, 1979)
The Clock of Moss (Boise, ID, 1983)
Against All Wounds (Parkdale, OR, 1987)
Dolores Herrera/Nations and Peoples (Las Cruces, NM, 1991)
The Brave Wild Coast: A Year with Henry Miller (Los Angeles, 1997)

chapbooks 40

kayak 55
George Hitchcock, editor
Santa Cruz, CA
©1981

Lucky to have found and been able to (gingerly) hold this fantastic journal. I have run across the name George Hitchcock before but didn’t connect him to kayak.

[the gingerly stuff has to do with the dangerous staples jetting up from the spine, intentionally lethal? ]

kayak 55 has work by Sharon Olds, Robert Bly, Ursula Hegi, Wislawa Szemborska, and others with incidental illustrations by Thomas Wiloch. This is a great find, if one can locate any copies of kayak – do so! They are wonderful (just watch the spines for staple/spears)


Between Two Rivers:
Ten North Jersey Poets
Higginson & Harter, editors
From Here Press
Fanwood, NJ
©1981

48 page chapbook (with spine but… it’s only 48 pages). Drawing of water tower on front cover. Contains poems by ten North Jersey poets who I have never heard of. The work isn’t memorable. If one is interested in the Press itself, you might wish to venture to http://fhp.2hweb.net/contents.html

PinchPenny
The Prose Poem: an anthology
Miner & Goossens, editors
Sacramento, CA
©1984

Interesting 40 page issue dealing with prose poetry with letters from contributing poets along with a piece of prose poetry, and illustrations throughout. Featuring the work (and letters from) Shelia Murphy, Gerald Locklin, Kirby Olson, Greg Geleta, Thomas Wiloch and others. Very cool collection!

Democracy and Other Problems
David M. Harris
SRM Publisher LTD
Unity, Maine
©2002

SRM is known for their series of fantasy/sci fi books so this chapbook is a bit of a curveball. There is no mention of this book on their website. It must have been a “one-timer”. 43 pages. Generic cream cover. SAVE A TREE!!!!!!

Expulsion of the Acadians
George Frederick Clarke
Brunswick Press
New Brunswick, Canada
©1955

A handsome, well made chapbook published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this particularly sad piece of Canadian history : the forced removal of French-Canadian population from the Acadian village of Grand Pre in Nova Scotia.

31 pages, chapbook like new. Great find

Chapbooks 39

Love Is No Stone on the moon
Lawrence Ferhlinghetti
ARIF Press
Berkeley, CA
©1971

This tiny chapbook by Lawrence Ferlinghetti is extremely rare and incredibly interesting or a complete joke, depending on one’s take on spontaneous creation and extreme use of marginalia. Unnumbered pages. Original text from unknown source, Ferlinghetti scrawls in magic marker his “poem” across the width of the pages. As though anarchist, as though felon. As though mischievous child with a new destructive toy. The original text simply paper for his creation. As stated on the first page of chapbook, this is an automatic poem. It was written in June 1971.

I see this as a fantastic experiment, the sort of thing he might have done while at Sorbonne. It’s incredibly interesting. While it is unclear if the text was offered to him for manipulation or he arrived at this text and creation on his own is not answered by the author nor the publisher. There are a grand total of 8 pages of Ferlinghetti prose/poetry in the chapbook. The back of each page is blank.

The chapbook merely is, it exists. It is part of some of Ferlinghetti’s bibliographies and is omitted by others. The final passage, part VIII, is most telling : “Be like a white bird/in the snow”. Absolutely!

Apocalypse Rose
Charles Plymell
Dave Haselwood
San Francisco, CA
©1966

Introduction by Allen Ginsberg. Unnumbered pages. Cover design uncredited. First collection by author. Plymell came from Witchita, Kansas – part of the Witchita Vortex as Gingberg described it.
The work feels very “surface” to me and a bit dated. At the same time, it’s his first collection and that is extremely notable which is why I did it twice.


Two Torch Singers
Gerald Locklin
Kamini Press
Stockholm, Sweden
©2010

love these little books from Sweden, signed. Watercolor covers. Handsome little books. This one is a New Year’s Greeting from the press. Nice touch.


Sketch Book
Tom Kryss
Kamini Press
Stockholm, Sweden
©2009

Number 5 in the poetry series by Kamini Press. Unnumbered pages. Watercolor cover by Henry Denander. Kryss, also known as T L Kryss was a comrade of d a levy in Cleveland, Ohio. This small chapbook came with a hand tinted signed print (of a rabbit) by the author.

Poet, artist and rabbit master T.L. Kryss is the publisher of the poetry series Black Rabbit Press. He published, with rjs, the groundbreaking anthology of d.a.levy's work, ukanhavyrfuckinciti bak (1967). His poems have recently appeared in Abraxas, Death Row, Measured Steps, The Outsider, Unarmed Poetry Journal, et al. Books and broadsides include Current Outsider (Vagabond Home Page), Downwind from the Fires of Nothingness and Spring into Winter (Kirpan Press), Sunflower Wars (Bottle of Smoke Press), Just Blue Skies: Poems for & after d.a.levy (an electronic chapbook appearing on the d.a.levy homepage, Light & Dust Anthology of Poetry) and The Search for the Reason Why (Bottom Dog Press)

The Poets Press

I once bought a copy of Kirby Doyle's chapbook published by the Poets Press but I couldn't stand it (think of the annoying woman's voice in "Singing in the Rain"). So, I sold it. But I now had no chapbooks published by the Poets Press and I do want at least one, at least one book that Diane di Prima was involved with making. And as it happened, I went back to the same bookstore where I got the Doyle and bought three chapbooks :

John's Book
Alan Marlowe
Introduction by Robert Creeley
The Poets Press
New York, NY
©1969

Cover photo of Marlowe, Creeley, and di Prima taken by Daniel Entin. It's curious to read any book written and published in the 1960's, as the poets attempt to be "new and different" by reviving literary traditions from the Middle Ages. The wearing of robes, for example, on the cover is a curious image as well but very fitting of the times. The poems here are mostly personal and not "telling of universal thoughts". My sense is that Marlowe and di Prima were involved in more than a professional way. Not certain that these poems on their own would warrant publication otherwise. It's a rarity, it's in fantastic condition. It's quite a find.

Earthsong
Poems 1957-1959
Diane di Prima
The Poets Press
New York, NY
©1968

The poems in this collection were chosen by Alan Marlowe from notebooks. Unnumbered pages. Cover drawing by George Herms. Great poems.

