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Path: psuvm!news.ysu.edu!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!au462
From: au462@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert Drake)
Newsgroups: alt.artcom
Subject: TapRoot Reviews #1 (poetry etc.)
Date: 13 Dec 1992 23:34:13 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (USA)
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Issue #1.1 12/92
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TapRoot is a quarterly publication of Independent, Underground,
and Experimental language-centered arts. Over the past 10 years,
we have published 40+ collections of poetry, writing, and visio-
verbal art in a variety of formats. In the August of 1992, we
began publish TapRoot Reviews, featuring a wide range of "Micro-
Press" publications, primarily language-oriented. The printed
version appears as part of a local (Cleveland Ohio) poetry
tabloid, the Cleveland Review. This posting is the electronic
version, containing all of the short reviews that seem to be
of general interest. We provide this information in the hope
that netters do not limit their reading to E-mail & BBSs.
Please e-mail your feedback to the editor, Luigi-Bob Drake, at:
au462@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Requests for e-mail subsctiptions should be sent to the same
address--they are free, please indicate what you are requesting.
Hard-copies of The Cleveland Review contain additional review
material--in this issue, reviews & articles by John M. Bennett,
geof huth, Micheal Basinski, Tom Willoch--as well as a variety
of poetry prose & grafix. It is available from: Burning Press,
PO Box 585, Lakewood OH 44107--$2.50 pp. Both the print &
electronic versions of TapRoot are copyright 1992 by Burning
Press, Cleveland. Burning Press is a non-profit educational
corporation. Permission granted to reproduce this material FOR
NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, provided that this introductory notice
is included. Burning Press is supported, in part, with funds
from the Ohio Arts Council.
Reviewers: Deidre Wickers, Jake Berry, Bill Paulauskas, Nico
Vassilakis, Bob Grumman, Tom Beckett, Roger Kyle-Keith, and
Luigi-Bob Drake. Many thanx to all contributors.
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'ZINES:
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BACKWOODS--(#16), 224 Elizabeth St., Athens GA 30601. $3.00.
Classic underground mag includes bizarre artwork, collages,
comics, gritty and even transcendent poetry, some good stories
and a great back cover of Jesus catching a few rays on a stolen
Holiday Inn towel. Irreverence with style, the heart of the
insurrection.--jb
BLANK GUN SILENCER--1240 William St., Racine WI 53402. 40 pages,
$2. A magazine that takes chances and publishes a wide variety
of edge poets. Lists addresses of contributors as well as listing
other interesting magazines.--bp
BREAK TO OPEN--(#1), 2965 13th St., Boulder Colorado 80304.
$3.50. Experimental open form poetry and visuals--most of it very
good, inviting the ordinary mind into new spaces. Also a review
section. Let's hope this one remains in publication.--jb
CENTRAL PARK--(#21, Spring 1992), PO Box 1446, New York NY 10023.
222 pp., $7.50. Strong committed work--fictions poetry drama
essays--all informed by a political engagement with the world.
Sometimes fiction & poetry can address "worldly" concerns even
better than exposition; seeming to let in more of the complexity
of the real world. But even Margaret Randall's essay, on being
a political/lesbian/artist in the land of the NEA and INS, goes
further than an over-simplified "censorship is evil" chant (not,
of course, to suggest that censorship is not evil...). Mostly
writing, with some strong photographic images, including a series
of Navajos who are threatened with forced relocation. Only a
little ironic that such radical politics comes in such a slick
package...--lbd
CO-LINGUA--6735 SE 78th, Portland OR 97206. $5.00? An anthology
of over 15 years of Dan Raphael's magazine NRG. If you want to
understand what's happening on the edges of literary, and
visualature work then this is the place to begin. One gets a
sense of both the "avant garde" and Raphael's editorial vision
evolving from one wonderfully open perspective to another. The
work leaps and sings hungry for new experience, hungry for some
other that defies ordinary syntax, sensibility and logic. After
a while a kind of lunatic joy emerges, implying there may be some
small hope for the species after all. Three large tabloid
sections of excellent artistry.--jb
COFFEEHOUSE POETS QUARTERLY--(Spring 1992), 3412 Erving, Berthoud
CO 80513. 38 pp., $3.00. The poetry is sincere & conversational,
but subject matter & voice run the gamut. Heartfelt poems about
AmerIndians & whales to funny stuff about the Kennedy clan to
dead serious memories of Nam--the editors have eclectic tastes,
self-described as "meat & potatoes". Beyond the poetry basics,
they sponsor a sort of poetry pen-pal listing called the Poets
Dialog Network, as well as the Chapbook Exchange--listings of
folks who will send you copies of their work for the price of
postage. Generous & friendly.--lbd
COKEFISHING ON MOODY STREET--(#27, spring 1992), 31 A. Waterloo
St., New Hope PA 18938. 52 pp. Cohabitation of Cokefish
magazine (frm AlphaBeat Press, address ibid) and the Moody
Street Irregular's Jack Kerouac newsletter (PO Box 157, Clarence
Center NY, 14032).
DREAMS & NIGHTMARES--(#38!), 1300 Kicker Rd., Tuscaloosa AL
35404. 20 pp., $10/yr. A magazine of fantastic poetry that's
also nicely illustrated. An entertaining sample of its poetry
is one by W. Gregory Stewart about Sisyphus--who "does not
understand/ TGIF," among other things, but does know things like
diddly and squat, "And while he has no proof/ that the gods wear
pocket protectors/ he strongly suspects it."--bg
Mostly poetry in the sci-fi/fantasy vein, avoiding blood & gore
as well as cliches. Even has some surreal and cut-up kinds of
stuff, including an exquisite corpse collaboration done on the
GEnie electronic bulletin board. Seems to have won awards in
the SF fandom world, and would be a good introduction to the
genre for non-fans.--lbd
DUSTY DOG REVIEWS--(#s 6&7, 1992), 1904-A Gladden, Gallup NM
87301. 52 pp., $2. Reviews of 100+ small press poetry books &
chapbooks. Very thoughtful and wide-ranging, with most reviews
running to several substantial paragraphs. The reviewer has
strong opinions about good & bad, which he backs up with reasoning
& (often) quotations from the works. But I never got a good fix
on how his particular tastes ran--on the stuff I was familiar
with, could never predict if he'd give it a "yea" or "nay". --lbd
A small price for a lot of reading; a magazine of good solid
reviews, focusing on small press chapbooks and poetry books.
Literate, informed as well as informative. David Castleman's
reviews in particular show a keen insight into voice and style,
but may be more enjoyable for people who already have a groundwork
in poetic theory than than non-academic enthusiasts.--rkk
EXPERIMENTAL (BASEMENT)--(#1, Feb. 1991), 3740 N. Romero Rd.
#A-191, Tucson AZ 85705. 52 PP., $4. Appealing to the senses
rather than the sense--triangular pages, layout twisted to match
the syntax, neologisms, & metaphors that've never met before.
Some people complain that this kind of work doesn't "mean"
anything--when really, it's just words that can't be put into
other words ("translated", in otherwords). --lbd
FAT FREE--(Aug.), Box 80743, Athens GA 30608. 10 pp., free?
A valuable showcase for new writers and illustrators. Its editor
seems open to a wide variety of material--this issue ranges from
a sophisticated cover drawing by Homer Springer to a somewhat
childlike (but likeable) illustrated poem by Random Art Transfer:
"Ants climb my ankles/ like to bite the flesh/ don't like my
voodoo feet./ stamping out their nest."--bg
FISH DRUM--(#9), 626 Kathryn Ave., Santa Fe NM 87501. 36 pp.,
$2.50. A chapbook masquerading as a magazine, or vice versa:
Unborn Baby by Miriam Sagan. Transplanted from the east coast,
Miriam's at her best when she's just who she is, tourist or or
writer or expectant mother; other times she strains a little,
stretching to embrace the exotic space of New Mexico or Zen.
A performance of these poems is available on cassette from Rotcod
Zzaj, aka Dick Metcalf (HQ 19th SUPCOM, Unit 15015 PO Box 2879,
APO AP 96218-0171)--interesting to hear a male & techno-processed
voice interpreting these woman-centered words.--lbd
This issue is called Unborn Baby, a virtual chapbook of Miriam
Sagan's poetry. Her work here is straight down the line,
traditional free verse, breaking no new stylistic ground. It is,
however, vivid, concrete, highly understandable, perhaps
too schmoozy at times. Real plots and narratives in every
piece, stepping over the line into prosey at times, but never
prosaic.--rkk
FUEL--(#1, 1992), PO Box 146640, Chicago IL 60614. 42 pp., $3.00.
From the former ed. of "Mutated Viruses", this is one incredibly
energetic poetry 'zine, plus a coupla proses. Where the Beat's
listened to jazz for inspiration, punk is the background music
here (tho i'd guess slamming, not moshing, is the dance style).
For ex-sample, from Glenn Shedon: "The diamonds in her head
glittered brightly as god's dark elf/ cracker her against the
sidewalk like a bag of beautiful bones." Style is appropriately
reflected in the computer/laser layout, a combination raw &
high-tech. The editor's also involved w/ a forthcoming review-
zine called Scrape--write for info.--lbd
GLOBAL MAIL--(#3, Sept. 1992), PO Box 597996, Chicago IL 60659.
4 pp., $2. A huge mail-art contact sheet--over 180 shows listed,
many of which are ongoing. Also listings for compilations,
fax-art, collaborative tapes, and some 'zines. An incredible
resource, so dense it's somewhat hard to read.--lbd
GREEN FUSE--(#16, spring/summer 1992), 3365 Holland Dr., Santa
Rosa CA 95405. 48 pp., $4.50. Poetry from an environmentalist
viewpoint--Gary Snyder and Antler would, I'm sure, be welcome.
Paul Willis paints a lovely picture ("Rain on lemons/hung aloft
in winter shine/of limb-leaved skies/trickling down tart
skins..."), and Elizabeth Herron's "Drownded Woman" series is
a fine mesh of language & image. Other poets seem limited by
their ecological concerns--when issues are drawn in black &
white, the resulting poetry can sometimes seem colorless.--lbd
GYPSY--(#17, 1991), PO Box 370322, El Paso,TX 79937. 73 pp.,
$7.00. Mostly poetry from an international cast--Korea to Saudi
Arabia--and the writing is as far-flung. Straight talk is
favored over fancy, which in the end is the more impressive as
it gets the point across. Love and death are frequent subjects,
with darker visions edging out light-hearted by a bit.--lbd
Haight Ashbury Literary Journal Vol. 6 #2, 1992 558 Joost Ave.
San Francisco CA 94127 16 $2.00
IMPROVIJAZZATION--(Summer, 1992), c/o Dick Metcalf, HQ 19th
SUPCOM, UNIT 15015, PO BOX 2879 APO AP 96218. 20 pp., $1.50.
A good zine for informal but informed--and generally
enthusiastic--reviews and observations about experioddica,
with the emphasis on audio tapes. It includes mail art show
announcements and pertinent names and addresses, so is a good
aid to networking.--bg
KRAX--(No.28), c/o 63 Dixon Lane, Leeds LS12 4RR, Yorkshire,
U.K. 550pp. An international compilation of poetry and prose,
featuring odd illustrations and photos as well. Some really
decent talent. Among the better of the pieces is "Bridgework"
by E.J. Cullen--an allegorical story which, through the world
of dentistry, expresses the superficiality of life. The final
lines say it best: "The rot comes on. The rot will have its
way. Those teeth will go, as all have gone before." Deep.--dw
LILLIPUT REVIEW--(#s 37 & 38, 1992), 207 S. Millvale Ave. #3,
Pittsburgh PA 15224. 12 pp., $1 or SASE. True to its name,
tiny collections of tiny (10 lines maximum) poems. Although
there aren't many traditional 5-7-5 haiku, most of the work
relies on the kind of imagistic snapshot that most Westerners
associate with that tradition. Not always pretty snapshots:
check Lyn Lifshin's "AIDS Hospice" or Viet Nam vet Bill Shields'
"a purple enough heart".--lbd
LOGODAEDALUS--(#2), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA 17104. 24 pp., $2.
