my arcane interests

Perhaps everyone has a special interest or hobby that consumes them but at the same time, they keep to themselves. I have two such interests, one I have been writing about for years now and one I had not thought about in a number of years until quite recently.

For well over a decade I have been getting and collecting chapbooks, mostly of poetry but also other oddities as they present themselves. Primarily because I am a published of chapbooks. Plan B Press primarily publishes chapbooks. We have since 1999. I have been aware that the history of chapbooks is much older than that but that's when I started.

Prior to that, from the time that cassette decks and tapes came into vogue, I was making my own mixtapes. Before High Fidelity, before Hip Hop. I haven't really thought about the "when" of it as it pertains to my involvement in the form, but it would have had to be the late 1970s (after I decided that the failed 8-track format as a dud) Because I had been a DJ on college radio and knew a bit about segues, I liked that a cassette allowed for that nearly perfect segues from song to song as one could in the booth with two turntables going.

Throughout the 1980s and well into the 1990s I made dozens upon dozens of tapes. From vinyl and from other cassettes. Mixology. Then, I moved and the machines didn't move with me. I moved light - kept the tapes but had no machinery to listen to them with. They sat in boxes for several moves. To Philadelphia, to Alexandria,VA and then to Fairfax,VA. Finally, when we moved back to Alexandria, my wife turned to me and said, "let's get a deck so we can listen to your tapes". She had made tapes too, her family made their living ON THE AIR as it were. However, I had tons more than she did so the primary focus was for me to listen to my tapes and perhaps purge the ones that were dups or didn't work anymore.

I did purge some - then about three weeks ago I was trolling the local Freecycle and saw that someone was offering a box of mixtapes. I pounced. I now have over a hundred (new to me) mixtapes. Some of the tapes I cringed at the sight of: Supertramp, Weather Report, Yellowkjackets. I will be moving them along. But some are very good. They play as though I had recorded them myself, but I hadn't. The handwriting is different. I am enjoying the experience and of course I am thinking about my own history mixing, the mixing that captured the moment of my life I was recording. All that. I feel a little like a voyeur listening to someone else's moments being captured. It's weird. The same can be said about chapbooks.

Not all, but some; the self-published ones in particular. They were being made as a mixtape on paper. They are theme-encapturing. They are about that moment, generally. Dealing with a death of a loved one. A spouse. They aren't really meant for general distribution. But they are made and occasionally one ends up in my collection.

Other chapbooks are not time sensitive but are "greatest hits" or the like. Some presses push the page count till they are all but books with spines, or a books with spines but are really cheating because the page count is slight.

I like the idea of a chapbook as a paper mixtape, I will be using that phrase in the future.

3 littles by red iron press

graphic material
CSA
red iron press
Toronto, Canada
October, 2004


I'm not at home
Mykel Board
red iron press
Toronto, Canada
Sept., 2004


by its shadow
Philomene Kocher
red iron press
Toronto, Canada
October,2003


I got this "tinies" from someone who attended the Buffalo (NY) small press festival last year. I don't know much about the press or any of the writers. They are indeed very small in size and page-count.

Little Richard the Second by Gregg Biglieri (2011)

Little Richard the Second
Gregg Biglieri
Ugly Duckling Presse
Brooklyn, NY
(c)2011

Ugly Duckling Press is quite capable of making extremely handsome and desirable chapbooks. This one is no exception. Letter-pressed and hand sown stitchery. A single poem, a beautiful thing. For collectors, this is one to get!

Annson Kenney follow-up

received this from Peter Bushyeager, who co-founded Hot Water Review : "Annson and I went to Temple U. together. He was a year ahead of me. He majored in music and I majored in communications. We sang together in the Mens Glee Club (!!) and several years after school reconnected through the Philly poetry/art/music scene. I think he participated in one of the Poetry and Art Fairs that were done in the 70s at the now-defunct YMHA Poetry Center on Broad St. He was a funny, courtly, sometimes outrageous guy who was also cerebral and welcoming to other artists. He had a relationship with Maralyn Polak, the poet and Inquirer columnist.

