Canciones by Antonio Machado (translated by Robert Bly) 1980

Canciones
Antonio Machado
translated by Robert Bly
Toothpaste Press
West Branch, Iowa
© 1980

What was it about Robert Bly? I mean, really? He seems to have been the translator of first approach. I love the books created by Allan Kornblum which is why I got this beautiful item. But I am ambivalent about Bly.

The work here is by Antonio Machado who published these poems in 1930 in a large collection entitled Nuevas Canciones which was published in Spanish.

Love the presentation of the work and yet, I can see how Allan was willing to transform Toothpaste into a different press making perfect bound books (Coffee House Press). A tiny item like this gets lost onto standard bookshelves. Slivers of nothing indeed.

updating Jean Stair

I was going through my bins of chapbooks and re-discovered the two books by Jean Stair which re-sparked my curiosity about her so I posted something on Facebook and someone posted a link to the piece I wrote here in January of 2016 about her originally - only while looking at it, did I see that someone had posted additional information. It seems that "Jean Stair" was really Mrs. Grace Stair, who was a painter and poet, and wife of Professor Bird Stair who taught at CCNY for many years and died in 1957.

The two books I have were published in 1955 and printed in Connecticut. I haven't found out anything else about Grace. No images of any of her paintings. These might have been the only books that were ever published of her poetry. She was not part of the Beat generation of the New York School. The obituary for her husband was a bit dismissive of her. After all, she was only his wife.

I will keep searching.

Pam's Chapbook by Pam Coulter Blehert (1999)

Pam's Chapbook
Pam Coulter Blehert
self published
(c)1999

Primarily known as a painter, and married to a poet, Ms. Blehert thin chapbook is a pleasant reminder of the early days of online printing. Although technically published by Words & Pictures East Coast LLC, this is a nice compliment to her other artistic endeavors. Another tiny gem from the Northern Virginia literary community which is constantley surprising me.

3:33 Infinity Heart by Stacy Blint (2019)

3:33 / Infinity Heart
Stacy Blint
adjunct press
Milwaukee, WI
(c)2019

There's a new player in the small press community of Milwaukee. A husband wife and cat team known as "adjunct" press. They aren't entirely familiar with the history of the small presses of Milwaukee past but they aren't completely ignorant of them either. And they are making a splash all the same. The one I chose to read and perhaps mention was this one : Stacy's Blint's 3:33 Infinity Heart. I like her usage of the language and the flow of her work. The production is minimal which does not subtract from the quality of the word. It allows for the poems to be the focus. And it that sense, it's perfectly presented. I expect we will be hearing a good deal more from adjunct press in the future. I certainly hope so, at least.

Selected Poems by Gil Orlovitz (1960)

Selected Poems
Gil Orlovitz
Inferno Press Editions
(c)1960

When I first arrived in Philly and found myself in the folds and aisles of Robin's Bookstore on 13th Street, and got to know and learn the history of literary Philadelphia from the one and very only Larry Robin himself, one of the stories he shared with me was that of Gil Orlovitz. Apparently, Gil was part of a writer's community that hung out at Horn and Hardart in Philly. Larry's father knew Gil and the other writers of that group. Gil, legend had it, died on a street in New York City in 1973. I became familiar with his work without ever purchasing any of it. His novels were out of print (and the few copies that were listed on the internet were pricey). I was less familiar with his poetry. Adn then years later, I see this one - floating on the internet. 50 pages.

The seller and I haggled a bit; not on price but whether or not it was a "pamphlet", which it isn't. But I am extremely happy to have it. Mostly sonnets. I do have one other piece of writing of his, actually, that I found in an publication called 'Circle' and the particular issue was #7-8 published in 1946. Circle was published in Berkeley, CA and this volume also contained work by Bern Porter, Henry Miller, Kenneth Patchen, Anais Nin, Robert Duncan and others.

ho! watchman of the night ho! by lee ver duft (1944)

ho! watchman of the night ho!
lee ver duft
Gemor Press
New York City
(c)1944

On a recent trip to Ocean City, Maryland along rt. 50 I had the pleasure of spending a good 45 minutes at Unicorn Bookshop in the small "town" of Trappe. There really isn't a town as I think of such places but a number of buildings lining the main road (rt. 50) in a mostly rural region of the state but boy - this was a bookstore to make sellers and collectors salivate. Tens of thousands, if I could guess, of books and maps and all sort of ephemera. I found 4 items (had to limit myself) and one of them was this beat up copy of ho! watchman of the night ho! which was written by someone I never heard of and published by a press I never heard of. It turns out that the Press is the one that Anais Nin ran from 1942 - 1947. Now, I knew that name and vaguely was aware that she had a press since I recall a photo of her operating a printing press while wearing heels. (can't locate the image right now)

I also had no idea who this lee ver duft was until I started researching, and was surprised to find out that he was an artist who switched from paints to words. It was only after finding out more about him that I sat down and read the poems in this collection, and to be honest, some of the phrases he used in these pieces written during 1943 were VERY pre-Beat. I was like "wow". Serious WOW. I have to read the other books that I wrote. There's some great stuff here.

