3 tiny chaps by Caleb Puckett

Homecoming
Caleb Puckett
The Feral Press
Oyster Bay, NY
©2010

Runoff
Caleb Puckett
The Feral Press
Oyster Bay, NY
©2010

Combatants
Caleb Puckett
The Feral Press
Oyster Bay, NY
©2010

Caleb Puckett is a poet on the move, many seeds planted in the rich soil of the Plains. He’s been poetry editor of Nimrod Magazine, has had several books of various sizes published in the past 5 years (including Desertions by Plan B Press) and is expecting his first child later this year.

These tiny chaps were published by Feral Press which is the brainchild of John Digby and his wife, Joan. John Digby's collages have been exhibited widely in the UK, France, USA and Korea. All of his work is exclusively black and white and composed of archival papers and pastes. The Feral Press is a small press publishing unique stories, essays and poetry, illustrated in black and white by a variety of artists working in various media. Both his studio and press are in Oyster Bay, New York.

These items are quite collectible as both the poet and artist/publisher will be around for some time to come.

In the Particular Particular by Stephanie Anderson

In the Particular Particular
Stephanie Anderson
New Michigan Press
Grand Rapids, MI
(c)2007


38 page standard chapbook. Unfamiliar with author and Press. I liked some of the poems quite well. It's a decent find.

Plants of Sun and Sand (1939)

Plants of Sun and Sand
The Desert Growth of Arizona
Stanford Stevens
Illustrated by Gerry Peirce
The Print Room
Governor’s Corner
Tucson, AZ
©1939

My wife found this unique 48-page chapbook in the discard section of the Philadelphia Library a few years ago. It’s unique primarily due to the fact that the cover is made of wood. Plywood. There are B&W illustrations throughout but the plywood is what I keep coming back to. I had read that some Futurist books were made with tin covers, I have never seen one of those but this was 1939 – Arizona. Not what I would call the “cutting edge” in any way, but there it is (was), a beautifully made chapbook. The topic of the book is cacti, native plants of the desert Southwest. It’s an interesting and unique book, a real find.

Leaving by Dennis Cooley

Leaving
Dennis Cooley
Chapbook #8
Turnstone Press
Winnipeg, Manitoba
©1980

This is the first collection by Manitoba-based poet Dennis Cooley. One of the driving forces behind Turnstone Press, Cooley has gone on to publish 13 books of poetry. Turnstone Press began in Manitoba in the 1970s and is still in operation. This book is 31 pages long. #8 in the series.

This is a must-have for any completist, a rare first chapbook by this prolific poet.

Only as a Body by Jennifer Young

Only as a Body
Jennifer Young
Bateau Press
Northampton, MA
(c)2010

I love Bateau Press. I love that they are ecologically friendly, that their books are made with soy ink and that their offices are powered by renewable energy. I love the look and feel of their books. What's not to like?

Well, content; there's that. The whole El Lissitzky thing, his quote about how a book has to have good content as well as good visual presence. Yeah, well..... Jennifer Young won the Bateau Press 2009-2010 BOOM chapbook contest for this collection. However, to me it's a glorified batch of journal entries. I am not impressed. I tried reading the pieces aloud: no, still journal entries!

I am certain that my view is a minority one, but it's mine and I will stick to it - this is a wasted opportunity from a otherwise outstanding small press. SAVE A TREE!

Later by Robert Creeley (1978)

Later
Robert Creeley
The Toothpaste Press
West Branch, Iowa
(c)1978


Unpaginated. Beautifully made chapbook. Cover and title page drawings by Louis Picek. Hand-made paper. Hand-bound with string. This is clearly The Toothpaste Press at full stride as a maker of unique chapbooks. Later in this form was the first printing of the single poem by this title. It was published as a full book by W.W. Norton in 1979 and by Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd (UK) in 1980. It was the first of two collaborations between Creeley and The Toothpaste Press; the second being Echoes in 1982.

rare - worthwhile - collectible.

a god-awful waste of paper

St. Elmo's Coffee Pub Anthology 2000
Jeanne Butler & Jean Leyman, editors
self published
Alexandria, VA
(c) 1999


This is a chapbook anthology of persons who had read at the St. Elmo's Coffee Pub from 1997-1999. The work is not in any way exceptional. Live trees were felled to make this self-indulgent bit of crap. It would be of interest to cultural archivists in the Alexandria, VA community but I doubt anyone else, other than friends and family, would be the least bit interested in this rubbish. SAVE A TREE!