Seven Love Poems from the Middle Latin
Diane di Prima (translator)
The Poets Press
New York, NY
©1967 (2nd printing)

unnumbered pages, in Latin and English. Cover drawing by Brett Rohmer. From the esteemed collection of Mark Greene, Philadelphia. Chapbook is nearly perfect condition.

chapbooks 38

Omnivore
Allan Peterson
Bateau Press
Northampton, MA
©2009

One of the most handsome, well made chapbooks that I have seen to date. 20 pages. Handprinted cover. Good poetry, presented extremely well. Find it, buy it, read it!!!


Tony’s Scrap Book
Anthony Wons
Self published
New York City, NY
©1930

Back "in the day" of radio broadcasting in the 1920's - 1940's, Anthony Wons was a well-known and respected radio personality. So much so that he was the focus of a 1932 Time magazine article, from which comes "...One volume, however, called Tony's Scrap Book had sold 225,000 copies, was still going fairly strong last month when Publishers Reilly & Lee issued Tony's Scrap Book No. 2. These, along with another published last November with the title 'R' You Listenin'?, are the product of Anthony ("Tony") Wons, a radio performer who has broken all records of Columbia Broadcasting System for sustained fan mail (2,000 letters a week). Self-styled a "peptomist," Wons is regarded by a shuddering minority as the most offensive broadcaster on the air. To his enormous radio following, principally in rural regions, he is a comforter of rare understanding who drops in for a friendly chat. To his critics he is an intruder who slithers out of the loudspeaker, puts his arm across his listener's shoulder and assures him that "all is well."

Broadcaster Wons' books are collections of odds & ends which he recites alternate mornings in the "Tony's Scrap Book" period, and every evening on the Camel Quarter Hour between Morton Downey's ballads. The two called Tony's Scrap Books are anthologies of noble thoughts, snatches of homely humor, tributes to beauty, diligence, nature, perseverance, motherhood, home, etc. Some are from Edgar Albert Guest, Dr. Frank Crane, Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Many, of unknown origin, are favorites of listeners who send them in. Here and there are a few lines from Shelley, Browning, Whitman, A. E. Housman. Wons puts them through a microphone in a voice hushed, saponaceous, insinuatingly folksy, with an ingratiating "Are yuh listenin'?" or "Isn't that pretty?" 'R' You Listenin'? is a book of extracts from "Tony's Own Philosophy," sermonets which he sometimes broadcasts."

The copy I have is from 1930 which is curious as it is a chapbook filled with poems and anecdotes as well as photos of Mr. Wons. As he was receiving 2000 letters a week, it's not surprising that the image on the top of each page in this collection features letters and a scrap book. 58 pages. The most curious thing about this IS that it is a chapbook. 1930 is fairly early in the chapbook development in the United States. This copy is in excellent condition.



These Extraordinary People
Grzegorz Wroblewski
ebracce-press
Liverpool, UK
©2008

Contrast the previous chapbook with this seemingly Xeroxed collection. 32 pages, white paper. Nearly generic cover design. The poet is Polish, the work has been translated by three individuals. One of the blurbs on the back of the book is by the publisher, seems cheeky to me. The poetry itself is pretty good. I recommend reading this poet. But the chapbook, no great shakes.

a matter of debate

Recently we moved to new digs, which is why it took so long for this entry to appear.

At the beginning of September, I was asked to participate in and to curate an hour for the Art in the Park festival put together by the Towson Arts Collective. One of those who organized the event was Christophe Casamassima who during the afternoon railed on a bit about being "DIY" and raising self publishing as the ultimate goal of everyone concerned. Well, I am a publisher as well as a poet, as well as a blogger, as well as - etc. and it was the publisher in me that took issue with the "anyone can do it for free" line that Casamassima was uttering. First of all, he had created a series of small chapbooks FREE, but they weren't free exactly : someone paid for their publication, it just wasn't Cassamassima. He was using the facilities of the college where he teaches. Someone paid for their making. The students through their enrollment? The fees charged? The college endowment? It wasn't free - it was just free to him.

Now, I say this as a first generation punk rock/DIY guy, someone who believes firmly in doing it myself whenever possible. But it all costs something. Even if you use a xerox machine. Nothing is FREE. The means of production have costs involved. I say this now as a publisher for over 10 years of Plan B Press. The idea of a "free lunch" is just an idea. One not based on reality, in any way shape or form.

Additionally, not every THING ought to see the light of day. Not everyone who has a collection of poems or a bit of prose should be in print. There is this thing called "editorial control". There needs to be some filtering. There needs to be someone at the brakes, and that person needs to pull the switch when necessary. At Plan B Press, we have to decline most of what we receive since it doesn't mean the standards we have set for ourselves and the work that would be imprinted by us that would represent our Press. Our running man doesn't just run like a chicken without its head. He has a direction, and so do we.

Other companies have different policies, but remember I just used to the words "companies" and "policies". To a lot of folks, publishing is a business. With a capital B. Some of these publish damn-near-everything. Some are indeed "vanity presses" (YOU pay for your work to appear in print). And on and on it goes.

The main reason that I have established a "SAVE A TREE" distinction in my rating system in this blog is because there are times that a book is so bad one wonders why a tree was killed for its making. As I said : not everything should be in print. I wish to GOD that someone had had the balls to stop Mein Kampf and to burn the copy sent to them!

Enough of this for now. It's an issue that I feel strongly about. The same way I feel about e-books and Michael Bolton (and John Bolton, come to think of it..)

These are the chapbooks I picked up or were handed at day in early September :

Ladies Love Outlaws.
Buck Downs
Edge Books
Washington, DC
(c)2006

Do they? Do ladies really love outlaws?
Unnumbered pages. Clipart cover. Very low tech production. eh (shrug)


Menagerie for Louis & Erza (Horse)

laa (Gary Snyder)

Incidents i-iv

End Lines
'Harmonium' by Wallace Stevens
truncated by
Christophe Casamassima

Four of Casamassima's "free-for-all" chaps. Various sizes. No publication info, no contact info. Stealth publishing (described above). Some of the work is interesting. I would like to hear the poet READ it aloud.

address to send your chapbooks

if you are interested in having your chapbooks reviewed, discussed, mentioned :

please send to :

stevenallenmay
chap*books
2714 Jefferson Dr.
Alexandria, VA 22303

thanks!!!

chapbooks 37

Chapbooks 37

This time I will be discussing two chapbooks, both with an Ann Michael connection:

St. Andrew’s Head
Kevin Pilkington
Camber Press
Bronxville, NY
©2003

I got this over the summer from Ann Michael in a significant packet of material. Pilkington is an award-winning poet who has taught in New York City area colleges, and the Press has been in operation since 2003 so this may have been one of their first chapbooks.