Characteristic of the work featured in this poetry zine is
Robert Fitterman's "2 Two." Its theme, appropriately, is
division, which it investigates through the fragmentation of
words and syllables, such as the isolation of "out" from
"about"-- or, going the other way, the drawing together from
twoness of "you ---- I," who "might/ split/ this bis-/ cotti."--bg
LONG BEACH GUTS-ETTE--(#5, May 1992), PO Box 2730, Long Beach
CA 90801. 6 pp., free for postage. This broadside (8" x 11")
puts accessibility above all else; the editors urge readers to
photocopy the magazine and spread it around. A refreshing
editorial policy! Mostly angry political poetry from the left,
with an emphasis on the "guts" part of the magazine's name.
Poems in here from Joyce Carbone, Belinda Subraman and Albert
Huffstickler, among others, make for a good primer of modern
narrative poetry.--rkk
LOST & FOUND TIMES--(#30, July 1992), 137 Leland Ave., Columbus
OH 43214. 60 pp., $4.00. Radical & violent (& beautiful)
attacks on the world as we know it, as mediated by language.
Surrealism drawing more often from nightmares than dreams.
A particularly dense issue, and international in scope, it
includes work in Spanish & German, as well as a generous selection
of Russian work in visual and Zaumist modes. Collaborations
between the editor John M. Bennett and various are a continued
feature, as are Al Ackerman's "hacks" (aleatory re-readings
based on poems Bennett). John's taking a break for a year, and
will be sorely missed.--lbd
LOWER LIMIT SPEECH--(#3), 725 East Taylor St., San Jose CA 95112.
24 pp., $? "A newsletter in poetics," that, this time out,
includes criticism and poetry by Susan Smith Nash which
illuminate each other; criticism of David Bromige (by Crag Hill)
and poetry by Bromige which do the same; and some fascinating
"performance criticism" by Gerald Burns, on poems by Steve
McCaffery and Laura Moriarty.--bg
MAKE ROOM FOR DADA--(#4, 1992), 1705 14th #272, Boulder CO 80302.
34 pp., $3.00. The Boulder CO address & occasional drug
references make me think there's some connection to Naropa
(where Ginsberg holds forth). The poetry is more down-to-earth
than my remembrance of hippie-kids from there, and better
written. Amari Baraka kicks it off strong, & black/proud;
Jack Collom does the last call in the "Sundown Saloon"; in
between, Bukowski probably speaks for everyone concerened when
he sez "the Paris Review ain't crap/to me".--lbd
MALLIFE--(#22, summer 1992), PO Box 17686, Phoenix AZ 85011.
40 pp., $3. Mike Miskowski keeps cramming more & more into his
magazines, this one feature a strong dose of prose (stories by
Stephan-Paul Martin & Willie Smith among others) as well as the
usual urban nightmares, futurist/cyberpunk ragings, extremes of
energy & delusion... Unlike some of this ilk, it's more than
random splatterings--seems purposeful, even political, and
highly recommended.--lbd
MODOM--(#3), PO Box 3112, Florence AL 35630. broadside. 15
pieces by Pavel Mitjushev of Moscow on an 11x17" broadside.
Experimental & ranging from concrete to conceptual, w/ some
pieces in Russian, and some reduced in size 'til they're too
small to read. Jake Berry is the instigator behind the open-
ended Modom project--write him for details on how to
participate.--lbd
MR. COGITO--(#29), PO Box 66124, Portland OR 97266. 24 pp., $3.
A magazine that seems to reflect an editor's personal & eclectic
taste, rather than follow some particular style or genre--which
is a great way to edit, but makes it hard to sum up in a few
lines. Several strong Native American voices, & more than half
of the contributors hailing from the Pacific Northwest. Solid,
no-frills poetry.--lbd
NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW--(vol. 16 #2, 1992), 20 Werneth
Ave., Gee Cross, Hype, Chesire U.K. SK14 5NL. 36 pp., #2/$5.00.
A review-zine concentrating mostly on micro-press poetry, with
some politics, recordings, and software reviews thrown in.
About 300 items reviewed, maybe two-thirds from the UK, most of
the rest are Amerikan. Some of the work reviewed is quite old.
The reviewers are not afraid to pass judgement, but take the
responsibility serious & back up their opinions with reasons
and quotes.--lbd
OFFERTA SPECIALE--(#9) Corso De Nicola, 20 - 10128 Torino,
Italia. 56 pp., $7. An Italian zine with work from a wide
assortment of international poets and visual artists. In one
piece Bill Keith plays fascinating games with "adam/madam,"
"atom/tomato" and the like in the Garden of Eden. In another,
Franco Ballabeni, combines formal musical notation with text
and illumagery.--bg
ON THE BUS--(#8/9, 1991), 6421 1/2 Orange St., Los Angeles CA
90048. 336 pp., $13.50. Huge. Enormous. Gargantuan.
Massive. Monstrous. Whopping. Overwhelming. & so on... 90+
pages of poetry; 30 pages of translation; a Joyce Carol Oates
story; interviews with Anne Waldman, Ai, Alison Lurie, Tom
McGrath; articles on Surrealism and Bukowski; 30 pages of
reviews... One editor claims "we're still Walt's (and Emily's)
children, and our tastes are broad and democratic" and the
selection proves it--prose-poems, streetwise raps, a shape poem
(in the form of a noose), lyrics & laments--something for
everyone.--lbd
OWEN WISTER REVIEW--(Vol. 15 #2, Fall 1992), P.O. Box 4238,
University Station Laramie, WY 82071. 86 pp., $5. Put out
by students at the University of Wyoming, OWR has the up-and-down
quality you'd expect from a mix of students, faculty and outside
contributors, though lots more "up" than "down." This issue
focuses on cultural diversity, with a strong graphic design and
artwork spread liberally throughout. Something in here for
everyone.--rkk
PLASTIC TOWER--(#s 10 &11, 1992), PO Box 702, Bowied MD 20718.
40 pp., $2.50. For the most part, over-the-back-fence, over-a-
cup-of-coffee kind of conversations without fancy or flowery
language--just something that happened, something I was
thinking about, something I wanted to tell you. An emphasis
on content rather than form, where the speaker wants to make
sure you understand. The Persian Gulf war offered several
notable occasions for such work in #10. Exceptionally, Thomas
Zimmerman's haiku is fine and precisely drawn, and Kelly
Washbourne's work in #11 is playful and melodic. A handful of
reviews take up the last few pages of each issue.--lbd
POETIC BRIEFS--(#8, Oct. 1992), 404 Jersey St. (rear), Buffalo
NY 14213. 16 pp., $1.25. Conversations on poetry & poetics,
fairly heady stuff handled as a chat among friends instead of
a lecture, sermon, or manifesto. Many of the participants are
connected to the State University of NY at Buffalo, where
Charles Bernstein recently took over the poetics program from
Robert Creeley. High-level intellectual fire-power, sounding
more curious & genuinely human than most lit-crit.--lbd
ReBeat #2, fall 1992 PO Box 13387 Salem OR 97309 24 free fr
postage remove history--
RIVER RAT REVIEW--(#6, 1992), PO Box 24198, Lexington KY 40524.
32 pp., $3.00. Hard-hitting and well-honed, sometimes there's
a tension between the craftedness of these poems and the
violence of the subject matter. Suicide, sex, drugs & betrayal--
this is not a prettified view of life. The work rings true, as
honest and necessary, which is somewhat rare in the genre.
"Published annually, submissions are excepted only during
October"--lbd
RIVER STYX (#36, 1992), 14 S. Euclid St., Louis MO 63108.
108 pp., $7. High-quality poetry in the MFA mold. Polished
gems, crisp & precise & somehow more perfect than anything real.
A pal calls it "high & dry lit". Subject matter seems to be
either life-&-death, or ordinary but heightened to that kind
of level. I often admire & sometimes enjoy the display of
technique--othertimes I mistrust the separateness &
elevation.--lbd
SENSORIA FROM CENSORIUM--Other Ground Works, Box 147 Station J,
Toronto Ontario M4J 4X8, Canada. 180 pp., $17.00. Compendium
of artifacts from an independent cultural network conjoining
mailart, home-tapers, underground cartoonists, computer
hackers, and assorted anarcho-bon vivants. Documentary
(articles & interviews on mailart, extreme-music 'zines,
plagiarism) and graphics dominate, plus a 7" record. A short
time ago, this would have been typewritten/scrawled & run off
on a cheezy xerox--this is typeset, perfect-bound & glossy.
Despite that, I suspect they'd think of TapRoot as mainstream.
Beautiful.--lbd
SHATTERED WIG REVIEW--(#8, Spring), 1992 523 E. 38th St.,
Baltimore MD 21218. 88 pp., $3.50. Demented & raw writing
from denizens of Wig House (Wig Head Rupert Wondolowski &
recent resident "Blaster" Al Ackerman) and allies. Fun &
funny--both funny "ha ha" & funny "peculiar"--sometimes
nonsensical, absurd rather than surreal. Equal doses of poetry,
prose, and letters (strange unbelievable letters, among the most
entertaining work), illustrations scrawled or cut-up. One
suspects chemical imbalances, either naturally occurring or
induced. And consider: their title is an anagram for "That's
Right, Wee Weird Eve"--scary, ain't it?--lbd
SHEILA-NA-GIG--(#4), 23106 Kent Ave., Torrance CA 90505. 70 pp.,
$5.00. Most of the poems here are heavy on images, painting
pictures to tell the story. Occasional sounding "Californian"
(talk about mantras & crystals) or even naive, these are for
the most part pretty down to earth, and earnest. July 1st is
the submission deadline for an annual Women's Issue.--lbd
SIDESHOW--(#2, 1990), 2951 Voorheis, Waterford MI 48328. 68 pp.,
$4.50. Fine set of poetry that matches twisted visions &
tortured words, near hallucinations grounded in a somewhat
harsh & bleak reality. nice balance of consistence & variety.
Faves include Sheila Murphy's one-liner "eye texture, woman pink
unchanged decomposition", Pat Longes "barbara jane Boogie" (not
just for the line "holy cadillahoppers", but that helps), and
Elaine Seech's "cunt".--lbd
SLIPSTREAM--(#12, 1992), PO Box 2071, New Market Station, Niagara
Falls NY 14301. 128 pp., $5.00. The Working Stiff issue, a
thick slab of poems about jobs. Mostly what you'd expect--the
job is monotonous, the boss is an asshole--stories for the most
part, plain-spoken and funny/bitter. Slipstream's usual (high)
level or quality, no tricks and anxious to communicate. Of
course, here in the US of A, you're more likely to be a working
stiff if you are white & male--that demographic seems to be
reflected in the poets (or at least the personae) here.--lbd
TALISMAN--(#9, fall 1992), PO Box 1117, Hoboken NJ 07030.