HIs works in Hot Water are actually performance pieces and he performed some of them. He was involved with Relache, a new-music group that was active in Philly in the 70s and 80s (maybe still active, I don't know)"

Just a Little Piece of Heartburn by Tom Cheshire

Just a Little Piece of Heartburn
Tom Cheshire
Safety Third Enterprises
no publication date

The nicest thing about this chapbook is the cover. The rest of the book, the "guts" if you will, is intentionally primitive and hand-written. No part of the guts were typed. It's a schtick. It's a waste of a tree. SAVE A TREE!

The Faith of John Greenleaf Whittier (1957)

The Faith of John Greenleaf Whittier
An Essay by Rufus M Jones
A Tribute by Benjamin F Trueblood
New England Yearly Meeting of Friends
(c)1957

Nice supplemental booklet. 32 pages. A few B&W photos in book.

Sea Birds by Linda Parker (1981)

Sea Birds
Linda Parker
Fathom Press
(c)1981

Published by Robie Liscomb's Fathom Press using Michael Tarachow's Pentagram Press's equipment - as stated in back of book. Liscomb and Tarachow were friends and worked together on a number of projects in the early 1980s. I have exchanged a few emails with Michael Tarachow and learned additional details of the history of Pentagram Press and the intersections between their Presses. It's a wonderful example of a coordinated effort.

Cover art by Thorpe Feidt. Unpaginated. One of 250 copies. Nice book. Well worth the search.

Acting Problems by Judith Berke (1993)

Acting Problems
Judith Berke
Silverfish Review Press
Eugene, Oregon
(c)1993

This is a 30 page chapbook masquerading as a book with a spine. Ah, it IS a book with a spine. No, it's a 30 page chapbook pretending. In the words of Holden Caulfield, it's a phony. Phony bologna. It's acting like something it isn't. The title is apt. It has an acting problem.

The poetry is okay. It rounds out a multidisciplinary career for Judith Berke. I was not moved nor impressed with the work. Sorry, SAVE A TREE!

Green Man in Suburbia by Marcia L. Hurlow (2008)

Green Man in Suburbia
Marcia L Hurlow
Backwards City Publications of Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
(c)2008

Winner of the Backwards City Chapbook Prize in 2008. Staple-bound chapbook. Cover image by Jaimee Hills. 25 pages. A nice collection.

Poems of the Part and of the Whole Rashaan C. Linson (1993)

Poems of the Part and of the Whole
Rashaan Connell Linson
Namaste Press
Houston, TX
(c)1993

Hand-sewn chapbook. Unpaginated. One of 500 copies. Never heard of the author or of the Press. The Press no longer exists, but there is a 70-year old named Connell Linson who still lives in Houston. (the poet, perhaps?) According to the bio in back of book, Linson was the former director of the Sudan Arts Southwest and Houston's Black Arts Center. He is the author of two collections of poetry in addition to this chapbook.

The book cover and lay-out are fairly basic and generic. Anyone want to swap?

Annson Kenney: Writing, Luminous Tubing and Other Work (1983)

Annson Kenney: Writing, Luminous Tubing and Other Work
Compiled and Written by Arthur J. Sabatini
Exhibition Booklet
Moore College of Art
Philadelphia, PA

32 pages exhibition booklet filled with B&W photos of Kenney's neon light art and other physical art. Considering that Kenney's untimely death in 1981 ended a budding career, this book is perhaps the only one dedicated exclusively to Kenney and his work. Some of this poems were published in Hot Water Review. However, there has not been a book of his poetry that I am aware of. This might be all there is to encapsulate a career cut short far too early.

The Cut Worm by Douglas Korb (2008)

The Cut Worm
Douglas Korb
Bright Hill Press
Treadwell, NY
(c)2008

While I admire what Bright Hill Press does, I feel it's cheating in a way to shrink the size of a book to justify making it a book with a spine.