30 pages, quite handsomely done.



Nervous Halo
Patrick Porter
The Academic & Arts Press
Pueblo, CO
©2001

Patrick Porter is an American singer/songwriter, novelist, poet, and painter. He began as a musician and has drifted toward the written word. He has recently been described as the best minimalist writer in America today. This is his second book, published by Paul Dilsaver’s The Academic & Arts Press.

This copy is pristine. It doesn’t appear to have been opened. 36 brilliant pages. Staple-bound. Mixed media collage image on front attributed to Gilles Brenda. This is a stunningly well made chapbook. However, I learn from Ann Michael that Dilsaver died in 2001, shortly after this excellent chapbook was produced. A tragic loss to the fellowship of small press publishers everywhere.

Porter, on the other hand, has grown into something of a modern “renaissance” man. I don’t know if Patrick has taken to sculpture or performing ballet, but I also won’t put it past him.

chapbooks 36

Ernest Hemingway : A Critical Essay
Nathan Scott, Jr.
William B Eerdmans /Publishers
Grand Rapids, Michigan
©1966

46 page tract looking into the Christian values and views expressed in the works of Hemingway. You know, I have never thought of Ernest Hemingway as a redeemable Christian, nor a role model in any sense of the word. Aren’t Christians against suicide?

A tree was felled for this booklet, what a waste of a tree!


Big Game Animals
Bill Stevens
Federal Cartridge Corporation
Minneapolis, Minnesota
©1971

23 page color booklet of animals that can be killed by hunters. Oh Boy!! What fun!! The publisher is also a company that makes bullets that, um, kill the animals listed in the booklet. A tree was cut down for this? Horrible.

Speaking of horrible……

Smallum opus of edwin schur
ninth street press
new york, NY
©2005

Edwin Schur is an emeritus professor of Sociology at NYU. He is the author of several nonfiction books. He began to write “poetry” at the age of 67. He frequented the West Chester University Poetry Conference. His “poetry” is primarily epigrams. He mentions the work of J V Cunningham, whom I am familiar with as I have a small collection of Cunningham’s books.

This 21 page self published chapbook is a dread to look at and the truth is I am not a fan of epigrams. These are not particularly good epigrams. It looks like a Xerox special. More trees died to fluff this author’s ego. A shame, really.


Manhattan Poetry Review #6
Winter-Spring 1985-86
Manhattan Poetry Review
New York, NY
© 1986

67 pages. Staple-bound. Grey cover. Featuring established poets as well as a 30 page section of new poets. What I find fascinating is the range of poets within as well as the fact that none of the “new poets” are ones that, 23 years later, I have ever heard of. Those I have; David Ignatow,
Diane Wakoski, Duane Locke – their work is mostly very good. There are some interesting typos throughout and a few missing bios in the back of the book but as a timepiece, this collection is quite worthwhile.

chapbooks 35

Up to now I have kept myself within the "adult" parameters of chapbook offerings, but I found this cool 1968 Golden Book which is within the chapbook ideal so I wanted to acknowledge it.

The Cowboy Book
Mel Crawford
Golden Press
New York, New York
(c) 1968

Unnumbered pages, color images throughout. Okay, it's the shape that got me. It's very cool and I am sure that kids loved it when it came out. There isn't a "story" here but it's an early reader so having a story is less important than reading the words. Really interesting all the same!

Brats
X. J. Kennedy
Illustrations by James Watts
The Trumpet Club
New York, New York
(c)1991

A collection of poems for young readers, with illustrations by James Watts. 42 pages. Staple-bound.

Aleutian Islands: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II
George L MacGarrigle
U.S Government Printing Office
Washington, DC
(c)1992

26 page history of the US assault on the Aleutian Islands during WW II to drive out the Japanese is here presented with color maps and B&W photos. Great for World War II buffs.

need chapbooks to review

need new material - shucks I have written about so many already, my supply has been diminished! (or I could simply venture out into the cruel world of second hand stores in hope for the best)

sigh


s - a - m

chapbooks 34

the fishes of Nebraska
Jerry & Larry Morris and Larry Witt
Lou Ell : Photographer
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Lincoln, NE
(c) 1972

98 page staple-bound "chapbook" detailed listing of the fish that live in the watershed of the state of Nebraska. Color photos throughout of more fish than I had previously conceived possible for a state to have - never really thought about it. Then again I am not a fisherman

For those who are anglers, this is a great book.


Poems to Julia
Ilya Shambat
Shadow Ink Publications
Excelsior Springs, Missouri
(c) 2003

36 page chapbook. I Googled the Press; not terribly impressed with their operation. That's beside the point. Or perhaps that's exactly the point. No editorial control. How is this not a vanity press? I don't know. There are multiple chapbooks by a handful of people here. Friend of the publishers? One can draw their own conclusions.

This book feels like a xeroxed product. A tree was wasted making this chapbook. Beware what lurks in the "Shadow Ink".

fifteen false propositions about god - Jack Spicer

There's a bookstore I frequent in southeastern PA that has a dwindling collection of Beat Generation books and chapbooks from the private collector who has bought up chapbooks and books by Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg as well as lesser known members of that "generation". Among the material that is still there, I found this chapbook. 1974, Manroot Book, South San Francisco, CA. Cover design by Robert Berner. Unnumbered pages. The particular copy that I found, interestingly enough, seems to have some critical errors in it. For while the title of the chapbook is fifteen false propositions about god, the copy I have has only 13 such "propositions" as there is no #3 nor a #14. Each page where a numbered poem ought to be is blank.

Now, maybe, just maybe, all copies are like that. But I think I have an "oh-oh" printer mistake. Making the chapbook that much more rare. Potentially.

I am not the largest fan in the world of Jack Spicer, but a chapbook like this doesn't appear everyday so....