222 pp., $5. "A Journal of Contemporary Poetry & Poetics"--
including interviews, critical essays, and generous samples of
current practice. Featuring several critical articles on
Nathaniel Mackey, "post bebop" black avant-garde writer--would
have liked to see some examples of his work as well. The poetry
is for the most part precise & formal. Old-guard L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E
folks (Bruce Andrews, Ray DiPalma, Jackson Mac Low, Ron Silliman)
& younger voices in the same vein providing most of the strongest
pieces; Serge Gavronsky, Kathleen Frazier, Gale Nelson
contributing work with heart as well as head. Other poems reflect
wide-ranging stylistic tastes, though not all are as successful
as those holding closest to the editor's central intellectual
concerns.--lbd
THE STREETFIGHTING AESTHETE--(#3), Box 5243 Kreole Station,
Moss Point MS 39562. 20 pp., $2. A nice range of otherstream
poems. Editor Roberts, for instance, provides ringingly regional
ones that weirdly but effectively weave gingham skies with KKK
swamps. The illustrations are at a high level, too: Blair
Wilson's, for example, would not seem out of place in a
slickzine--except for the rubbery erotic way they slip into
surrealism.--bg
THE SUBTLE JOURNAL OF RAW COINAGE--(#55), 317 Princetown Rd.,
Schenectady NY 12306. SASE. Just a scrap of twice folded paper
entitled "Alterior" (a word of Bill Larsellar's), and containing
but 5 words, aside from credits & publishing data. it doesn't
seem impressive but I think Lorraine Schein's contribution to
it, "electicity," sums it up very nicely.--bg
TIGHT--(Vol.3 #3), PO Box 1591, Guerneville CA 95446. $3.50
Tight should be noted for the broad range of materials it
publishes. Everything from confessional and neo-beat to
surrealistic and beyond with some good visuals thrown in.
Every issue is a great ride and this one is no exception.--jb
Ann Erickson edits it and it contains a wide range of poetic
styles. A bit light on experimental work, but I like Ann's
poetry and it's in here.--bp
TRANSMOG--(#7), Rt 6 Box 138, Charleston WV 25311. 6 pp., $?.
Showcases dislocational poems like one by Surllama that clobbers
spelling, grammar, syntax, SANITY to speak, for example, of
"these kingdoms- quieu; what butterfly buts u b tleel atoms,,
poses/try to DREENK the stars 1/2)," which I read as: "a quiet
too quiet for its final t where butterflies, subtle atoms, try
to more than merely drink the stars ..."--bg
URBANUS--(#3, 1992), PO Box 192561, San Francisco CA 94119.
48 pp., $5. The poems here are rated just like movies-- I
guess Todd Moore got an "R" for mentioning sex & guns in the
same breath, even tho neither one actually fires. Other poems
here seem loaded, but don't quite explode. Urbanus is an annual,
they also publish another annual called Raizirr, which may or
may not be similar.--lbd
VITAL PULSE--(Volume 1, #1), ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St.,
New York NY 10002. 18pp. A group of alternative writers meet
weekly to "share words." This is their effort. Impressive, for
a first issue. Love and one-night stands, euphoria and withdrawal.
Absolutely New York. Hard-core and hearty.--dw
ViZ: THE HUB CITY NEWS/REVIEW--(#1), Box 1584, Hattiesburg MS
39403. 40 pp., $15/yr. A collection of poetry, prose and visual
art by Americans like Richard Kostelanetz (who contributes
characteristically simple-mindedly not-so-simple narrational
lists such as "iterate irate invigorate intenurate incinerate
incorporate itinerate incarcerate inaugurate") and John M.
Bennett, and people I'd never heard of before from Germany,
Croatia and Italy.--bg
WRAY--(#3, fall 1992), PO Box 91052, Cleveland OH 44101. 72 pp.,
$3. From the SlowHouse, an ever-more-eclectic collection of
graphic/writing. The number & range of contributors continues
to expand, although editors james & valerie continue to include
much that is their own. Material ranges from Literature (w/ a
capital "L") to some pretty raw stuff--maybe still trying to
settle on a focus, or maybe just savoring the spice of life.
Layout is striking as ever, but again jumps from precision to
cut-and-paste--a collage, on balance, more Merz than punk.--lbd
XIB--(#3, 1992), PO Box 2621121, San Diego CA 92126. 48 pp.,
$4.00. Stark black&white images on the pages & in the poems,
consistent hard & well written. Attitude & tough talk, self-
assured enough to let emotion & heart show--Pat McKinnon's "My
Father Was a Carney Man" just one (fine) example among many.
Longer poems get a chance, and a short story.--lbd
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CHAPBOOKS:
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anthology: BAKER'S DOZEN--105 Betty Rd., East Meadow NY 11554.
24 pp., $3.00. Anthology: Michael Hathaway, Hugh Fox, Nate
Tate, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Harvey Miller, Bob Balo, Altan Ogniedov,
Todd Moore, Patrick McKinnon, Pamela Laskin, Gina Bergamino, A. D.
Winans, Marjorie Maddox
anthology: POEMS FROM THE NURSING HOME--Box 48852, Wichita
Kansas 67201. 40pp. A collection of poetry from the foremost
experts on life, the elderly. Innocent, honest, and loaded
with faith. These senior citizens have a lot to say, and we
have every reason to listen. A worthwhile project, and I
applaud Millie Wherritt and Gina Bergamino for undertaking
it.--dw
Blaster Al Ackerman: LET ME EAT MASSIVE PIECES OF CLAY--523 E.
38th St. Baltimore MD 21218. $3.00. The Blaster's twisted
genius has never been more in evidence than in this collection
of "Poems, etc.", so bizarre that they could only have trembled
from the hand of the master himself. Scatological narrative
grinning like angels in a sticky gutter. One can feel in these
works Blaster sitting behind it all with a six of cheap beer
laughing at all our human confusion, because he knows the secret
and he tells us straight out and we still don't get it.--jb
Sherman Alexie: I WOULD STEAL HORSES. PO Box 2071, New Market
Station, Niagara Falls NY 14301. 30 pp., $4.00. Alexie is
member of the Spokane/Coer d'Alene tribe in Washington state.
He sez that "Native American writing is about survival", & the
survival of his own voice is testament to that. Strong poetry
that acknowledges history without nostalgia, and speaks as a
survivor, not a victim.--lbd
Ron Androla and Kurt Nimmo: A POEM TO BE READ OUTLOUD--4975
Comanche Trail, Stow OH 44224. 5pp. A poetic wet-dream. An
ode to genitalia. Verbal masturbation. Is this really what
men talk about when there are no women in the room?--dw
Jessica Bayer: OBJECTS OF DESIRE--11 Slater Ave., Providence
RI 02906. 24 pp., $4.00. A personal plain-spoken meditation
on the death of her grandmother, via the "things" left behind.
"If you touch every single thing a person held dear, if you take
from their whole life and transfer the pieces to your own table
to nourish your days, isn't that one way of finally parting, of
saying, thank you?" Jessica's language touches those things one
by one, more than an inventory but not quite as sentimental as a
caress. The language builds a bridge between the substance of
the objects and the memories of a gone loved one.--lbd
Guy R. Beining--VANISHING WHORES & THE INSOMNIAC. Box 3621, Port
Charlotte FL 33949. "16 Haiku Counted in the Head of the
Insomniac" and contains 18 pages of mystery collages/drawings
with some nervously kitsch exoticism to tease the poetry. Typical
Spoon-sized edition and tasty for the most obscure palate.--bp
Charles Borkhuis: HYPNOGOGIC SONNETS--PO Box 630, New York NY
10028. 16 PP., $3.00. In dream states there are disembodied
sensations that offer potent information. This work is patterned
after the hovering of dreams. Words happen on the surface, then
they dissolve into further meaning. You follow them enjoying
the peaks of thought. The sonnets are mostly broken down into
short protruding images and ideas, as are the sharp echoes of
dream sounds. Borkhuis, a challenging poet, writes about the
linguistics of sleep and how language effects both writer and
reader.--nv
Jonathan Brannen: CRUNCHING NUMBERS--1200 Overton St., Old Hickory
TN 37138. 12 pp., $?. A collection of prose poems, each in a
single paragraph and full of such enchantments as: "When the moon
learns anchors and the wild stars howl, the bridled zero risks
fingerprints" (which I read as a splendidly authentic recreation
of Chaos's being subdued--toward Life).--bg
David Cole: THE PILLOW BOOK OF DAVID COLE & SEI SHONAGON & CAROL
STETSER--19 Grace Court #5C, Brooklyn NY 11201. 18 pp., $25.
Japanese texts from about 990 A.D. that Carol Stetser and David
Cole have treated, expanded, illustrated, annotated, translated,
lived up to... Or combinations of East and West, Then and Now,
Distance and Nearness, Serenity and Modernity that end in the
highest precincts of visual haiku.--bg
Charles Corry: PASSIVE SMOKE--Box 793, Princeton TX 75077.
59 pp. Poetry which ranges from pastoral to metaphysical.
An exploration of the human dilemma revealed through nature, war,
and ultimately, death. Extremely personal. Charming, yet
riveting. --dw
Dan Raphael: HERE THE MEAT TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE--523 E. 38th St.,
Baltimore MD 21218. 32 pp., $2.00. Faux surrealist writing
seems not to make sense; on closer examination, it's nonsense.
True surrealist writing seems not to make sense, on closer
examination, it's es-sence. This is the real deal--untranslatable
& inexplicable, but fine. In the first poem, Dan sez "i throw
away my glasses and accept my way of seeing"--the rest of the
book lets you share in his (twisted) vision.--lbd
Mike Davis: LA WAS JUST THE BEGINNING--PO Box 2726, Westfield
NJ 07091. $3.50. Subtitled "Urban Revolt in the United
States: A Thousand Points of Light", Open Media continues its
blitz of pamphlets that offer genuine intelligent alternatives
to the usual crap we are sold for information and politics.
This one, rather than playing on stereotypes, digs below the
surface of the riots in an attempt to understand the deeper
motivations behind them. As might be expected there's more to
the picture than met the eye of the twisted media.--jb
Jack Foley: GERSHWIN--2569 Maxwell Ave., Oakland CA 94601.
$4.00. Any education of contemporary poetics would be vastly
inadequate without a thorough reading of the work of Jack Foley.
He is quite simply inventing entire new regions of linguistic
and paralinguistic space. His poems have an effect on the mind
that literally forces it into these open spaces to make its own
discoveries. Gershwin is a brilliant example of these qualities
and much much more. It includes a tape so that the reader/
listener can experience the pieces more fully through the voices
that sing us out. While on the surface the poems are
juxtapositions, collages--as we dig deeper and listen more
closely we hear a multitude of individuals, ideas, images, and
complexes of these unifying all around us, indeed a part of
each of us, to compel us toward a moment of liberation; and
then, like a symphony the music begins on a new level. Gershwin
is an education for the soul as much as it is a menagerie for
the senses. Poetry that will change your life.--jb
Susan Domino Gevirtz: POINT OF ENTRY--357 Ashland Ave., Buffalo
NY 14222. 20 pp., $2.00. This is a book of recognitions about
men and women, about pronouns pronouncing "our voices," about
undeliverable utopias arriving COD. "I am the narrator in whose
accident I speak."--"I" am spoken by (a? the?) narrator in (his?)
accident? accent? At any rate, I am speaking what speaks and it
speaks to and through me as it does to you now. It preceded you.
You were born into it. It follows you around. It follows me.
Follow this: "I was the one from which I am returning."
"someone is a direct object." "They are having trouble
remembering their plot." "I overheard her describing my life in
his voice."--tb
Jordan Green: UGLY BOY POEMS--Rt.3, Box 284, Owenton KY 40359.
6pp., 75" plus 2 stamps and a SASE. Hard-core desperation and
discontented youth. Poetry which mocks American mediocrity in
the face of annihilation. Gloomy, but insightful.--dw
Mimi Holmes, "textually illuminated by Jake Berry": A SELECTION
OF SELVES--Box 3621, Port Charlotte FL 33949. Mysteriously
dense language set with 39 Berry drawings arranged by the editor.