Heartbreak Hotel by Tom Clark

Heartbreak Hotel
Tom Clark
Toothpaste Press
West Branch, Iowa
©1981

Unpaginated. 5” X 5” , handmade paper. Hand sown binding. #294 of 500 signed copies. Very handsomely made chapbook, which was the trademark of Toothpaste Press. 5 very short stories with illustrations. Wonderful little book. By collection Toothpaste Press books, one can observe the variation of styles and appearance as publisher Allan Kornblum tinkers with the form of the books he is producing. It is no wonder that he reached a decision within 5 years of this chapbook to recreate his press as Coffeehouse Press and to produce full collections. There are physical restrictions to the chapbook form, not to mention financial considerations, that lead a publisher to change course. STILL, this is a beautiful chapbook. A real find.

Dakota Country by Dakota Dan Holsworth

Dakota Country : The Pioneer Years
1966-1971
Dakota Dan Holsworth
Pine Hill Press
Freeman, South Dakota
©1972

This 20-page chapbook appears to be representative of the work published by Pine Hill Press. The Press was founded in 1952 and is currently housed in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Press specializes in Short Run books (some may see the word Vanity Press flashing before their eyes), but it’s been successful enough in what they do to be around for 58 years which is quite an accomplishment by any standard.

There is a Dan Holsworth in Madison, South Dakota who might be the same person. The chapbook itself sports two photos of the author on front and back. I found the poetry itself to be, I have to say, unremarkable. As an object, it is worth acknowledging but as literature – well, it ain’t all that.

I will say this : If I were a collector of regional material, I would want this in my collection.

Teeny Tiny & other microscopic booklets

A poet I know recently sent me a packet of chapbooks and ephemeral material and among the items was

I Wasn't There When it Happened
Christopher Wells
Teeny Tiny
Edmonds, WA
(c)2006

I looked at it for a few seconds and remembered that I had previously become acquainted with Teeny Tiny publications and its founder, Amanda Laughtland. Back in 2007 I happened across her somewhere, perhaps on the net, and contacted her. She responded by sending me

FREE
Amanda Laughtland
Teeny Tiny
March 2007
second edition

Teeny Tiny
#10
March 2007

These are indeed "teeny tiny" booklets, 4 1/4" X 3". We are talking small. We are also talking interestingly created and very under the radar. Using clip-art and stampers to adorn the booklets, the folks behind Teeny Tiny have made an array of interesting "one-of-a-kind" booklets. The Wells booklet is a little better assembled - it has cover stock - while the others were made entirely out of copy paper. All of them fit comfortably into an envelope.

While we are on the subject, there are two other "microscopic" booklets I have and would like to discuss:

A POEM
M. Yankelevich
Ugly Duckling Presse
Brooklyn, NY
(c) 2001

12 short ones
Barbara Torode
enoch flower publishing
Philadelphia, PA
(c)2003

These are tinier still: A POEM measures 2" X 2" and contains a very short little poem, two words per page. This is very early in the development of Ugly Duckling and in the publishing career of M. Yankelevich. It's nearly too small to keep and completely worth while. "12 short ones" by Philadelphia based designer/poet is slightly larger, 2 3/8" X 2 3/8". The Torode cover is color and complex. It uses accordion style printing and uses both sides for her poems. Handsome LITTLE book. #26 of 100 hand-made booklets.

Flowers of Foam by Carol Wight

Flowers of Foam
Carol Wight
F. B. & F. P. Goss
Hyannis, MA
©1936

5” X 4” staple-bound chapbook, likely letterpressed. 16 pages. 11 poems. Every other page is blank. This is a called a “Cape Cod Idyl”. It appears to have been originally published in 1892. If so, then this small chapbook, which was signed by Ms. Wight, came out 44 years after it originally was published. She would have been a significantly older woman. It was signed to “Ted and Pan”. There is an owner’s plate inside front for Theodore Johnson.