Prose & Cons by Felix Pollak

Prose & Cons
Felix Pollak
Juniper Press
LaCrosse, WI
© 1983

I found this chapbook at the local library being offered FREE. Hey, I thought, it’s a chapbook. What the heck? Well, the heck is that this is a beautifully made chapbook, olive green cover, letter pressed. 52 pages. 6 pieces. Essays or pieces of longer work. Nothing about the publisher or the author so I Googled them and found :

About the Publisher: John Judson, 1930-

John Judson has spent his career encouraging others in the creation, publication, and appreciation of poetry. He was born on September 9, 1930, in Stratford, Connecticut. He received his undergraduate degree in English from Colby College, Maine, and his M.F.A. from the University of Iowa. Before finding his niche as poet, publisher, editor, and teacher, he played semi-professional baseball, served with the Air Force in Korea, and worked as an electronics technician.
In 1963, he started the Juniper Press and Northeast, a little magazine. In 1965, he brought his press, his magazine, and his family to La Crosse, where he joined the English Department at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Under the direction of John Judson, Juniper Press and Northeast Magazine supported contemporary writing. It published little known contemporary authors, poets, and artists -- especially those from the Midwest -- at a time when Midwestern authors were ignored in favor of Eastern writers. A series that he edited and published on Juniper Press, Voyages to the Inland Seas, Essays and Poems, is an important source for the study of Midwestern Poetry during the 1970's.
Juniper Press began as a family affair. It operated out of his home in La Crosse and published small books, chapbooks, and limited edition fine-press books. Judson published many of his own poems on Juniper Press as well as many other poems in periodicals and by other publishers.
He encouraged Murphy Library at UW-La Crosse to collect little magazines and contemporary Midwestern poetry. This collection became nationally recognized. He sent his creative writing students to study the poetry and appreciate contemporary writing. Judson's influence included the undergraduates he taught in his poetry classes and those he encouraged in little magazine production.
Currently, John Judson is retired from the University of Wisconsin. In 2000, as an indication of his continuing influence, the Council for Wisconsin Writers awarded John Judson the Christopher Sholes Award for long service and support of writing.
Selected Works
Edited:
Voyages to the Inland Sea: essays and poems (several volumes in this series)
Northeast, 1963 (current issue Jan. 2002)
Authored:
Ash Is The Candle's Wick, 1974


West of Burnam, South of Troy (radio drama), 1973


North of Athens, 1980


Letters to Jirac II, 1980


August On A Lone Bassoon, 1981


The Carrabassett, Sweet William, was My River, 1981


Muse(sic), 1992


Inardo Poems, 1996


Three Years Before The Braves Left Boston, 2000


About the Author: A touching tribute to Felix Pollak is located at Felix Pollak Tribute


The Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry is awarded annually to the best book-length manuscript of original poetry submitted in an open competition. The award is administered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison English department, and the winner is chosen by a nationally recognized poet. The resulting book is published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The prize was founded in 1994 and honors Felix Pollak, a popular Wisconsin poet and former curator of the Rare Book Room and Little Magazine Collection at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Memorial Library. Among his best-known books are The Castle and the Flaw, Tunnel Vision, and Benefits of Doubt.

Usually I run into dead ends when attempting to research the history of a chapbook, so having so much to choose from is a pleasant surprise. If all Juniper Books were this well made and attractive, they ought to be extremely collectible. I tip my quill to Mr. Judson for operating the Press and creating such lovely work.

chapbook33

Previously, I had mentioned the chapbooks in the short series that was LiMbo bar&grill. I had all but one of the chapbooks and their broadside. Well, shortly after posting my last entry I located a copy of Ariel Dawson's Poems for the Kazan Astrologer, 1983 (#2 in the series). I located the copy on Amazon and it was going for much. So I quickly purchased it and then waited breathlessly for its arrival.

I had by that time realized what Ariel Dawson had done subsequent to the publication of this chapbook; an article by her on what she termed "new formalism" had led to the creation of a movement by that name, and among other things, the West Chester (PA) Poetry Conference which is a nerve center for this particular school of poetics. Funny thing was that Dawson meant the term as a dig and yet it's become an academic shield for those within its camp.

When the chapbook arrived, I noticed that the seller had not described the book well. There was writing on the title page. The seller had said there were pencil markings, which was true....someone had once priced to book in pencil but additionally there was an inscription in ink there and it was signed.....BY ARIEL DAWSON!

I wrote Ann Michael, the publisher, about the find and the inscription and it turns out that the copy I found was the copy from the poet to her inspiration - to her actual "Kazan Astrologer" - if ever there was a copy to have it was this one. It had the best provenance. Terribly lucky am I at times, and this would be one of them.

Psychedelic Magazine #1
Presentation copy
Printed in Japan
(c) 1982

this tiny 4 X 2 3/4" booklet is a visual book of some type. I can't really see what it was meant to be. It's Japanese with text - random collage text - in partial english. It's odd, it's cool. It's interesting; but I have no idea what it's "about".

Birds of Florida
Francis Wyly Hall
self published
Neptune Beach, FL
(c)1972 - 11th reprint

This seems to be an extremely successful self published chapbook, first published in 1945 this copy was from 1972 in its eleventh reprint. Illustrated throughout with drawings of books from the state of Florida. 34 pages. One color plate (inside front) the rest B&W. Very informative.

Thoughts and Memories of an Old Cowhand
Buster Lynde
self published
(c)1990

Handsome chapbook of rhyming poems about this cowpoke's life in the Wyoming area.

Unchained Verse
Anamika Huq Lilly
Dhaka, Bengladesh
(c)1988

The month of February in Bengladesh sees a month long book fair and this poet is well received there. My copy of this thin booklet is signed and inscribed in English and Bengali. It was printed in Dhaka. I find myself collecting books of poetry from around the world and won't be satisfied till I have a book published from every country on the planet.


Cheery Ideals
collected by Everett Thorton Brown
The Acmegraph Company
Chicago, IL
(c)1912

I got this book via ebay because I viewed a photo of this "chapbook" and the date of the book and frankly was unaware of there being "chapbooks" like this prior to the mimeograph revolution of the 1950s & 1960s. The book itself, all 63 pages of it, is a collection of inspirational phrases collected by Mr. Brown but the design and production of this chapbook is excellent. I did a quick Google search for info about the publisher and it seems they did postcards and other printing operations during this period of time. While the colors of the flowers on the front cover have faded over time, the construction of the chapbook is still a marvel to behold. The cloth tied binding looks like new. This is really something!

the Ann Michael stash

The poet Ann Michael is someone who I had been hearing about for some time in my Philly-based poetry chapbook history research project (long winded? oh yeah, the coffee is perking now). She had moved from Philadelphia area to outside of Allentown, PA at the same time I had moved from that same area into Philly. Cris-cross.

We exchanged email addresses and then years later, I got to hear her hear at a big reading in Washington DC during April 2009. She promised to send me "some stuff", and true to her word, early this month she did just that.

I got 3 chapbooks from her own imprint, LiMbo bar&grill books, and 2 volumes of work by her co-founder of that Press, David Dunn, who died of Diabetes in 1999. The books of David's work were :

Song to be Hummed While Sleeping, poems selected and edited by Ann Michael. Published by the academic & arts press of Pueblo, Colorado in 2001. A thin 20 page collection of Dunn's work. (I had not heard of this Press before receiving it)

the lock of land, 71 page book with illustrations by Wayne Hogan. Published in 2006 by Kings Estate Press of St. Augustine, FL.