A "gluttonous papal idea kingdom" for the "resurrected tropical
asylum Iowan".--bp
Justice Howard: MEMOIRS WHILE REACHING UP TO PLAY HANDBALL ON
THE CURB--8825 Roswell Road Suite 474, Atlanta GA 30350. 8pp.,
$3. A brutal portrayal of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Not a
pretty picture, but certainly a true one. Not recommended for
the pristine.--dw
Elizabeth Hurst: INSIDE OUT--Box 640534, San Francisco CA 94164.
26pp. Dissection of fruit, animals, and human interactions.
Eloquent. Scientifically philosophical. A trip. --dw
geof huth: LEEVS--317 Princetown Rd., Schenectady NY 12306.
40 pp $? A collector's item consisting of five labeled leaves
that have been inserted for protection into a book of blank
pages. One of the leaves, from a maple tree, has been labeled,
"mapleaf." Thus we have not only a leaf specimened two letters
less than it was alive, but leaf-as-map, or perhaps as just
one page of a map... of? The other leevs are similarly
provocative.--bg
Mori Ikuo: UNFOLDING--Box 4190, Kenosha WI 53141. broadside,
$?. Twelve visual poems, some in Japanese (but with
translations provided), some in English. My favorite, "Hole
Ranking," consists of four squares in which the dot of the "i"
in the word, "pin," expands from normal-sized to so large it
forces the rest of "pin" out of its square. Ikuo's other poems
are similarly charming explorations of perspective and point of
view.--bg
Karl Kempton: RUNE: A SURVEY--Box 4190, Kenosha WI 53141. 80 pp.,
$8. 73 "typoglifs" from Kempton's long-worked-on Rune. The
typoglifs on its front and back covers demonstrate as well as
anything what makes Kempton's work special. On the front a
design of m's pulsates within a stasis of o's, to complete the
latter's ahhhhh as "OM." On the back the same design, with just
a few extra m's, not only pulsates but glows!--bg
d.a. levy: ZEN CONCRETE & ETC--2518 Gregory St., Madison WI
53711. 245 pp., $27.50. A book its publisher describes as
"the only definitive collection of d.a. levy's works in print."
Levy was not only a brilliant wordsmith (on Cleveland, his
hometown, in particular) but a pioneer in visual poetry. He was
also a fascinating personification of the Idealism, Creativity
and Wildness of the Sixties, who, tragically, killed himself at
the age of 26.--bg
levy was an important poet who deserves to be taken seriously
as a writer & publisher. This book does that, featuring pains-
taking reproductions of some of his graphic work, long
unavailable. He also once wrote: "everytime i write a/
poem--i'm afraid--when/i'm dead it will sell/&some other poet
will/starve because no one will/buy his poems". I think he'd
hate this coffee-table book, as much as he'd hate collectors
paying $100+ for some of his early hand-printed stuff, now that
he's dead & "collectable". Druid Books (Ephraim WI 54211) has
published his collected poems in a much more righteously priced
edition; Persona Non Grata used to put out chaps free-fr-postage,
which is how d.a. woulda liked it...--lbd
Lewis, Joel PALOOKAS OF THE OZONE--1506 Grand Ave. #3 St Paul
MN 55105 32 $4.00
Ezra Mark: CODA--PO Box 23194, Seattle WA 98102. 4 pp., 25"
This is a small book of four pages, of four almost seperate
ideas. It is the motion between ideas--you need not leap, but
simply pass through acquiring keys to the next. The point of
inclusion to Coda is defined as an ending or faceted
cartographer's sequence. Though Coda is defined as an ending
or closing passage, we sense Ezra Marks reaching a place he's
already departing from--an end product.--nv
Stephen-Paul Martin: CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION--1200 Overton St.,
Old Hickory TN 37138. 19 pp., $?. Two understated absurdist
tales that teem with intricate indirect explorations of reason
versus the imagination, and the verbalizable versus the sensually
genuine. Mesmer, the father of hypnotism, stars in one; the
other concerns a man and a woman who wake up in a strange bed
with each other. Neither knows the other.--bg
Normally stories about an 18th century magnetic healer and
intimacy faced with accelerated information would not sit well
side-by-side, but here it works. Martin makes each piece an
object you can put to light and scrutinize. The two stories
are boards from which ideas dive off and get fleshed out. The
plots become sheer, like a vehicle whose only intention is
transport. This facade allows the real workings of the author
to emerge. I hear crisp twangs ending each--for accomplished
precision and for defying sullied vagueness.--nv
One of the remarkable effects of the stories in this chapbook
is that they seem to do what they are telling you about. For
instance in "The French Revolution", while reading about an
individual being hypnotized by Mesmer himself, the description
of subconscious, even hallucinatory states is so accurate that
you begin to experience the story almost as a participant--
integrated into the events being described, you as a character
contribute as well. Martin has proven with his visual writing
and now with fiction that he is an artist of powerful capability
directed at opening the world of our perceptions to greater
freedom. Essential.--jb
McKinnon, Patrick THE BELIZE POEMS 1619 Jefferson St. Duluth
MN 55812 28 $3.95
Stephen C. Middleton: THE QUANTUM OMELETTE--37 Portland St.,
Exeter ENGLAND EX1 2EG 16. Words as water, a mystical intention.
Words bouncing against each other, both spatially on the page
and contextually in their meanings, as opposites are forced
into cohabitation, and odd rhyme parodies are generated as sound
echoes and re-echos. And through it all, the ebb and flow of
the word tides, like ocean tides, advancing and retreating,
washing over you. "Firsts, lasts, causes and effects/Wrecked
echoes... to cure."--tw
Peter Money: THESE ARE MY SHOES--163 Third Ave. Suite 127, New
York NY 10003. 87pp. Following the steps of Ginsburg, Olson,
and at times, Whitman, Money still stands in his own shoes. He
is a reporter of life who always finds light at the end of the
tunnel, even if that light is just Jersey. Powerfully perceptive.
A classic.--dw
Sheila E. Murphy: WIND TOPOGRAPHY--1200 Overton St., Old Hickory
TN 37188. $3.00. Moving beyond the easiness of ordinary
surrealism, these poems carry us through atmospheres where
objects appear and act on one another but nothing seems solid.
It's as if things were in a constant state of transformation--
the body is a mutable idea in the common mind that can change
at whim. These poems are delightful excursion into what lies
behind the illusion.--jb
Greg Parker: ATTACK OF THE MUTANT SHEEP WITH BIG SHARP TEETH
FROM HELL--Box 1513, New York NY 10276. 16 pp., $1.50. A
comicbook that is gross, crude, gory, offensive--and very funny
in spots if you're as sicko as I am. The plot is simple: an
anti-superhero goes around chomping off the heads of various
human beings, including a cuddly little baby, until confronted by
Santa Claus--at which point the comic ends, to be continued.--bg
Marvin Sackner, ed.: THE BEAUTY IN BREATHING--300 West Rivo Alto
Dr., Miami Beach FL 33139. 47 pp., $?. An excellently-produced
catalog for a recent (May, 1992) exhibit in Miami of visual
poetry on the theme of simple human breathing. Of importance
to anyone interested in visual poetry, for 167 works from many
of the best visual poets from all over the world are listed,
and about half of them reproduced (in black & white).--bg
Glenn Sheldon: WOLVES IN BROWN WEDDING GOWNS--Box 7157,
Pittsburgh PA 15213. 14pp. $2. Highly sophisticated
investigation into a mad, cannibalistic world. Intriguing,
to say the least. Footnotes wouldn't have been a bad idea,
though. Not easy reading, but worth it for the challenge.
Try to unravel the mystery of the wolves.--dw
Bill Shields: BILL SHIELDS OF YOUNGWOOD, PA IS GOD--1440 Pear
St. #17, Ann Arbor MI 48105. 42pp. Forty-two poems, thirty-
four of which are entitled "ghost poem." The poet is seemingly
haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam past. Morbid flashbacks, and
visions of suicide comprise most of these poems. Redundant?
Certainly. Bizarre? Perhaps. But nevertheless, real. Too
real.--dw
Janet Snell: FLYTRAP--Cleveland State University, Cleveland
OH 44115. 59 pp., $10. A series of charcoal drawings that go
darkly manywhere via an expressionism that reminds me of Egon
Schiele and Francis Bacon. Snell provides poems for her
illustrations that generally extend rather than just rephrase
them--e.g., "Wired up to perpetual self serve,/ the meter
running--/ up from the depth arises/ nothing!/ But the phone's
always ringing/ off the wall."--bg
Juliana Spahr: NUCLEAR--357 Ashland Ave., Buffalo NY 14222.
16 pp., 2.00. One recognizes in this risk taking ruminating
collage poem of dividing energies divided "half-lives that exceed
years." Nuclear: of a nucleus. "we are born to be awake not be
asleep."Nucleus: the central part or thing about which others
are collected. "the littlest world of woman now contains atom."
This is a poem self-consciously on the edge of its annihilation.
"as the energy is liberated/one must learn to see." --tb
Chris Stroffolino: INCIDENTS (AT THE CORNER OF DESIRE & DISGUST):
POEMS 1985-1988--Box 1698, New Brunswick NJ 08903. 36pp., $3.
Stroffolino is a risk taker. He is not afraid to tackle any
issue, from religion to urban decay. Dichotomous, obscure,
and food-filled. Although he is sometimes exaggeratedly dreary,
and he tends to prematurely deliver the punches, he always hits
hard.--dw
Subraman, Belinda (ed.) The Gulf War: Many Perspectives PO
Box 370322 El Paso TX 79937 164 $10.95
John Sweet: SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS LIKE THIS--Box 782288, Wichita
Kansas 67278. 12pp. Some of these poems are like snapshots
which beautifully capture the briefest moments in life, and this
is good. Still, others tend toward contrived commentary, and
this is not so good. Sometimes it happens like this. Sometimes
it shouldn't.--dw
Jim Thiebaud: LOOSE CHANGE--Box 11462, Berkley CA 94701. 60 pp.,
$5. Ultra-contemporary commentaries on urban decay and the
superficiality of man. A tribute to American desperation.
Humorous, dismal, and thoroughly real.--dw
Thomas L. Vaultonburg: DEMENTED CHILDREN'S STORY HOUR--Box 7157,
Pittsburgh PA 15213. 8pp., $2. Raging. Demented. Raw.