The printers/publishers, F. B. & F. P. Goss, seem to have been most active during the early decades of the 20th century and well known by Historical societies in the state of Massachusetts. This book was printed on Cape Cod. It’s an early chapbook, I was not aware of staple-bound chapbooks being made as early as 1936, but here is one. It’s in surprisingly good condition. The cover illustration is by someone with the initials of ASW. No information is available about whom that was; nor did I glean anything from a Google search for “Carol Wight”.

The poetry is certainly not of a form that I favor, but if it was first published in 1892 then it clearly is from a different time. As a collectible, it’s quite rare and handsome. Well worth the search.

Theatre by David Curry

Theatre
David Curry
The Best Cellar Press
Crete, Nebraska
(c) 1973

Unpaginated. Handsome little chapbook. This press seems to have most active in the 1970s. Published something by Ted Kooser and Wendell Berry. The editor was Greg Kuzma who teaches at the University of Nebraska. A very good writer himself and a darn good publisher by the looks of this chapbook. The Poet, David Curry, has published short stories and poems in The American Review, Black Warrior Review, Crab Orchard Review, North American Review, Ohio Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah and elsewhere. His second book of poetry, Contending to be the Dream (New Rivers Press, 1979) received Special Distinction in the 1979 Elliston Book Awards for books of poetry from small, independent presses.

He received a writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979. For 10 years he edited and published the little magazine Apple from Springfield, Illinois.

Theatre seems to have been among his earliest chapbooks, can't determine where it falls in his bibliography at this time. Will post any updates I received. This is a decent find! (this entry was ably assisted by Caleb Puckett, thanks Caleb!)

In Fee Simple by Gene Kimmet

In Fee Simple
Gene Kimmet
Stormline Press
Urbana, IL
©1986

Representative of the work published by Stormline Press, this 39 page collection by first time author Gene Kimmet shows the strong regionalism that this Press featured. While the poems are a mixed blessing, the sense of place all the same permeates through the work.

Stormline seems to have been most active in the 1980s and published a number of Midwestern poets, writers, and photographers. This is the first book by this Press that I have happened across. It’s a very decent find. The regional voice is strong and sure. You feel the land right there in front of you. Illinois. Heartland. America.

The Healing Green by David Newall

The Healing Green
David Newall
Armaus Publishers
Luton, Bedfordshire, England
P. R. MacMillan
Cambridge, England
(no year stated)

This 34 page chapbook is quite the enigma. The author is unknown. The publisher is unknown. The printer might be P. R MacMillan, Cambridge (England). I do know that this collection does have 34 stated pages and that the poems were written in English and printed in English. Sorry if I seem a bit flippant but it feels like a ball of flummox holding this virtual unknown commodity.

These poems are largely about nature. Upon clearer inspection, these poems also have some typos that someone corrected in pencil. There is no owner name, The Press had an address of Luton, Bedfordshire, England which is the home of a college and it also states on the printer info page that the book was printed in England. SO - there is that.

But little else. The cover is green. The book is staple-bound. It's a legitimate chapbook. I am guessing that it was a student's early publishing effort as it has a dreadful rhyme scheme that bores me to tears. I am leaning toward SAVE A TREE for this one. I might have to pulp this copy myself - but I am almost intrigued to find out more about this book before being "rash". Anyone out there know anything about it?

Commenting on two Plan B Press chapbooks

Without
Richard Erdmann
Plan B Press
Stay-at-Home Press
©2007

The Mutual Life
Relationships, Colonization and Other Accidents
A Manual of Reference
James Thomas Stevens
Plan B Press
©2006


I haven’t written before in this blog about any chapbooks published by Plan B Press since I am the co-founder and head of Plan B Press. Felt like a conflict of interest. However the thrust of my comments here have to do with the books published by one of our divisions : Stay At Home Press. Not that that matters terribly much except that I have a bit less to do with this division than our “running man” division of the Press.

The concept behind Stay–at-Home Press is the attempt to wed image with text in a more realizable way. And to do this in the “book” format, not relying on or hiding behind the non-conventions of the e-book. To produce something a person can hold : a book. This, of course, was only the most basic reason for developing this new division of the Press. One of the statements that our Press tries to adhere to came from El Lissitzky who in 1931 wrote: “The book must be the unified work of author and the designer. As long as this is not the case, splendid exteriors will constantly be produced for unimportant contents, and visa-versa.