The 3 chapbooks by Michael and Dunn's press were:


Notes for a Journey by Merle Molofsky. Printed in 1985. Unnumbered pages.


At Winter's End by Alfred Encarnacion. Printed in 1986. Unnumbered pages.


The Swan King a collaborative mythology by David Dunn and Ann Michael. Published in 1982. Book design and artwork by Harriet Jahr.

I also got Michael's 2004 chapbook, More than Shelter.

a notable quote

"Bookbuyers convinced us we must offer larger and thicker books while retaining the spirit of spontaneity. Unfortunately, the bigger the book the less spontaneous it can be."

Noel Young
Capra Press

Virgogray Press

I received a lot of 4 chapbooks by Virgogray Press out of San Antonio, Texas. They were:

The Terrorist
Michael Aaron Casares
vg-06
©2009

Fresh Lotus Rehab
Marc Olmsted
vg –07
©2009

Ghost Roads
Michael Aaron Casares
vg-04
©2008

Vegas Implosions
Chris D’Errico
vg-05
©2008

This is a young Press. I applaud their drive and motivation. They have a lot to learn and I am sure that they have already leapt into that wicked learning curve. One can’t help to.

This Press certainly fills a need, albeit not one that I seek to plunge into regularly. I am glad that Virgogray has brought together these unique voices. They have discovered their niche, and isn’t that all any publisher can seek to do?

I would only comment that the presentation of the chapbooks themselves need a little attention to detail, as it were. The covers are glossy. None of the pages are trimmed. The photos of the authors inside are pixilated as hell. These books smack of being a POD but I don’t know that for a fact. While the covers are colorful, there is a rushed element to them that feels very slap-dash.

But again, the Press is young and will evolve in time (that’s the great hope anyway, I am sure that some people said that of Random House for their first 25 years of operation as well)

Chapbooks 32

From Gutenberg to The Cuneo Press
Otto M. Forkert
The Cuneo Press
Chicago, IL
©1933

Found this small chapbook in Brooklyn. It’s an interesting directed history of printing, subtitled “A Historical Sketch of the Printing Press”. The author was an instructor at the School of Art Institute of Chicago and wrote glowingly about the Cuneo Press, which published the chapbook.

Several famous illustrations throughout the text. The Cuneo Press was one of the largest commercial printing plants in the country. The company was in business for 70 years, closing when owner and founder John Cuneo died in 1977. As of the publication, however, Cuneo Press was at the top of their game with plants across the United States.

Informative but slanted, good chapbook. 30 pages.


Souffle Spectaculars
Irene Kirshman
Potpourri Press
Greenboro, NC
©1969

I haven’t done a cookbook till now. This 47 page chapbook deals with soufflés. It was illustrated by Pamela Marsh. It’s a little “hippy-dippy” but that’s cool.

In the Spirit of Shaker
Exhibition Booklet
John C Campbell Folk School
Brasstown, NC
©1979

Very small gallery exhibition booklet. Chapbooks come in all shapes and sizes.



Fungi
Pamela Forey
Shire Natural History Series
Great Britain
©1985

Well made chapbook from England with color photos throughout. 24 pages. Also a few B&W illustrations. Great resource for shroomers.

Book Stalking at Home & Abroad
Jake Zeitlin
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, TX
©1987

This handsome chapbook was designed and created for the 25 anniversary of a lecture given at SMU by Mr. Zeitlin on the subject of book finding. Mr. Zeitlin was world renowned for his abilities in the field and had been instrumental in the growth of SMU’s highly regarded library. Well made chapbook, unnumbered pages. Cover illustration by Barbara Whitehead.

More about Cold Chair Books

“About cold chair-my collaboration with Bill (Walton) lasted about two years-as far as I can remember Bill printed 5 chapbooks-I teach at the university of the Arts now-have been here since the 70's. Playing the game in 1976, Cock Dreams in 1977 (mine), and three other books that don't even mention cold chair but were part of the project…. All in 1977-Margaret Levinson, It is Agenst (sic) the Law, Jet Wimp, The Drowning Place, and Alexandra Grilikhes, City Poems.”

These comments came from Jack De Witt in response to questions I asked about Cold Chair Books. I am pleased to say that of the 5 chapbooks mentioned, I have 3 of them now. De Witt is the Head of the Division of Liberal Arts at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He and Bill Walton created 5 unique chapbooks over a two year span from 1976-1977. All wedding image with text.

I have already written about Playing the Game which was my introduction to Cold Chair books, and now I have :


City Poems
Alexandra Grilikhes
Cold Chair Books
Philadelphia, PA
©1977

This 7” X 5” tiny chap is a marvelous blend of images with poems by Grilikhes. The project was accomplished at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia in May 1977 by three artists; Leah McCloskey, Angeline McMillan, and Ann Selvig. 200 copies of this limited edition were made. Interspersed among the poems are photos and collages of a cityscape. The front and back covers are also graced with a montage of pictures of an urban environment. Fantastic little booklet, and terribly rare, which explains my guilt in considering library theft. I did NOT steal the copy which still sits in the stacks at the Free Library, I am grateful to have gotten my own copy. This is priceless.

Cock Dreams
Jack Dewitt
Cold Chair Books
Philadelphia, PA
©1977

Done at approximately the same time as the previous chapbook, this collection of poems by Dewitt again blends image with text in a way that one might expect from people who teach at an Art school. Walton and Dewitt have taken classroom theories and applied them to actual physical things, these wonderful little chapbooks. Dewitt’s book has a few more pages but throughout this book as well as images that relate to the text. Always a good thing!

One thing I did notice is that the covers appears to be of the same stock, suggesting they were made at the same time and at the same location. Probably at the Moore College campus. These are genuine treats for the senses. Anyone who appreciates “Artist Books” will also want to track these down for their collections, absolute gems!



The search continues for the remaining two. I look forward to completing the set!!

Chapbooks 30

Poems From Some Latins
Leonard Cirino
Poetic Page
Madison Heights, MI
©1992


Sometime in 2008 I found a lot of chapbooks by unknown (to me) poets including Leonard Cirino. It was a lot of 3 chapbooks; 2 by Cirino and another which has been used in a book decomposition arts project. One of the two by Cirino was this 1992 handsome chapbook published by Poetic Page with cover illustration by Eduardo Smisson. 20 pages. Cirino has nearly 20 books out now, this was among the earlier ones. Very good indeed.