The Cheer-Up Book of Wounded Soldier by Evan Kennedy (2007)

The Cheer-Up Book of Wounded Soldiers
Evan Kennedy
Dirty Swan Projects
(c)2007

Much that can be said of this project is on the blog for Dirty Swan Projects. As conceptual art, it might work. My grandfather served in World War I so I came to this project with an open mind. However, the flags for all the voices is a bit confusing and the poetry is equally confusing. All this may well fit into the work that Dirty Swan does, and their heart might be in the right place (check out the blog for the book itself, all proceeds go to a school established in 1915 for WWI soldiers - The Cheer-Up blog) but I must admit I didn't get it.

Roadside Vegetation Management by Harry Chandler (2000)

Roadside Vegetation Management Manual For Rural Road Crews
Harry Chandler
Vermont Woodlands Association
Colchester, VT
(c)2000

I found two copies of this little chapbook with the specific title and purpose. Staple-bound. 26 pages of detailed information on keeping rural roads clear for automotive transport. How do deal with downed trees, etc. I feel like I ought to learn to chew tobacco to fully appreciate this book.

Civilization Day by Erica Kaufman (2007)

Civilization Day
Erica Kaufman
Open 24 Hours
Bronx/Brooklyn, NY
(c)2007

The Open 24 Hours press have been published by the collective powerhouse of John Coletti and Greg Fuchs. It intentionally mimics or pays tribute to the mimeographic publications of the 2nd and 3rd generation NY School poetics. The name of the press came from a Buck Downs poem, taken first by the Baltimore-based poet Chris Toll, the first publisher of a press by this name. That was in the 1980s. The name was used by Downs for a small magazine he published.

This 8 X 11 homage to the traditions of those earlier period is a bit too clean and polished, the is single side printing throughout (to fluff up the work). Erica Kaufman's poetry is worth reading and this is a fine example of her range. Worth the hunt!

Nips by John M Bennett (1980)

Nips
John M Bennett
Luna Bisonte Prods
Columbus, OH
(c)1980

Staple-bound chapbook. 39 pages. collage and visual poetry as well as "textual poetry". John M Bennett has been both an active participant in the Visual Poetry world and a cheerleader for that very world. His work appears in many places, in many forms; both in performance and on the page. Innovative.

This particular book follows the adventures of Nips and others. Found text, random images, twisted metaphors. Great collection!

A Slow Drink by Brian Morrisey (2004)

A Slow Drink
Brian Morrisey
Magenta Press
San Francisco, CA
(c)2004

Staple-bound chapbook. Wasn't struck by any of the poems in this collection, not thrilled by the presentation either. It's been quite a while since I said this, but SAVE A TREE!

A Musics by Carrie Hunter (2010)

A Musics
Carrie Hunter
arrow as aarow press
(c)2010

Hand-sewn chapbook. #94/125. Unnumbered pages. The Press seems to have been very active in 2010 and then completely disappeared. Their website has nothing more recent than 2010. The blog for Carrie Hunter seems to have dried up in 2009. Possible deadends. My interest in this press comes from their publishing Michael Carr. I have a strange history with Mr. Carr (ebay posting)

This is a worthwhile read. Very collectible.

Autonomy 6 by Jerry Joker Inscoe (2006)

Autonomy 6
Jerry Joker Inscoe
cantab publishing
(c)2006

After visiting the website of this publishing group, I can appreciate what the goal of this particular chapbook is. Wedding, or perhaps, welding the work of human hands with the machinery of printing. Staple-bound booklet, it's a very thin "book", this effort feels like an art school project that someone made themselves and distributed around in a complete DIY fashion. And it is no knock on DIY either. But I digress.

It's a visual exercise.

The Mad Shoemaker by John Batki (1973)

The Mad Shoemaker
John Batki
The Toothpaste Press
West Branch, Iowa
(c)1973

In the history of Toothpaste Press, this is one of the earlier mimeograph chapbooks that were made. 1973 was early, this is among the earliest chapbooks made by Toothpaste Press. Staple-bound which indicates the age of the book itself as they quickly went to hand-sewn books. It's size, 8" X 10", is another indication. The cover image came from a linoleum block by Dave Morice who went on to create Poetry Comics and co-found the Actualist Poetry Movement.

Unpaginated pages, mimeographed. This book was John Batki's first book. 300 copies were printed.