Our first attempt was Richard Erdmann’s chapbook Without. This chapbook melded text with image and image with text on. It was more of an experiment than a finished project, in hindsight I say, and as often happens – the poet disappeared into this “day clothes”. It happens. What remains is the chapbook - what has been lost is the meaning or the attempted meaning of the work.

The project that SHOULD have been the first Stay-at-Home Press book was James Thomas Stevens’ 2006 chapbook The Mutual Life . Stevens took much of the language as well as the illustrations that exist in the chapbook and the recreated cover from the original 1901 Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York: Accidents, Emergencies, and Illnesses published BY The Mutual Life of New York. The chapbook itself was the second phase of the work; it was created in 2004 for a writers convention and then published by Plan B Press as the fullest expression of its potentiality (complete with use of same font headings, etc.) before landing in a more neutered state with his 2007 Salt Publishing full book entitled A Bridge Dead in the Water. (the version that exists in that book is devoid of illustrations and the font matches the rest of the book) Besides being the most true expression of the merging of image with text, it presented the most compelling argument for the creation of the Stay-at-Home Division to date. However, Without was not successful as the first effort.

There will surely be more to come from this division as manuscripts continue to come our way with stronger visual elements. At the same time, there are entire publishing firms that dwell only in the e-book universe which challenges the dimension and understanding of what “text” and “book” will mean in the 21st century.

Oranges From Palestine by Mike Maggio

Oranges From Palestine (and other poems)
Mike Maggio
Mardi Gras Press
Harvey, LA
(c) 1996 2nd printing


This 31 page chapbook is a beautiful love bouquet from a poet to a great love, as well as the Middle East that she came from. It's an wonderful gift.

In The War by Jennifer Jean

In The War
Jennifer Jean
Big Table Publishing Co.
(c) 2010

Big Table Publishing Co. seems to be located somewhere in Massachusetts, although they are reluctant to state exactly where. I find that curious for a publishing company. Really? You don't want people to know where you are located? How does that work for you? I mean, you have to send an email to them in order to submit poems for consideration through the mail. What? They email you back their mailing address? Weird, weird, and more weird.

It may well be that this book is about the Vietnam War through the eyes and memory of a little girl whose lost her father (twice?) to that horror. But it's as much about something else. Different/other things. It's an Odyssey across America. One girl's maturity coming with haunting shadows of sorrow. Perhaps; yet it can only give what a girl much too young to understand the HELL of what that jungle war did to her father, and every father/son/husband/spouse went through simply to survive it; little more than glimpses through a prism.

I am a veteran of the era although I served my four years (1975-79) state-side. Unless one lived through it, one has no real point of reference to it. The "it" lingers just off the page throughout this book. It's a valid effort to be sure, and as an effort it has, I do hope, helped the author to come to terms with things beyond her comprehension as a child.

Asa Benveniste

As recently as a few days ago I had no idea who Asa Benveniste was, nor Ray DiPalma, nor had I ever heard of Doones Press. Then I saw a listing on ebay for a chapbook entitled "Listen" and there was a photo and I looked at the photo of this chapbook and decided to investigate a little.

Asa Benveniste was born 1925 in New York, which he left in 1948 'after being pursued by a doppelganger in the same furnished coven in Irving Place which Madame Blavatsky inhabited several decades earlier.' Between 1948 and 1950 he lived in France and Tangier co-editing the literary magazine ZERO. From 1950 he has lived in England 'learning English, straightening ice cream bricks on a conveyor belt, character acting in the provinces, market gardening, rearing chickens and pedigree dogs, editing books and publishing poetry.'