The Truth is not Real
Leonard Cirino
Adastra Press
Easthampton, MA
©2006

This small (6 1/2” X 3 3/4”) booklet is a single poem, beautifully presented letterpress printed chapbook. Fully illustrated. Unnumbered pages. This tiny book is a serious gem – look for it. If any books by Adastra Press are as handsome as this, buy them as well! This is near perfection of the art form. Highly recommended.



Swedish Music
Bo Alander
The Swedish Institute
Stockholm, Sweden
©1956

This finely made chapbook is actually taken from a larger manuscript by Paul Britten-Austin. Complete with photos, including an image of Jenny Lind who was remarkably well known in the United States during the Nineteenth century. 48 pages. Printed in Sweden. Very informative. For those interested in Swedish music, this is a keeper.

Watching Sparrows
Ronald Baatz
Kamini Press
Stockholm, Sweden
©2009

Another compact chapbook from Kamini Press with cover image by Henry Denander and it’s just wonderful . The copy I received is a bit of a tease for a big book coming out later this year called “Bird Effort”. Look forward to that. I like what Mr. Denander is doing with his little press.

The Geology of the South Unit
Theodore Roosevelt
National Memorial Park
Wilson Laird
Theodore Roosevelt Nature and History Association
Medora, North Dakota
©1956

This short chapbook with the long title comes as a reprint to a 1950 piece published in the North Dakota History journal. 19 pages. Stuffed full of photos, maps, and charts on the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. Written by Wilson Laird who served as State Geologist. Interesting bit of history and geology.

chapbooks 29

Choragus
Pattie McCarthy
Potes & Poets Press
Elmwood, CT
©1998

This chapbook appears to have been made around the time Ms. McCarthy completed Grad School. It has quips on the back from two of her heroes, Rachel Blau DePlessis and Ron Silliman. A few of the pieces had appeared in ixnay journal. I mention this because these all represent or present a particular style of poetics that I acknowledge but don't exactly admire. Once upon a wintry day, I attended a poetry reading in Lancaster, PA held by a group of poets who sounded exactly alike. Their phrasing, their speech patterns, their wording was all vertically the same. I remember how I thought of the word "precise" when I recall that reading, and the endless poem I wrote about it contains the line "precision devoid of blood makes no sound/".

Yes, this collection is precise and not written for the 'common reader'. It was a graduate school thesis in chapbook form. It does not have a pulse. It is brilliant and unapproachable. Within a certain circle of Ivy League writing programs (Brown, U Penn) this work would have been well received. I don't think that poetry ought to be read with a dictionary under my arm, however, nor a copy of Bulfinch's Mythology.

The cover was created using period clipart which is, well, very pixelated. I know people who covet this chapbook as it was at the beginning of her writing career. Contact me, I will sell you this copy.



Warrior Writers
Edited by Lovella Calica
Iraq Veterans Against the War
Burlington, VT
©2007

I found this chapbook in a second hand shop in Fairfax, VA. Brown lettering on plain brown cover. Incredible collection of writings about and against the US military involvement in Iraq by some of the soldiers who have served there. 29 pages. Anyone interested in this organization should contact them online at IVAW.


Various Sex Acts
Kostas Anagnopoulos
Insurance Editions
Jackson Heights, NY
©2008

I am often pleasantly surprised by the chapbooks sent to me from Insurance Editions. However, this one didn’t impress me beyond the look of the chapbook itself. Very well done, but the poetry didn't connect with me.


Too Close to Count
Jennifer Thomas
Self published
©1973

This thin little chap came from the dusty recesses of the Robin’s basement. It was published in 1973. No publisher name, no info, no contact info. No page count. Very mimeo – produced. I look at this and can almost hear the machine at work.

Draft, Unnumbered: Precis
Rachel Blau DuPleassis
Nomados
Vancouver, British Columbia
©2003

Fantastic chapbook. First time I have seen anything by Nomados and it’s simply a pleasure to hold a well made book as this. The poems are wonderful, a must for anyone aware of and a reader of DuPlessis’ on-going “Draft” project. A real collector’s item.

Chapbooks 28

Playing the Game
John DeWitt
Designed by Keith Newhouse
Cold Chair Books
Moore College of Art
Philadelphia, PA
©1976

This small, even by chapbook standards, is 4 pages. FOUR. This is a single poem with art work and design by Keith Newhouse. I found no online presence for “Cold Chair Books”. The much published poet John DeWitt, who has taught at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia since the 1970's, informed me that he was part of Cold Chair Books. Along with Bill Walton of Moore College, they produced a number of fine chapbook including one I have held in my hands before (wanting to steal it from the library too, bad boy) Alexandra Grilikhes City Poems . I will have to do more research, but I have to say that Cold Chair Books was well ahead of their time and I am grateful to have one of their incredible booklets on my shelf!


Dying to be Released
Francis Davis
Word of Mouth chapbook series
Meridian Writers Cooperative
Philadelphia, PA
©1994

There is great history in this chapbook. Meridian Writers Cooperative was active through most of the 1980s in Philadelphia. They published a few collections of poetry and some chapbooks of short fiction, and this is among the latter. Meridian was run by Joy Stocke, Sandy Crimmins, Fran Metzman, and Denise Larrabee.

Their chapbook series was called ‘Word of Mouth’ and this was #2 in the series. Francis Davis has gone on to publish several books, including In the Moment (1986), Outcats (1990), The History of the Blues: The Roots, the Music, the People From Charley Patton to Robert Cray (1995), and Bebop and Nothingness: Jazz and Pop at the End of the Century (1996). One of only 50 printed. Wonderful little chapbook. Unnumbered.


corporate geese
Christopher William Purdom
226 Press
printed by CafePress.com
©2009

Just received this. 27 pages. This is volume 5 in what may be an endless series of self-published verse that may appeal to the friends of Mr. Purdom. The press, 226press.com is the publishing front for Mr. Purdom and no one else. Only his books are on the website and only his name is listed as “Poets”.

CafePress is the ‘publisher’ of this chapbook. CafePress is a vanity press. There are on their website 717 books that they have published listed there. Really? Editorial control is exercised rigorous there at CafePress? No, I sincerely doubt it. This is a POD chapbook. I have strong negative feelings toward POD books, have I mentioned this already?

For some reason, Mr. Purdom quoted on the back of his book as well as on his website a non-review from an unidentified (perhaps Mr. Purdom is merciful) reviewer. I will paraphrase it here, “I….am sorry to say….(I) will not be doing a review.” Neither will I.