The book itself is in rough shape. Unlikely to ever sell it. Only 300 copies were printed by Anais Nin's press and the 'history' of ver duft on the page I have linked here is inaccurate as it pertains to this book. They have different dates for the release of it. But it clearly states 1944 in the Gemor book I am holding. There are only 30 pages in the book but it has a spine. So it is truly a chapbook or not?

It's a great read, and that's what matters in the end.

In the Beginning and the End by Siddharta Beth Pierce (2012)

In the Beginning and the End
Siddharta Beth Pierce
Writing Knights Press
Cleveland, OH
(c)2012

Trees were cut down and turned into paper to make this chapbook, and it was not worth it. Not at all worth it.

Her BMW and Other Poems by Neva Herrington (2008)

Her BMW and Other Poems
Neva Herrington
Pudding House Publications
Columbus, OH
(c)2008

Updated 2/17/24

I was too harsh. Mrs. Herrington  was an educator and a poet whose work was not well represented in this chapbook. Sadly, as happens all too often with people, particularly creative souls, her entire poetry library was donated to a local library - one I happen to be the book sale coordinator for - and I managed to secure three boxes of her personal library (I only managed to secure two boxes of Norman Pritchard's stuff but that was long ago and far away)

Diana Press / Lee Lally controversy

I was researching Lesbian presses of the early 1970s for a different subject and found this - 1971 ad promoting the sale of the bootlegged version of Lee Lally's book These Days. It still grinds my socks.

The Fish / The Virgin / and The Lion by Jennie Orvino (1972)

The Fish / The Virgin / and The Lion
Jennie Orvino
Milwaukee, WI
(c) 1972

IN the many years now that I have been writing about chapbooks I have never before seen on that spun on itself like a whirling top quite like this one from 1972. First of all, I never heard of the poet nor of the Press she and her husband were associated with in Milwaukee. Second of all, I never had an appreciation that Milwaukee HAD a literary community at all - let alone a small press community. Thirdly, I never held and read a book that changed as I read it in quite the same way as this before. It is a condensed history of a transformation from a heterosexual woman to a liberated gay woman - while also giving birth to a daughter and starting out as a dutiful wife. It's more like a bullet ride than a rollercoaster. The life that this condensed book covers in all likelihood doesn't do justice for what the poet was thinking/feeling for most of her life. I don't mean to read too much into her verse, but there are also 3 photographs in the book, one in the front and two at the end which emphasize the transformation that occurs through the book. It's just astounding.

It's all in a new year - 2019

So, how did that happen? Where did that time go? 13 years now since I started to blog about chapbooks. People, publishers, Presses, and the poetry itself. And I feel like I have only scratched the surface. Hardly gotten a handle on any of it. Every city of size had more than one small press operating and I don't have more than the tiniest percentage of any of those.

What has come of it mostly is the reenforcement of the idea that in this market economy that we live in in the United States, that art (however broadly defined) is a "commodity". People tend not to consider the work involved in creating the work, but just how much "it's worth". That's disheartening for the artist and for the publisher (or gallery; whomever else is involved in the artistic endeavor that is being measured strictly in monetary terms)

I have been working on a book dealing with what artists in this country have to deal with, and I will be spending a good deal of time with those practitioners of the chapbook form for their contribution to the overall "success" of certain poets and writers.

You Gave Me Your Shadow by David Iribarne (2013)

You Gave Me Your Shadow
David Iribarne
self published
(c)2013

Unpaginated self published book of poetry. The cover image is the strongest thing about this book. It's a deeply personal collection which feels like a missive from the author to one specific person and not really meant for public consumption. That's probably how it should have been handled.

Ghost Soldiers of Volcano and other poems by Arthur Webb (1968)

Ghost Soldiers of Volcano and other poems
Arthur Webb
Mother Lode Publishing Co.
Fresno, CA
(c)1968

I like the cover stock.

Three Grange Halls by Jordan Smith (2002)

Three Grange Halls
Jordan Smith
Swan Scythe Press
Davis, CA
(c) 2002

There are reproductions of sketches from Edward Hopper's notebook sprinkled around this chapbook, very handsomely presented. In fact, I think the poems are sprinkled about as well. Tumbleweed. Milkweed in autumn breeze. Dandelion "helicopters" floating on a summer's day.