Vaultonburg uses language as ammunition, and is a skilled
marksman. He can juxtapose with me any day! --dw
Jeff Vetock: FRAMEWORK--Box 11186, Philadelphia PA 19136. 24 pp.,
$5. Vetock's first collection of poetry, it includes four
collage drawings and a cover hand-colored by Vetock. Short
experimental poems, not terribly odd but they are strange
enough to hold my interest. Mysterious collage-work gives it
an edge.--bp
Eddie Watkins: A GREEN DIGESTION OF NIGHT--315 Mullberry St.,
Lewes DE 19958. 28 pp., $2. Freaky rich language in dense
poems kept me interested in Watkins' effort. Nice price and
worth it.--bp
Paul Weinman & Blair Wilson: YOUR NOSE KNOWS--7940 Convoy Court,
San Diego CA 92111. 26 pp. Street-level poetry from the
prolific Paul Weinman. He gets himself wound up like a top and
then explodes on the page, and the poems move from childish to
malevolent very quickly. The more you get into this chapbook
the more intense it gets. Interspersed with drawings by Blair
Wilson.--rkk
Donald Wellman: THE HOUSE IN THE FIELDS--29 Lynton PL., White
Plains NY 10606. 16 pp. Wellman's work is concise. His images
evoke a crisp awareness. Here we have 21 poems, each flawless,
forming a chain of thought. The word that ends a poem is title
for the proceeding one. Tangent thought becomes the spearhead
of intention--the ruminations of an observed periphery makes
this read a challenging construction of poetic staring.--nv
Gail D. Whitter and Karen Ballinger: RESISTING THE SUN and
ISOLATION--Box 64026-555 Clarke Rd., Coquitlam, B.C., CANADA
V3J 7V6. 32pp. The blues, as only women can sing them. A
tribute to the bag lady. To the battered wife. To the mother
dying of cancer. Painful, yet triumphant, and ultimately, what
womanhood is all about.--dw
Maw Shein Win: TALES OF A LONELY MEAT EATER--4646 Grisham Ave.,
Long Beach CA 90805. 95pp. ,$7.50. A collection of poetry and
prose. Psychedelic fairy-tales reminiscent of childhood dreams
and adult nightmares. Bold.--dw
t. Winter-Damon: THE HOUR OF HALLUCINATIONS--PO Box 321, Beech
Grove IN 46107. 52 PP., $5.95. This is Baudelairian visionary
excess at its finest, with a bit of Rimbaud (and Rambo) mixed
into the brew. Damon does a Dionysian danse macabra on the
razor's edge of things, like a shaman invoking intense verbal
energies to shake the mental routine and reveal the delicious
terrors just beyond the edges of your senses. His poems are
great sweeps of language, swinging back around you, forming
satisfying circles of imagery you didn't even suspect until
they were done. At their best, these poems are like strong
nectar. Exotic, intoxicating and addictive.--tw
Ronald Zack: DETROIT--Box 2520, Shiprock NM 87420. 18pp., $2.
Poetry probing into the ruins of buried cultures and torrid
love affairs. Simple, yet effective language which traces
the manic and depressive phases of living and loving.
Accurate.--dw
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From: au462@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Robert Drake)
Newsgroups: alt.artcom
Subject: TapRoot Reviews #1 (poetry etc.)
Date: 13 Dec 1992 23:34:13 GMT
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Issue #1.1 12/92
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TapRoot is a quarterly publication of Independent, Underground,
and Experimental language-centered arts. Over the past 10 years,
we have published 40+ collections of poetry, writing, and visio-
verbal art in a variety of formats. In the August of 1992, we
began publish TapRoot Reviews, featuring a wide range of "Micro-
Press" publications, primarily language-oriented. The printed
version appears as part of a local (Cleveland Ohio) poetry
tabloid, the Cleveland Review. This posting is the electronic
version, containing all of the short reviews that seem to be
of general interest. We provide this information in the hope
that netters do not limit their reading to E-mail & BBSs.
Please e-mail your feedback to the editor, Luigi-Bob Drake, at:
au462@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Requests for e-mail subsctiptions should be sent to the same
address--they are free, please indicate what you are requesting.
Hard-copies of The Cleveland Review contain additional review
material--in this issue, reviews & articles by John M. Bennett,
geof huth, Micheal Basinski, Tom Willoch--as well as a variety
of poetry prose & grafix. It is available from: Burning Press,
PO Box 585, Lakewood OH 44107--$2.50 pp. Both the print &
electronic versions of TapRoot are copyright 1992 by Burning
Press, Cleveland. Burning Press is a non-profit educational
corporation. Permission granted to reproduce this material FOR
NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES, provided that this introductory notice
is included. Burning Press is supported, in part, with funds
from the Ohio Arts Council.
Reviewers: Deidre Wickers, Jake Berry, Bill Paulauskas, Nico
Vassilakis, Bob Grumman, Tom Beckett, Roger Kyle-Keith, and
Luigi-Bob Drake. Many thanx to all contributors.
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'ZINES:
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BACKWOODS--(#16), 224 Elizabeth St., Athens GA 30601. $3.00.
Classic underground mag includes bizarre artwork, collages,
comics, gritty and even transcendent poetry, some good stories
and a great back cover of Jesus catching a few rays on a stolen
Holiday Inn towel. Irreverence with style, the heart of the
insurrection.--jb
BLANK GUN SILENCER--1240 William St., Racine WI 53402. 40 pages,
$2. A magazine that takes chances and publishes a wide variety
of edge poets. Lists addresses of contributors as well as listing
other interesting magazines.--bp
BREAK TO OPEN--(#1), 2965 13th St., Boulder Colorado 80304.
$3.50. Experimental open form poetry and visuals--most of it very
good, inviting the ordinary mind into new spaces. Also a review
section. Let's hope this one remains in publication.--jb
CENTRAL PARK--(#21, Spring 1992), PO Box 1446, New York NY 10023.
222 pp., $7.50. Strong committed work--fictions poetry drama
essays--all informed by a political engagement with the world.
Sometimes fiction & poetry can address "worldly" concerns even
better than exposition; seeming to let in more of the complexity
of the real world. But even Margaret Randall's essay, on being
a political/lesbian/artist in the land of the NEA and INS, goes
further than an over-simplified "censorship is evil" chant (not,
of course, to suggest that censorship is not evil...). Mostly
writing, with some strong photographic images, including a series
of Navajos who are threatened with forced relocation. Only a
little ironic that such radical politics comes in such a slick
package...--lbd
CO-LINGUA--6735 SE 78th, Portland OR 97206. $5.00? An anthology
of over 15 years of Dan Raphael's magazine NRG. If you want to
understand what's happening on the edges of literary, and
visualature work then this is the place to begin. One gets a
sense of both the "avant garde" and Raphael's editorial vision
evolving from one wonderfully open perspective to another. The
work leaps and sings hungry for new experience, hungry for some
other that defies ordinary syntax, sensibility and logic. After
a while a kind of lunatic joy emerges, implying there may be some
small hope for the species after all. Three large tabloid
sections of excellent artistry.--jb
COFFEEHOUSE POETS QUARTERLY--(Spring 1992), 3412 Erving, Berthoud
CO 80513. 38 pp., $3.00. The poetry is sincere & conversational,
but subject matter & voice run the gamut. Heartfelt poems about
AmerIndians & whales to funny stuff about the Kennedy clan to
dead serious memories of Nam--the editors have eclectic tastes,
self-described as "meat & potatoes". Beyond the poetry basics,
they sponsor a sort of poetry pen-pal listing called the Poets
Dialog Network, as well as the Chapbook Exchange--listings of
folks who will send you copies of their work for the price of
postage. Generous & friendly.--lbd
COKEFISHING ON MOODY STREET--(#27, spring 1992), 31 A. Waterloo
St., New Hope PA 18938. 52 pp. Cohabitation of Cokefish
magazine (frm AlphaBeat Press, address ibid) and the Moody
Street Irregular's Jack Kerouac newsletter (PO Box 157, Clarence
Center NY, 14032).
DREAMS & NIGHTMARES--(#38!), 1300 Kicker Rd., Tuscaloosa AL
35404. 20 pp., $10/yr. A magazine of fantastic poetry that's
also nicely illustrated. An entertaining sample of its poetry
is one by W. Gregory Stewart about Sisyphus--who "does not
understand/ TGIF," among other things, but does know things like
diddly and squat, "And while he has no proof/ that the gods wear
pocket protectors/ he strongly suspects it."--bg
Mostly poetry in the sci-fi/fantasy vein, avoiding blood & gore
as well as cliches. Even has some surreal and cut-up kinds of
stuff, including an exquisite corpse collaboration done on the
GEnie electronic bulletin board. Seems to have won awards in
the SF fandom world, and would be a good introduction to the
genre for non-fans.--lbd
DUSTY DOG REVIEWS--(#s 6&7, 1992), 1904-A Gladden, Gallup NM
87301. 52 pp., $2. Reviews of 100+ small press poetry books &
chapbooks. Very thoughtful and wide-ranging, with most reviews
running to several substantial paragraphs. The reviewer has
strong opinions about good & bad, which he backs up with reasoning
& (often) quotations from the works. But I never got a good fix
on how his particular tastes ran--on the stuff I was familiar
with, could never predict if he'd give it a "yea" or "nay". --lbd
A small price for a lot of reading; a magazine of good solid
reviews, focusing on small press chapbooks and poetry books.
Literate, informed as well as informative. David Castleman's
reviews in particular show a keen insight into voice and style,
but may be more enjoyable for people who already have a groundwork
in poetic theory than than non-academic enthusiasts.--rkk
EXPERIMENTAL (BASEMENT)--(#1, Feb. 1991), 3740 N. Romero Rd.
#A-191, Tucson AZ 85705. 52 PP., $4. Appealing to the senses
rather than the sense--triangular pages, layout twisted to match
the syntax, neologisms, & metaphors that've never met before.
Some people complain that this kind of work doesn't "mean"
anything--when really, it's just words that can't be put into
other words ("translated", in otherwords). --lbd
FAT FREE--(Aug.), Box 80743, Athens GA 30608. 10 pp., free?
A valuable showcase for new writers and illustrators. Its editor
seems open to a wide variety of material--this issue ranges from
a sophisticated cover drawing by Homer Springer to a somewhat
childlike (but likeable) illustrated poem by Random Art Transfer:
"Ants climb my ankles/ like to bite the flesh/ don't like my
voodoo feet./ stamping out their nest."--bg
FISH DRUM--(#9), 626 Kathryn Ave., Santa Fe NM 87501. 36 pp.,
$2.50. A chapbook masquerading as a magazine, or vice versa:
Unborn Baby by Miriam Sagan. Transplanted from the east coast,
Miriam's at her best when she's just who she is, tourist or or
writer or expectant mother; other times she strains a little,
stretching to embrace the exotic space of New Mexico or Zen.
A performance of these poems is available on cassette from Rotcod
Zzaj, aka Dick Metcalf (HQ 19th SUPCOM, Unit 15015 PO Box 2879,
APO AP 96218-0171)--interesting to hear a male & techno-processed
voice interpreting these woman-centered words.--lbd
This issue is called Unborn Baby, a virtual chapbook of Miriam
Sagan's poetry. Her work here is straight down the line,
traditional free verse, breaking no new stylistic ground. It is,
however, vivid, concrete, highly understandable, perhaps
too schmoozy at times. Real plots and narratives in every
piece, stepping over the line into prosey at times, but never
prosaic.--rkk
FUEL--(#1, 1992), PO Box 146640, Chicago IL 60614. 42 pp., $3.00.
From the former ed. of "Mutated Viruses", this is one incredibly
energetic poetry 'zine, plus a coupla proses. Where the Beat's
listened to jazz for inspiration, punk is the background music
here (tho i'd guess slamming, not moshing, is the dance style).
For ex-sample, from Glenn Shedon: "The diamonds in her head
glittered brightly as god's dark elf/ cracker her against the
sidewalk like a bag of beautiful bones." Style is appropriately
reflected in the computer/laser layout, a combination raw &
high-tech. The editor's also involved w/ a forthcoming review-
zine called Scrape--write for info.--lbd
GLOBAL MAIL--(#3, Sept. 1992), PO Box 597996, Chicago IL 60659.
4 pp., $2. A huge mail-art contact sheet--over 180 shows listed,
many of which are ongoing. Also listings for compilations,
fax-art, collaborative tapes, and some 'zines. An incredible
resource, so dense it's somewhat hard to read.--lbd
GREEN FUSE--(#16, spring/summer 1992), 3365 Holland Dr., Santa
Rosa CA 95405. 48 pp., $4.50. Poetry from an environmentalist
viewpoint--Gary Snyder and Antler would, I'm sure, be welcome.