To Stop the Arms Race, to Prevent Nuclear War….
L. I . Brezhnew
Novosti Press Agency Publishing House
Moscov, USSR
©1978

Love these time capsules. This bit of “propaganda” in response to “propaganda” from the United States during the negotiations for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that was happening at this time. Agitprop cover art recalling earlier work by Constructionists, who were Russian afterall, although many died believing that art could move the Revolution while their leaders nakedly ruled with iron fists, but I digress….

Well made, as most Novosti produced books were. 54 pages. Staple-bound. To some, quite collectible.

who sees?
Mike Stiler
Self published
Monhegan, Maine
©2002


Here’s another self-published book. Interesting combination of words and images. Apparently Mr. Stiler is apparently a visual artist who also write poems. He practices Zen Buddhism which affects his work in this book. Unnumbered pages. Images accompany each poem.

blurring the lines

The 5 books I will be writing about this time all blur the line and definition of what makes a "chapbook". Page count traditionally helps to decide what makes a chapbook and all of these books blur that distinction. Sometimes blurring is simply confusing, don't cha think?




Old Bright Wheel
Robert Fanning
The Ledge Magazine and Press
Glendale, NY
© 2003

This is the lead example of the presentation factor in chapbooks that I wish to discuss. I understand the reasoning to make a chapbook into a slender book with a spine, so that it can exist on a bookshelf without completely disappearing into a “sliver of nothing” that chapbooks tend to do, but a 31 page chapbook is a 31 page chapbook regardless what you cover it in….or as.

This was a contest winning book and it looks great, but it’s 31 pages. It’s fudging the line, but it’s beautifully done and the poetry is good. Still….



down under it all
Randy Tomlinson
The Sono Nis Press
Surrey, British Columbia
Canada
©1971

27 pages, chapbook with spine. Glossy cover with op-art front and photo of author as back cover. Takes up the complete back cover. I am certain that there were reasons to turn this chapbook into a book with a spine, but at 27 pages…..it’s a chapbook.

At the Border: Winter Lights
Carol Coffee Reposa
Pecan Grove Press
St. Antonio, TX
©1989

This chapbook has no page numbers on them, but I counted 89 pages. The font is huge. It ought to have been published with a spine but that means higher costs. Yet sometimes it’s better to pay a bit more for better presentation. This chapbook is a mess. The poetry is unremarkable. I am certain that at the time the author was thrilled to have a book out and I don’t want to minimize that effect on an author. But, looking backwards from my perch of time, it’s a painful reminder that not all books ought to be published and not all publishers should…..some should have gone into the insurance business or sold used cars.


American Proper
Jennifer Merrifield
March Street Press
Greenboro, NC
©2008

34 pages. 7 1/2” X 5”. Had this chapbook been “standard size” it would have been even thinner. Some of the poetry here is very good.

I thought having the title of the book and name of the author on the top of each page was unnecessary. If one is holding the book in their hand, they can easily gaze at the front cover and remind themselves of the title and author. Having that on every page is overkill. Distracting.


A Climber’s Guide to the Teton Range
Leigh Ortenburger
self published
Palo Alto, CA
©1979

This is a condensed version of the same book but reprinted by author. 144 pages, yellow cover with image of mountain peak on front. Back cover is empty. This sized book is ideal for having in one’s pocket or backpack will climbing, I would imagine. But at 144 pages it is a bit bulky. Full of maps of mountains and possible climbing routes. Perfect for climbers.

chapbooks 27

The Alley Cat on the Page
Kevin Corn (ed.)
Writers’ Center Press
Indianapolis, IN
©1980

Having been influenced by Michael Dirda, Jack Matthew (author of Booking Pleasure) , and Umberto Eco as well as writers of a relatively new genre of bibilomystery, I now look at each of my little mentions or reviews as something like detective notes. Each book telling the story of not only the author, or in the case of an anthology like this, of the authors but also the publisher and the city it was printed in and the time period that it was printed in.

Here’s a 38 page anthology of poets who were part of a reading series in Indianapolis at the end of the 1970’s with brief bios in the back as well as an intro by editor Kevin Corn. The amazing thing about this is how some of the poets who are in this chapbook have become well known poets, like Alice Friman, Elizabeth Cohen, and Marcia Blumenthal Lewton among others. Others have disappeared but had this precise moment of recognition for themselves – back in 1980.

Still
Deborah Burnham
Seven Kitchens Press
Lewisburg, PA
©2008

New publisher, new series. 7” x 5” book, well designed and beautifully made. 24 pages. Poetry is very good. Worth checking out – go to their website, http://sevenkitchens.blogspot.com

The Hound of Heaven
Francis Thompson
Morehouse-Barlow Co.
Wilton, Connecticut
©1947

Tiny book, 5 1/2” x 4”, illustrated by Jean Young. A rare and classic early post-war chapbook. 29 pages. Interesting little book indeed.


Love Among the Mad
Giles Mitchell
University of North Texas Press
Denton, Texas
©1991

This is another in the Trilobite Poetry chapbook series of the University of North Texas which I mentioned in a previous posting. Pages unnumbered. Signed by poet, Giles Mitchell. #78 of 400 printed. Described as a poem sequence.

I Googled Dr. Mitchell and found that he died in 2003. He had been at North Texas for 40 years and was the co-chair of their English department. He was 74 years old at the time of his death. Glad to have this chapbook in my collection now.

chapbooks 26

Chapbooks are now coming from all directions, sometimes on purpose and sometimes quite accidental. For example, I found Young Poet's Primer by Gwendolyn Brooks in a box at the local library where the friends of the library give away books, free. Perfect condition too.

Young Poet's Primer
Gwendolyn Brooks
Brooks Press
Chicago, IL
© 1980

This copy was the third printing, 1986. A slender 15 pages. The most traditional looking chapbook in the ones I am writing about today. Great book for beginning poets.

dying trees
Nathaniel Tarn
Rain Taxi
Minneapolis, MN
© 2003

This green cover, hand-stitched with green thread chapbook (6 1/4” X 8 1/2”) has 31 pages. It’s #135 of 200. There’s an image of a bug on the front cover which, I presume, kills certain types of trees. The work is solid. If one is familiar with Nathaniel Tarn, this is a great chap to complete a collection of his work.


2 chapbooks from Winterling Press
Emma Phillipps
Winterling Press
Auckland, New Zealand
© 2007

Stunning, marvelous, creative packaging; ie, WOW. Winterling Press is the brainchild of New Zealand poet (and publisher) Emma Phillipps and man does she hit her stride with these two small chapbooks. ‘there is always the impossibility of being able to move sideways’ and ‘for we who love, at the instant aw being entirely different from it’ are among the most interesting and well made items I have ever seen or held, period.