And I think that's my problem with poetry like this. The breeziness. The lack of depth. It's 2002 and the poetry in this collection like so many other collections anticipate the surface emptiness of "Instagram Poetry" perfectly. It's singy-songy nothingness. I read the whole book feeling like my hand was out of a window on a hot summer day, feeling air. Feeling air because there was nothing there. Nothing I would remember tomorrow. Chinese food for the soul.

Rattlesnake Press

a full house of Rattlesnake Press books, all of them defanged.

Spiral by Kate Wells (2007)

Spiral
Kate Wells
Rattlesnake Press
Pollock Pines, CA
(c)2007

Chapbooks like this one become journies into new and different threads that are the tapestry of small press history in this country. This chapbook was part of a lot that I found & bought online and I mostly got it because I didn't know any of the poets nor any of the publishers. Like Rattlesnake, which seems to be a big-deal West Coast regional press. Poetry with fangs, or something. That's what the website says. "Poetry with fangs."

Kate Wells' poetry is fangless. But it exists and I am acknowledging it. So, there. Next!

Julia Vinograd 1943-2018

Sometimes it's worth noting.

You should read her, now that she has left our dimension.

Pit Stop by Pat Parker (1975)

Pit Stop
Pat Parker, editor
the women's press collective
Oakland, CA
(c)1975

I bought a small press lot of books from a seller in California who was highlighting this book in particular, but I bought the lot anyway because of the variety of authors and presses I have never heard of before. It wasn't until it arrived and I looked through the books that I started to feel uneasy about this one - this Pit Stop left me a bit cold and it took me a few extra minutes to work through my brain why that might be and it wasn't until after I read over the publisher information that it dawned on me that I had seen "the women's press collective" before, and that it was in an unsavory context.

I quickly looked through my own blog and also typed in "Lesbian Poetry" for the name of this publisher and found that it was linked to Diana Press out of Baltimore. Ah, that's right - Diana Press out of Baltimore. Lee Lally's book that they stole. Lee Lally's book that they published without permission and never gave a dime to the original publisher, Some Of Us Press. Yes, scumbags. Yes, dirtballs. Yes, uprooting themselves from Baltimore to merge with/become the women's press collective. And that name : Pat Parker. Her name was involved with both Diana and the Oakland re-grouping.

Lee Lally passed away years ago now and my own involved with any of this was a stillborn effort on my part to publish an inclusive "Some of Us Press" anthology. While it didn't come to bear, it did enlighten me about this unethical action by Diana Press. I found it interesting that in the Lesbian Poetry Archives listing of the books published BY Diana Press that there was no mention of the pirated publication, These Days, but I just looked through my copy of the book and it clearly states that it was printed BY Diana Press. Someone is attempting to airbrush history a bit.

Since this is now the second time this incident has come across my screen, I will now have to research a bit more. I do want to get to the bottom of this sorted affair simply because whoever made this underhanded decision should not go unpunished.

Drinking the Light by Laverne Frith (2007)

Drinking the Light
Laverne Frith
Finishing Line Press
Georgetown, KY
(c)2007

Laverne Frith is a widely published, award-winning poet and a nationally published reviewer of literary journals and magazines. Laverne is on the reviewer panel of the New York Journal of Books. He is the proprietor of Frith Press and co-editor of Ekphrasis. He is the author of a handful of chapbooks including this one. However, this one is from Finishing Line Press and I do not much like Finishing Line Press. At all.

Black Sparrow chapbooks?

I have been writing this blog for a number of years now (12) and admittedly several of the postings have been pretty "surface". I haven't dug into either the subject nor the work terribly hard. But then - well : I have a new query – I bought a chapbook printed in 1967 by BLACK SPARROW PRESS. Now I always thought that Black Sparrow only did full books with spines and that it started out to publish Bukowski but this chapbook undercuts that narrative. Because it’s a chapbook of James Purdy’s work and it’s a signed copy. So, if the Press WAS formed in 1966, as the history on Wikipedia states, then this is a first year project that predates Bukowski (?). The evidence I have so far found online suggests that the Press was created for Martin, the publisher, to promote Bukowski, “the new Whitman“ (Martin’s words – not mine). And here is a chapbook that is an outlier. Purdy is as underappreciated as Bukowski once was. So Black Sparrow worked with other unknown authors before striking the chord with Charles.

In later interviews Martin does seem to gloss over his own history a bit and told people what they wanted to hear or what made them cream their jeans : that in fact the Press was formed to promote Bukowski and while it’s true that he wasn’t the only successful relationship that Black Sparrow formed with authors, they also brought out work by Paul Bowles and John Fante, in our media culture narrative we associate Black Sparrow SOLELY with Bukowski. So, what am I to make with this chapbook I am holding?