Paul Willis paints a lovely picture ("Rain on lemons/hung aloft
in winter shine/of limb-leaved skies/trickling down tart
skins..."), and Elizabeth Herron's "Drownded Woman" series is
a fine mesh of language & image. Other poets seem limited by
their ecological concerns--when issues are drawn in black &
white, the resulting poetry can sometimes seem colorless.--lbd
GYPSY--(#17, 1991), PO Box 370322, El Paso,TX 79937. 73 pp.,
$7.00. Mostly poetry from an international cast--Korea to Saudi
Arabia--and the writing is as far-flung. Straight talk is
favored over fancy, which in the end is the more impressive as
it gets the point across. Love and death are frequent subjects,
with darker visions edging out light-hearted by a bit.--lbd
Haight Ashbury Literary Journal Vol. 6 #2, 1992 558 Joost Ave.
San Francisco CA 94127 16 $2.00
IMPROVIJAZZATION--(Summer, 1992), c/o Dick Metcalf, HQ 19th
SUPCOM, UNIT 15015, PO BOX 2879 APO AP 96218. 20 pp., $1.50.
A good zine for informal but informed--and generally
enthusiastic--reviews and observations about experioddica,
with the emphasis on audio tapes. It includes mail art show
announcements and pertinent names and addresses, so is a good
aid to networking.--bg
KRAX--(No.28), c/o 63 Dixon Lane, Leeds LS12 4RR, Yorkshire,
U.K. 550pp. An international compilation of poetry and prose,
featuring odd illustrations and photos as well. Some really
decent talent. Among the better of the pieces is "Bridgework"
by E.J. Cullen--an allegorical story which, through the world
of dentistry, expresses the superficiality of life. The final
lines say it best: "The rot comes on. The rot will have its
way. Those teeth will go, as all have gone before." Deep.--dw
LILLIPUT REVIEW--(#s 37 & 38, 1992), 207 S. Millvale Ave. #3,
Pittsburgh PA 15224. 12 pp., $1 or SASE. True to its name,
tiny collections of tiny (10 lines maximum) poems. Although
there aren't many traditional 5-7-5 haiku, most of the work
relies on the kind of imagistic snapshot that most Westerners
associate with that tradition. Not always pretty snapshots:
check Lyn Lifshin's "AIDS Hospice" or Viet Nam vet Bill Shields'
"a purple enough heart".--lbd
LOGODAEDALUS--(#2), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA 17104. 24 pp., $2.
Characteristic of the work featured in this poetry zine is
Robert Fitterman's "2 Two." Its theme, appropriately, is
division, which it investigates through the fragmentation of
words and syllables, such as the isolation of "out" from
"about"-- or, going the other way, the drawing together from
twoness of "you ---- I," who "might/ split/ this bis-/ cotti."--bg
LONG BEACH GUTS-ETTE--(#5, May 1992), PO Box 2730, Long Beach
CA 90801. 6 pp., free for postage. This broadside (8" x 11")
puts accessibility above all else; the editors urge readers to
photocopy the magazine and spread it around. A refreshing
editorial policy! Mostly angry political poetry from the left,
with an emphasis on the "guts" part of the magazine's name.
Poems in here from Joyce Carbone, Belinda Subraman and Albert
Huffstickler, among others, make for a good primer of modern
narrative poetry.--rkk
LOST & FOUND TIMES--(#30, July 1992), 137 Leland Ave., Columbus
OH 43214. 60 pp., $4.00. Radical & violent (& beautiful)
attacks on the world as we know it, as mediated by language.
Surrealism drawing more often from nightmares than dreams.
A particularly dense issue, and international in scope, it
includes work in Spanish & German, as well as a generous selection
of Russian work in visual and Zaumist modes. Collaborations
between the editor John M. Bennett and various are a continued
feature, as are Al Ackerman's "hacks" (aleatory re-readings
based on poems Bennett). John's taking a break for a year, and
will be sorely missed.--lbd
LOWER LIMIT SPEECH--(#3), 725 East Taylor St., San Jose CA 95112.
24 pp., $? "A newsletter in poetics," that, this time out,
includes criticism and poetry by Susan Smith Nash which
illuminate each other; criticism of David Bromige (by Crag Hill)
and poetry by Bromige which do the same; and some fascinating
"performance criticism" by Gerald Burns, on poems by Steve
McCaffery and Laura Moriarty.--bg
MAKE ROOM FOR DADA--(#4, 1992), 1705 14th #272, Boulder CO 80302.
34 pp., $3.00. The Boulder CO address & occasional drug
references make me think there's some connection to Naropa
(where Ginsberg holds forth). The poetry is more down-to-earth
than my remembrance of hippie-kids from there, and better
written. Amari Baraka kicks it off strong, & black/proud;
Jack Collom does the last call in the "Sundown Saloon"; in
between, Bukowski probably speaks for everyone concerened when
he sez "the Paris Review ain't crap/to me".--lbd
MALLIFE--(#22, summer 1992), PO Box 17686, Phoenix AZ 85011.
40 pp., $3. Mike Miskowski keeps cramming more & more into his
magazines, this one feature a strong dose of prose (stories by
Stephan-Paul Martin & Willie Smith among others) as well as the
usual urban nightmares, futurist/cyberpunk ragings, extremes of
energy & delusion... Unlike some of this ilk, it's more than
random splatterings--seems purposeful, even political, and
highly recommended.--lbd
MODOM--(#3), PO Box 3112, Florence AL 35630. broadside. 15
pieces by Pavel Mitjushev of Moscow on an 11x17" broadside.
Experimental & ranging from concrete to conceptual, w/ some
pieces in Russian, and some reduced in size 'til they're too
small to read. Jake Berry is the instigator behind the open-
ended Modom project--write him for details on how to
participate.--lbd
MR. COGITO--(#29), PO Box 66124, Portland OR 97266. 24 pp., $3.
A magazine that seems to reflect an editor's personal & eclectic
taste, rather than follow some particular style or genre--which
is a great way to edit, but makes it hard to sum up in a few
lines. Several strong Native American voices, & more than half
of the contributors hailing from the Pacific Northwest. Solid,
no-frills poetry.--lbd
NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW--(vol. 16 #2, 1992), 20 Werneth
Ave., Gee Cross, Hype, Chesire U.K. SK14 5NL. 36 pp., #2/$5.00.
A review-zine concentrating mostly on micro-press poetry, with
some politics, recordings, and software reviews thrown in.
About 300 items reviewed, maybe two-thirds from the UK, most of
the rest are Amerikan. Some of the work reviewed is quite old.
The reviewers are not afraid to pass judgement, but take the
responsibility serious & back up their opinions with reasons
and quotes.--lbd
OFFERTA SPECIALE--(#9) Corso De Nicola, 20 - 10128 Torino,
Italia. 56 pp., $7. An Italian zine with work from a wide
assortment of international poets and visual artists. In one
piece Bill Keith plays fascinating games with "adam/madam,"
"atom/tomato" and the like in the Garden of Eden. In another,
Franco Ballabeni, combines formal musical notation with text
and illumagery.--bg
ON THE BUS--(#8/9, 1991), 6421 1/2 Orange St., Los Angeles CA
90048. 336 pp., $13.50. Huge. Enormous. Gargantuan.
Massive. Monstrous. Whopping. Overwhelming. & so on... 90+
pages of poetry; 30 pages of translation; a Joyce Carol Oates
story; interviews with Anne Waldman, Ai, Alison Lurie, Tom
McGrath; articles on Surrealism and Bukowski; 30 pages of
reviews... One editor claims "we're still Walt's (and Emily's)
children, and our tastes are broad and democratic" and the
selection proves it--prose-poems, streetwise raps, a shape poem
(in the form of a noose), lyrics & laments--something for
everyone.--lbd
OWEN WISTER REVIEW--(Vol. 15 #2, Fall 1992), P.O. Box 4238,
University Station Laramie, WY 82071. 86 pp., $5. Put out
by students at the University of Wyoming, OWR has the up-and-down
quality you'd expect from a mix of students, faculty and outside
contributors, though lots more "up" than "down." This issue
focuses on cultural diversity, with a strong graphic design and
artwork spread liberally throughout. Something in here for
everyone.--rkk
PLASTIC TOWER--(#s 10 &11, 1992), PO Box 702, Bowied MD 20718.
40 pp., $2.50. For the most part, over-the-back-fence, over-a-
cup-of-coffee kind of conversations without fancy or flowery
language--just something that happened, something I was
thinking about, something I wanted to tell you. An emphasis
on content rather than form, where the speaker wants to make
sure you understand. The Persian Gulf war offered several
notable occasions for such work in #10. Exceptionally, Thomas
Zimmerman's haiku is fine and precisely drawn, and Kelly
Washbourne's work in #11 is playful and melodic. A handful of
reviews take up the last few pages of each issue.--lbd
POETIC BRIEFS--(#8, Oct. 1992), 404 Jersey St. (rear), Buffalo
NY 14213. 16 pp., $1.25. Conversations on poetry & poetics,
fairly heady stuff handled as a chat among friends instead of
a lecture, sermon, or manifesto. Many of the participants are
connected to the State University of NY at Buffalo, where
Charles Bernstein recently took over the poetics program from
Robert Creeley. High-level intellectual fire-power, sounding
more curious & genuinely human than most lit-crit.--lbd
ReBeat #2, fall 1992 PO Box 13387 Salem OR 97309 24 free fr
postage remove history--
RIVER RAT REVIEW--(#6, 1992), PO Box 24198, Lexington KY 40524.
32 pp., $3.00. Hard-hitting and well-honed, sometimes there's
a tension between the craftedness of these poems and the
violence of the subject matter. Suicide, sex, drugs & betrayal--
this is not a prettified view of life. The work rings true, as
honest and necessary, which is somewhat rare in the genre.
"Published annually, submissions are excepted only during
October"--lbd
RIVER STYX (#36, 1992), 14 S. Euclid St., Louis MO 63108.
108 pp., $7. High-quality poetry in the MFA mold. Polished
gems, crisp & precise & somehow more perfect than anything real.
A pal calls it "high & dry lit". Subject matter seems to be
either life-&-death, or ordinary but heightened to that kind
of level. I often admire & sometimes enjoy the display of
technique--othertimes I mistrust the separateness &
elevation.--lbd
SENSORIA FROM CENSORIUM--Other Ground Works, Box 147 Station J,
Toronto Ontario M4J 4X8, Canada. 180 pp., $17.00. Compendium
of artifacts from an independent cultural network conjoining
mailart, home-tapers, underground cartoonists, computer
hackers, and assorted anarcho-bon vivants. Documentary
(articles & interviews on mailart, extreme-music 'zines,
plagiarism) and graphics dominate, plus a 7" record. A short
time ago, this would have been typewritten/scrawled & run off
on a cheezy xerox--this is typeset, perfect-bound & glossy.
Despite that, I suspect they'd think of TapRoot as mainstream.
Beautiful.--lbd
SHATTERED WIG REVIEW--(#8, Spring), 1992 523 E. 38th St.,
Baltimore MD 21218. 88 pp., $3.50. Demented & raw writing
from denizens of Wig House (Wig Head Rupert Wondolowski &
recent resident "Blaster" Al Ackerman) and allies. Fun &
funny--both funny "ha ha" & funny "peculiar"--sometimes
nonsensical, absurd rather than surreal. Equal doses of poetry,
prose, and letters (strange unbelievable letters, among the most
entertaining work), illustrations scrawled or cut-up. One
suspects chemical imbalances, either naturally occurring or
induced. And consider: their title is an anagram for "That's
Right, Wee Weird Eve"--scary, ain't it?--lbd
SHEILA-NA-GIG--(#4), 23106 Kent Ave., Torrance CA 90505. 70 pp.,
$5.00. Most of the poems here are heavy on images, painting
pictures to tell the story. Occasional sounding "Californian"
(talk about mantras & crystals) or even naive, these are for
the most part pretty down to earth, and earnest. July 1st is
the submission deadline for an annual Women's Issue.--lbd
SIDESHOW--(#2, 1990), 2951 Voorheis, Waterford MI 48328. 68 pp.,
$4.50. Fine set of poetry that matches twisted visions &
tortured words, near hallucinations grounded in a somewhat
harsh & bleak reality. nice balance of consistence & variety.