Each is a single poem with what appears to be handmade paper covers. The text is witty and quite startling to the eye (as she sprinkles letters on the page like pixie dust) to wondrous effect. The cover to the first of these chapbooks seems intentionally semi-erased as though the author had second thoughts about her own work, yet it resonates with the final verse quite nicely :

“Your thoughts are casting shadows, unlike memory/
(the store) casting shadows in the shape of Letters.”

The half-hearted erasure reminds me of a palimpsest. It’s incompletion leading to strands of thought about the creative process and revisions of work as one goes through it. The text is incredibly smart as well. Kudos to you, Emma Phillipps!

Swimming
Alex Gildzen
a submarine enterprise production
Cleveland, OH
© 1976

I got this chapbook from a poet/friend of mine from Philadelphia. I had not heard of this poet before nor the publishing company, if indeed it was a company or a solo effort – I don’t know. There is a color painting on the front cover by Mary Ann Begland. I love original artwork on covers, don’t you?

This is an interestingly dimensioned chapbook (8 1/2” X 7 1/4”) chapbook. I googled and found the poet still very much alive and working, He informed me that the work here is from a notebook/journal he had been keeping at the time and it contains a good deal of swimming pool imagery thus the title.

The text appears to be typewriting on blue paper. A limited edition of roughly 235 copies were produced. Great find. Thanks for sending it, ryan. I owe ya another interesting one now!



Navigate, Amelia Earhart’s Letters Home
Rebecca Loudon
No Tell Books
Reston, VA
© 2006

This handsome well made chapbook with cover design by Stacy Elaine Dacheux has a lot going for it. It’s unique dimensions (7 1/2” X 7 1/2”) and creative cover (there’s a mirror effect one has to see to get) doesn’t, however, mask the somewhat chaotic nature of the work itself. I found this a beautiful shell for a somewhat empty interior. That said, I highly recommend you search for all No Tell books on their website, and at bookstores everywhere.

oh please, no (2)

I have 5 chapbooks that are headed for the grand PULPER but I want to warn you of before hand;

Nuclear War and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ
Jerry Falwell
Old-Time Gospel Hour
Lynchburg, VA
©1983

Ronnie Reagen-era paranoia and holy viper filth and venom. This is a representative portrayal of the desperate times that were the Republican decade of Reagen and Bush. The horror of fear fed hatred and Bible thumping justifications.

This needs to be pulped. At once!


Ceiling of Mirrors
Shane D. Allison
Cynic Press
Philadelphia, PA
©2003

Mr. Poem
B. Z. Niditch
Cynic Press
Philadelphia, PA
©2004

Wolf Poems
Joseph Farley
Cynic Press
Philadelphia, PA
©2000

Beat Ballad Blues
Joyce Carbone & Joseph Farley
Taggezzine Specials
San Diego, CA

I don’t understand Farley and Cynic Press. They fluctuate between this sort of Xerox copy extremely pitiful junk and really well made and creative work. I am sure that it makes sense to him. But not to me, too many trees were felled for this mess. NO no NO

Chapbooks 25

Autumn Sequence
Jan Freeman
Paris Press
Northamption, MA
©1993

This handsome 8” X 8” chapbook with drawings by Siena Sanderson looks like a museum catalogue. That’s a compliment. Someone was paying attention to details. Great conceptual piece, well executed. It’s a keeper (should you find a copy, only 300 were printed)


The Poet Laureate of People Who Hate Poetry
Kathy Skaggs
Time Barn Books
Nashville, TN
©2007

24 pages, 5 1/2” X 7”. Glossy cover with painting on front and photo of poet with some quotes on the back. I have written about Time Barn before, they are a great little outfit.


Sleeping with the Enemy
Christine Zawadiwsky
floating island publications
Point Reyes Station, CA
©1980

Extremely well made and fetching book. It’s 26 pages with a spine and fantastic. Worth tracking down!


Drunkard Boxing
Linh Dinh
Singing Horse Press
Philadelphia, PA
©1998

Gil Ott touched Philadelphia with his presence for many years. Recently a book award in his honor has been established. Among the many things he accomplished with beginning Singing Horse Press which at the time of this particular release had brought out 20 titles, including Robert Fitterman Among the Cynics which I reviewed some time ago. Philadelphia Publishing Project began with this book in an effort by Singing Horse to present the work of Philadelphia based poets to a more national audience.

This handsome 36 page slightly larger sized book is a fine representation of the work by Linh Dinh, with cover art by the poet. If one were collecting chapbooks of Philly poets, this one ought to be high on the list.



Living in Our Skin
John Michael Irwin
The MIRA Poetry Project
Philadelphia, PA
©1992

I picked this up in the Philadelphia Free library during one of their monthly purges back in 2003. Technically it is a book with a spine but it’s also all of 49 pages long. This copy is an ex library book and in rough shape. I googled the author and the publisher without much success. It’s a Philly thing so those who were on the ground in the city during the early 1990’s might be able to fill me in on this.

I heard that the author had developed AIDS and moved home, but facts are fuzzy and shrouded with faulty memories and indifference. Out of sight, out of mind and ultimately forgotten.

Irwin had brought out a chapbook in 1973 called Between 10th and 11th (mail room books). This is an exploration into a text that I might again return to -

chapbooks like messages in a bottle

Since beginning this blog on the topic of chapbooks I have noticed, among many things, that one thing that keeps popping up in my head while writing is how I am helping to keep the memory of the author and in some cases the publisher alive by merely mentioning them. Chapbooks are often a stepping-stone in one's career as a writer or artist and that's extraordinary then to held a piece of that history. But they are also the history of the moment - whichever moment that might be.

I have had the pleasure of hearing from a number of poets whose work I have written about, often to thank me for doing so. (no one has told me to stop, which is a good thing)

The reasons for creating a chapbook differ widely but there is one thing that is the same with all of them: the need to get the work "out there". Chapbooks then are like bottles tossed into the oceans, filled with the thoughts and musing of the author, and with any luck are found by someone who likes what the poet/writer/artist has done.

And I have had the good fortune to write about them. Of course not all bottles are found. Some sink or are destroyed by storm, which is the risk each of us takes in making something that is distributed beyond our own hands. Some ought to have never been made, and I will continue to call those as I find them; write about them, state SAVE A TREE when necessary, and promptly recycle them for the pulp they are only worth.

Reviewers tend to write well of everything so that they attempt to stay on everyone's good side, but sometimes it's the job of the reviewer/critic to tell the emperor he is indeed naked.

Thanks for reading and stay tuned, more to come.