The following list was lifted from Cuneiform Press Blog (list was assembled by Kyle Schlesinger)

ASA BENVENISTE: A CHECKLIST (in process)
Arranged by year, this checklist includes books and a few ephemeral items by poet and publisher of Trigram Press, Asa Benveniste. It includes collaborations and co-publications with other authors, but does not include appearances in periodicals. Corrections and additions welcome at any time. Items followed by ‘ns’ are those that I have ‘not seen’ in person. – K.S. (12.20.09)


Poems of the Mouth (London: Trigram Press) 1966. [book]

A Word in Your Season: a Portfolio of Six Serigraphs w/Jack Hirschman (London: Trigram Press) 1967. [book]

Count Three (San Francisco: Cranium Press) 1969. [book]

The Atoz Formula (London: Trigram Press) 1969. [book]

Umbrella (London: Larry and Ruby Wallrich) 1972. [ephemera]

Time Being w/ Tom Raworth, Ray DiPalma; printed and illustrated by Elisabeth Brandfast (London: Trigram Press) 1972. [book]

Blockmaker’s Black illustrated by Ralph Steadman (London: Steam Press) 1974. [ephemera] ns

Certainly Metaphysics (Bowling Green, OH: Blue Chair Press) 1974. [broadside]

Edge (London: Joe Dimaggio) 1975. [book]

Dense Lens w/ Brian Marley (London: Trigram Press) 1975. [book]

Listen (Bowling Green, OH: Doones Press) 1975. [book] ns

A Part Apart (Osterley, UK: The White Dog Press) 1976. [book] ns

Loose Use (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Pig Press) 1977. [book] ns

Colour Theory image by Marc Vaux (London: Trigram Press) 1977. [ephemera]

Language: Enemy, Pursuit w/ note by David Meltzer (Berkeley: Poltroon Press) 1980. [book]

Throw Out the Life Line Lay Out the Corse: Poems 1965-1985 (London: Anvil Press Poetry Ltd) 1983. [book]

Pommes Poems cover by Agneta Falk (Lancashire: Arc Publications) 1988. [book]

Textural (London: Turret Books) 1989. [ephemera] ns

Invisible Ink (Philadelphia: Singing Horse Press/Branch Redd Books) 1989. [book]

Hadrian's Dream images by Ken Campbell (London: Circle Press) 1990. [book] ns

Besides being a poet, Asa also worked as a printer, a typographer, and as a book designer. In London during 1965, he co-founded and managed the Trigram Press, which published work by Tom Raworth, Jack Hirschman, J. H. Prynne, David Meltzer, B S Johnson, Gavin Ewart and Lee Harwood amongst others.

In the 1980s Benveniste and his partner Agnetha Falk moved to Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where they operated a secondhand bookshop. When he died in 1990, Benveniste was buried in the graveyard of Heptonstall church.

Doones Press began as a small literary magazine, Doones, published by Raymond DiPalma, at Bowling Green State University in 1969. DiPalma began editing and publishing works of poetry as Doones Press in 1970. Doones seemed to run from 1969-1976. DiPalma's wikipedia page deals with his accomplishments as a published poet and his several books; No mention currently is there of his work as a publisher. Interestingly enough.

DiPalma is associated with the LANGUAGE poets. He now lives in NYC.

In the process, I discovered this wonderful recording by Roy Fisher of his poem, At the Grave of Asa Benveniste

PA local anthology

Winning Voices
The Summit Arts Fellowship
Poetry Awards Anthology
Fall 1995
Summit Station, PA
(c)1994

This oversized anthology, edited by Kate Potter, is a great representation of the poetic voices to be found in the coal region during the mid-1990s. Among the nearly 30 poets represented here is Deborah Filanowski, whom was published by Plan B Press in 2005. 32 pages. Nice central PA collector's item.

Spring Wanderings by "J. H. Martin"

Spring Wanderings
J. H. Martin
Rivers & Lakes Press
People's Republic of China
(c) 2009

I found this book in an antique shop in rural PA about a month ago. It's a beautifully made book that by my calculations ought to be a "chapbook" but isn't. The publisher, Rivers & Lakes Press, is located in China. The book was printed there in 2009. There seems to be a website for the press but it's as vague as the material about the press and the author IN the book.

The poetry itself is beautiful and mysterious. It reflects the country that the work is about (China). The "biographic notes" about the author lend much to vague generalities and vapor trails. The "bio" ends :

"Wherever he is, whatever he is doing I wish him good luck and hope that, somehow, he may
see this slim volume one day."

Indeed so.