Faves include Sheila Murphy's one-liner "eye texture, woman pink
unchanged decomposition", Pat Longes "barbara jane Boogie" (not
just for the line "holy cadillahoppers", but that helps), and
Elaine Seech's "cunt".--lbd
SLIPSTREAM--(#12, 1992), PO Box 2071, New Market Station, Niagara
Falls NY 14301. 128 pp., $5.00. The Working Stiff issue, a
thick slab of poems about jobs. Mostly what you'd expect--the
job is monotonous, the boss is an asshole--stories for the most
part, plain-spoken and funny/bitter. Slipstream's usual (high)
level or quality, no tricks and anxious to communicate. Of
course, here in the US of A, you're more likely to be a working
stiff if you are white & male--that demographic seems to be
reflected in the poets (or at least the personae) here.--lbd
TALISMAN--(#9, fall 1992), PO Box 1117, Hoboken NJ 07030.
222 pp., $5. "A Journal of Contemporary Poetry & Poetics"--
including interviews, critical essays, and generous samples of
current practice. Featuring several critical articles on
Nathaniel Mackey, "post bebop" black avant-garde writer--would
have liked to see some examples of his work as well. The poetry
is for the most part precise & formal. Old-guard L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E
folks (Bruce Andrews, Ray DiPalma, Jackson Mac Low, Ron Silliman)
& younger voices in the same vein providing most of the strongest
pieces; Serge Gavronsky, Kathleen Frazier, Gale Nelson
contributing work with heart as well as head. Other poems reflect
wide-ranging stylistic tastes, though not all are as successful
as those holding closest to the editor's central intellectual
concerns.--lbd
THE STREETFIGHTING AESTHETE--(#3), Box 5243 Kreole Station,
Moss Point MS 39562. 20 pp., $2. A nice range of otherstream
poems. Editor Roberts, for instance, provides ringingly regional
ones that weirdly but effectively weave gingham skies with KKK
swamps. The illustrations are at a high level, too: Blair
Wilson's, for example, would not seem out of place in a
slickzine--except for the rubbery erotic way they slip into
surrealism.--bg
THE SUBTLE JOURNAL OF RAW COINAGE--(#55), 317 Princetown Rd.,
Schenectady NY 12306. SASE. Just a scrap of twice folded paper
entitled "Alterior" (a word of Bill Larsellar's), and containing
but 5 words, aside from credits & publishing data. it doesn't
seem impressive but I think Lorraine Schein's contribution to
it, "electicity," sums it up very nicely.--bg
TIGHT--(Vol.3 #3), PO Box 1591, Guerneville CA 95446. $3.50
Tight should be noted for the broad range of materials it
publishes. Everything from confessional and neo-beat to
surrealistic and beyond with some good visuals thrown in.
Every issue is a great ride and this one is no exception.--jb
Ann Erickson edits it and it contains a wide range of poetic
styles. A bit light on experimental work, but I like Ann's
poetry and it's in here.--bp
TRANSMOG--(#7), Rt 6 Box 138, Charleston WV 25311. 6 pp., $?.
Showcases dislocational poems like one by Surllama that clobbers
spelling, grammar, syntax, SANITY to speak, for example, of
"these kingdoms- quieu; what butterfly buts u b tleel atoms,,
poses/try to DREENK the stars 1/2)," which I read as: "a quiet
too quiet for its final t where butterflies, subtle atoms, try
to more than merely drink the stars ..."--bg
URBANUS--(#3, 1992), PO Box 192561, San Francisco CA 94119.
48 pp., $5. The poems here are rated just like movies-- I
guess Todd Moore got an "R" for mentioning sex & guns in the
same breath, even tho neither one actually fires. Other poems
here seem loaded, but don't quite explode. Urbanus is an annual,
they also publish another annual called Raizirr, which may or
may not be similar.--lbd
VITAL PULSE--(Volume 1, #1), ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington St.,
New York NY 10002. 18pp. A group of alternative writers meet
weekly to "share words." This is their effort. Impressive, for
a first issue. Love and one-night stands, euphoria and withdrawal.
Absolutely New York. Hard-core and hearty.--dw
ViZ: THE HUB CITY NEWS/REVIEW--(#1), Box 1584, Hattiesburg MS
39403. 40 pp., $15/yr. A collection of poetry, prose and visual
art by Americans like Richard Kostelanetz (who contributes
characteristically simple-mindedly not-so-simple narrational
lists such as "iterate irate invigorate intenurate incinerate
incorporate itinerate incarcerate inaugurate") and John M.
Bennett, and people I'd never heard of before from Germany,
Croatia and Italy.--bg
WRAY--(#3, fall 1992), PO Box 91052, Cleveland OH 44101. 72 pp.,
$3. From the SlowHouse, an ever-more-eclectic collection of
graphic/writing. The number & range of contributors continues
to expand, although editors james & valerie continue to include
much that is their own. Material ranges from Literature (w/ a
capital "L") to some pretty raw stuff--maybe still trying to
settle on a focus, or maybe just savoring the spice of life.
Layout is striking as ever, but again jumps from precision to
cut-and-paste--a collage, on balance, more Merz than punk.--lbd
XIB--(#3, 1992), PO Box 2621121, San Diego CA 92126. 48 pp.,
$4.00. Stark black&white images on the pages & in the poems,
consistent hard & well written. Attitude & tough talk, self-
assured enough to let emotion & heart show--Pat McKinnon's "My
Father Was a Carney Man" just one (fine) example among many.
Longer poems get a chance, and a short story.--lbd
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CHAPBOOKS:
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anthology: BAKER'S DOZEN--105 Betty Rd., East Meadow NY 11554.
24 pp., $3.00. Anthology: Michael Hathaway, Hugh Fox, Nate
Tate, Cheryl Boyce Taylor, Harvey Miller, Bob Balo, Altan Ogniedov,
Todd Moore, Patrick McKinnon, Pamela Laskin, Gina Bergamino, A. D.
Winans, Marjorie Maddox
anthology: POEMS FROM THE NURSING HOME--Box 48852, Wichita
Kansas 67201. 40pp. A collection of poetry from the foremost
experts on life, the elderly. Innocent, honest, and loaded
with faith. These senior citizens have a lot to say, and we
have every reason to listen. A worthwhile project, and I
applaud Millie Wherritt and Gina Bergamino for undertaking
it.--dw
Blaster Al Ackerman: LET ME EAT MASSIVE PIECES OF CLAY--523 E.
38th St. Baltimore MD 21218. $3.00. The Blaster's twisted
genius has never been more in evidence than in this collection
of "Poems, etc.", so bizarre that they could only have trembled
from the hand of the master himself. Scatological narrative
grinning like angels in a sticky gutter. One can feel in these
works Blaster sitting behind it all with a six of cheap beer
laughing at all our human confusion, because he knows the secret
and he tells us straight out and we still don't get it.--jb
Sherman Alexie: I WOULD STEAL HORSES. PO Box 2071, New Market
Station, Niagara Falls NY 14301. 30 pp., $4.00. Alexie is
member of the Spokane/Coer d'Alene tribe in Washington state.
He sez that "Native American writing is about survival", & the
survival of his own voice is testament to that. Strong poetry
that acknowledges history without nostalgia, and speaks as a
survivor, not a victim.--lbd
Ron Androla and Kurt Nimmo: A POEM TO BE READ OUTLOUD--4975
Comanche Trail, Stow OH 44224. 5pp. A poetic wet-dream. An
ode to genitalia. Verbal masturbation. Is this really what
men talk about when there are no women in the room?--dw
Jessica Bayer: OBJECTS OF DESIRE--11 Slater Ave., Providence
RI 02906. 24 pp., $4.00. A personal plain-spoken meditation
on the death of her grandmother, via the "things" left behind.
"If you touch every single thing a person held dear, if you take
from their whole life and transfer the pieces to your own table
to nourish your days, isn't that one way of finally parting, of
saying, thank you?" Jessica's language touches those things one
by one, more than an inventory but not quite as sentimental as a
caress. The language builds a bridge between the substance of
the objects and the memories of a gone loved one.--lbd
Guy R. Beining--VANISHING WHORES & THE INSOMNIAC. Box 3621, Port
Charlotte FL 33949. "16 Haiku Counted in the Head of the
Insomniac" and contains 18 pages of mystery collages/drawings
with some nervously kitsch exoticism to tease the poetry. Typical
Spoon-sized edition and tasty for the most obscure palate.--bp
Charles Borkhuis: HYPNOGOGIC SONNETS--PO Box 630, New York NY
10028. 16 PP., $3.00. In dream states there are disembodied
sensations that offer potent information. This work is patterned
after the hovering of dreams. Words happen on the surface, then
they dissolve into further meaning. You follow them enjoying
the peaks of thought. The sonnets are mostly broken down into
short protruding images and ideas, as are the sharp echoes of
dream sounds. Borkhuis, a challenging poet, writes about the
linguistics of sleep and how language effects both writer and
reader.--nv
Jonathan Brannen: CRUNCHING NUMBERS--1200 Overton St., Old Hickory
TN 37138. 12 pp., $?. A collection of prose poems, each in a
single paragraph and full of such enchantments as: "When the moon
learns anchors and the wild stars howl, the bridled zero risks
fingerprints" (which I read as a splendidly authentic recreation
of Chaos's being subdued--toward Life).--bg
David Cole: THE PILLOW BOOK OF DAVID COLE & SEI SHONAGON & CAROL
STETSER--19 Grace Court #5C, Brooklyn NY 11201. 18 pp., $25.
Japanese texts from about 990 A.D. that Carol Stetser and David
Cole have treated, expanded, illustrated, annotated, translated,
lived up to... Or combinations of East and West, Then and Now,
Distance and Nearness, Serenity and Modernity that end in the
highest precincts of visual haiku.--bg
Charles Corry: PASSIVE SMOKE--Box 793, Princeton TX 75077.
59 pp. Poetry which ranges from pastoral to metaphysical.
An exploration of the human dilemma revealed through nature, war,
and ultimately, death. Extremely personal. Charming, yet
riveting. --dw
Dan Raphael: HERE THE MEAT TURNS TO THE AUDIENCE--523 E. 38th St.,
Baltimore MD 21218. 32 pp., $2.00. Faux surrealist writing
seems not to make sense; on closer examination, it's nonsense.
True surrealist writing seems not to make sense, on closer
examination, it's es-sence. This is the real deal--untranslatable
& inexplicable, but fine. In the first poem, Dan sez "i throw
away my glasses and accept my way of seeing"--the rest of the
book lets you share in his (twisted) vision.--lbd
Mike Davis: LA WAS JUST THE BEGINNING--PO Box 2726, Westfield
NJ 07091. $3.50. Subtitled "Urban Revolt in the United
States: A Thousand Points of Light", Open Media continues its
blitz of pamphlets that offer genuine intelligent alternatives
to the usual crap we are sold for information and politics.
This one, rather than playing on stereotypes, digs below the
surface of the riots in an attempt to understand the deeper
motivations behind them. As might be expected there's more to
the picture than met the eye of the twisted media.--jb
Jack Foley: GERSHWIN--2569 Maxwell Ave., Oakland CA 94601.
$4.00. Any education of contemporary poetics would be vastly
inadequate without a thorough reading of the work of Jack Foley.
He is quite simply inventing entire new regions of linguistic
and paralinguistic space. His poems have an effect on the mind
that literally forces it into these open spaces to make its own
discoveries. Gershwin is a brilliant example of these qualities
and much much more. It includes a tape so that the reader/
listener can experience the pieces more fully through the voices
that sing us out. While on the surface the poems are
juxtapositions, collages--as we dig deeper and listen more
closely we hear a multitude of individuals, ideas, images, and
complexes of these unifying all around us, indeed a part of
each of us, to compel us toward a moment of liberation; and
then, like a symphony the music begins on a new level. Gershwin
is an education for the soul as much as it is a menagerie for
the senses. Poetry that will change your life.--jb
Susan Domino Gevirtz: POINT OF ENTRY--357 Ashland Ave., Buffalo
NY 14222. 20 pp., $2.00. This is a book of recognitions about
men and women, about pronouns pronouncing "our voices," about
undeliverable utopias arriving COD. "I am the narrator in whose
accident I speak."--"I" am spoken by (a? the?) narrator in (his?)
accident? accent? At any rate, I am speaking what speaks and it
speaks to and through me as it does to you now. It preceded you.
You were born into it. It follows you around. It follows me.
Follow this: "I was the one from which I am returning."
"someone is a direct object." "They are having trouble
remembering their plot." "I overheard her describing my life in
his voice."--tb
Jordan Green: UGLY BOY POEMS--Rt.3, Box 284, Owenton KY 40359.
6pp., 75" plus 2 stamps and a SASE. Hard-core desperation and
discontented youth. Poetry which mocks American mediocrity in
the face of annihilation. Gloomy, but insightful.--dw
Mimi Holmes, "textually illuminated by Jake Berry": A SELECTION
OF SELVES--Box 3621, Port Charlotte FL 33949. Mysteriously
dense language set with 39 Berry drawings arranged by the editor.
A "gluttonous papal idea kingdom" for the "resurrected tropical
asylum Iowan".--bp
Justice Howard: MEMOIRS WHILE REACHING UP TO PLAY HANDBALL ON
THE CURB--8825 Roswell Road Suite 474, Atlanta GA 30350. 8pp.,
$3. A brutal portrayal of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Not a
pretty picture, but certainly a true one. Not recommended for
the pristine.--dw
Elizabeth Hurst: INSIDE OUT--Box 640534, San Francisco CA 94164.
26pp. Dissection of fruit, animals, and human interactions.
Eloquent. Scientifically philosophical. A trip. --dw
geof huth: LEEVS--317 Princetown Rd., Schenectady NY 12306.
40 pp $? A collector's item consisting of five labeled leaves
that have been inserted for protection into a book of blank
pages. One of the leaves, from a maple tree, has been labeled,
"mapleaf." Thus we have not only a leaf specimened two letters
less than it was alive, but leaf-as-map, or perhaps as just
one page of a map... of? The other leevs are similarly
provocative.--bg
Mori Ikuo: UNFOLDING--Box 4190, Kenosha WI 53141. broadside,
$?. Twelve visual poems, some in Japanese (but with
translations provided), some in English. My favorite, "Hole
Ranking," consists of four squares in which the dot of the "i"
in the word, "pin," expands from normal-sized to so large it
forces the rest of "pin" out of its square. Ikuo's other poems
are similarly charming explorations of perspective and point of
view.--bg
Karl Kempton: RUNE: A SURVEY--Box 4190, Kenosha WI 53141. 80 pp.,
$8. 73 "typoglifs" from Kempton's long-worked-on Rune. The
typoglifs on its front and back covers demonstrate as well as
anything what makes Kempton's work special. On the front a
design of m's pulsates within a stasis of o's, to complete the
latter's ahhhhh as "OM." On the back the same design, with just
a few extra m's, not only pulsates but glows!--bg
d.a. levy: ZEN CONCRETE & ETC--2518 Gregory St., Madison WI
53711. 245 pp., $27.50. A book its publisher describes as
"the only definitive collection of d.a. levy's works in print."
Levy was not only a brilliant wordsmith (on Cleveland, his
hometown, in particular) but a pioneer in visual poetry. He was
also a fascinating personification of the Idealism, Creativity
and Wildness of the Sixties, who, tragically, killed himself at
the age of 26.--bg
levy was an important poet who deserves to be taken seriously
as a writer & publisher. This book does that, featuring pains-
taking reproductions of some of his graphic work, long
unavailable. He also once wrote: "everytime i write a/
poem--i'm afraid--when/i'm dead it will sell/&some other poet
will/starve because no one will/buy his poems". I think he'd
hate this coffee-table book, as much as he'd hate collectors
paying $100+ for some of his early hand-printed stuff, now that
he's dead & "collectable". Druid Books (Ephraim WI 54211) has
published his collected poems in a much more righteously priced
edition; Persona Non Grata used to put out chaps free-fr-postage,
which is how d.a. woulda liked it...--lbd
Lewis, Joel PALOOKAS OF THE OZONE--1506 Grand Ave. #3 St Paul
MN 55105 32 $4.00
Ezra Mark: CODA--PO Box 23194, Seattle WA 98102. 4 pp., 25"
This is a small book of four pages, of four almost seperate
ideas. It is the motion between ideas--you need not leap, but
simply pass through acquiring keys to the next. The point of
inclusion to Coda is defined as an ending or faceted
cartographer's sequence. Though Coda is defined as an ending
or closing passage, we sense Ezra Marks reaching a place he's
already departing from--an end product.--nv
Stephen-Paul Martin: CRISIS OF REPRESENTATION--1200 Overton St.,
Old Hickory TN 37138. 19 pp., $?. Two understated absurdist
tales that teem with intricate indirect explorations of reason
versus the imagination, and the verbalizable versus the sensually
genuine. Mesmer, the father of hypnotism, stars in one; the
other concerns a man and a woman who wake up in a strange bed
with each other. Neither knows the other.--bg
Normally stories about an 18th century magnetic healer and
intimacy faced with accelerated information would not sit well
side-by-side, but here it works. Martin makes each piece an
object you can put to light and scrutinize. The two stories
are boards from which ideas dive off and get fleshed out. The
plots become sheer, like a vehicle whose only intention is
transport. This facade allows the real workings of the author
to emerge. I hear crisp twangs ending each--for accomplished
precision and for defying sullied vagueness.--nv
One of the remarkable effects of the stories in this chapbook
is that they seem to do what they are telling you about. For
instance in "The French Revolution", while reading about an
individual being hypnotized by Mesmer himself, the description
of subconscious, even hallucinatory states is so accurate that
you begin to experience the story almost as a participant--
integrated into the events being described, you as a character
contribute as well. Martin has proven with his visual writing
and now with fiction that he is an artist of powerful capability
directed at opening the world of our perceptions to greater
freedom. Essential.--jb
McKinnon, Patrick THE BELIZE POEMS 1619 Jefferson St. Duluth
MN 55812 28 $3.95
Stephen C. Middleton: THE QUANTUM OMELETTE--37 Portland St.,
Exeter ENGLAND EX1 2EG 16. Words as water, a mystical intention.
Words bouncing against each other, both spatially on the page
and contextually in their meanings, as opposites are forced
into cohabitation, and odd rhyme parodies are generated as sound
echoes and re-echos. And through it all, the ebb and flow of
the word tides, like ocean tides, advancing and retreating,
washing over you. "Firsts, lasts, causes and effects/Wrecked
echoes... to cure."--tw
Peter Money: THESE ARE MY SHOES--163 Third Ave. Suite 127, New
York NY 10003. 87pp. Following the steps of Ginsburg, Olson,
and at times, Whitman, Money still stands in his own shoes. He
is a reporter of life who always finds light at the end of the
tunnel, even if that light is just Jersey. Powerfully perceptive.
A classic.--dw
Sheila E. Murphy: WIND TOPOGRAPHY--1200 Overton St., Old Hickory
TN 37188. $3.00. Moving beyond the easiness of ordinary
surrealism, these poems carry us through atmospheres where
objects appear and act on one another but nothing seems solid.
It's as if things were in a constant state of transformation--
the body is a mutable idea in the common mind that can change
at whim. These poems are delightful excursion into what lies
behind the illusion.--jb
Greg Parker: ATTACK OF THE MUTANT SHEEP WITH BIG SHARP TEETH
FROM HELL--Box 1513, New York NY 10276. 16 pp., $1.50. A
comicbook that is gross, crude, gory, offensive--and very funny
in spots if you're as sicko as I am. The plot is simple: an
anti-superhero goes around chomping off the heads of various
human beings, including a cuddly little baby, until confronted by
Santa Claus--at which point the comic ends, to be continued.--bg
Marvin Sackner, ed.: THE BEAUTY IN BREATHING--300 West Rivo Alto
Dr., Miami Beach FL 33139. 47 pp., $?. An excellently-produced
catalog for a recent (May, 1992) exhibit in Miami of visual
poetry on the theme of simple human breathing. Of importance
to anyone interested in visual poetry, for 167 works from many
of the best visual poets from all over the world are listed,
and about half of them reproduced (in black & white).--bg
Glenn Sheldon: WOLVES IN BROWN WEDDING GOWNS--Box 7157,
Pittsburgh PA 15213. 14pp. $2. Highly sophisticated
investigation into a mad, cannibalistic world. Intriguing,
to say the least. Footnotes wouldn't have been a bad idea,
though. Not easy reading, but worth it for the challenge.
Try to unravel the mystery of the wolves.--dw
Bill Shields: BILL SHIELDS OF YOUNGWOOD, PA IS GOD--1440 Pear
St. #17, Ann Arbor MI 48105. 42pp. Forty-two poems, thirty-
four of which are entitled "ghost poem." The poet is seemingly
haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam past. Morbid flashbacks, and
visions of suicide comprise most of these poems. Redundant?
Certainly. Bizarre? Perhaps. But nevertheless, real. Too
real.--dw
Janet Snell: FLYTRAP--Cleveland State University, Cleveland
OH 44115. 59 pp., $10. A series of charcoal drawings that go
darkly manywhere via an expressionism that reminds me of Egon
Schiele and Francis Bacon. Snell provides poems for her
illustrations that generally extend rather than just rephrase
them--e.g., "Wired up to perpetual self serve,/ the meter
running--/ up from the depth arises/ nothing!/ But the phone's
always ringing/ off the wall."--bg
Juliana Spahr: NUCLEAR--357 Ashland Ave., Buffalo NY 14222.
16 pp., 2.00. One recognizes in this risk taking ruminating
collage poem of dividing energies divided "half-lives that exceed
years." Nuclear: of a nucleus. "we are born to be awake not be
asleep."Nucleus: the central part or thing about which others
are collected. "the littlest world of woman now contains atom."
This is a poem self-consciously on the edge of its annihilation.
"as the energy is liberated/one must learn to see." --tb
Chris Stroffolino: INCIDENTS (AT THE CORNER OF DESIRE & DISGUST):
POEMS 1985-1988--Box 1698, New Brunswick NJ 08903. 36pp., $3.
Stroffolino is a risk taker. He is not afraid to tackle any
issue, from religion to urban decay. Dichotomous, obscure,
and food-filled. Although he is sometimes exaggeratedly dreary,
and he tends to prematurely deliver the punches, he always hits
hard.--dw
Subraman, Belinda (ed.) The Gulf War: Many Perspectives PO
Box 370322 El Paso TX 79937 164 $10.95
John Sweet: SOMETIMES IT HAPPENS LIKE THIS--Box 782288, Wichita
Kansas 67278. 12pp. Some of these poems are like snapshots
which beautifully capture the briefest moments in life, and this
is good. Still, others tend toward contrived commentary, and
this is not so good. Sometimes it happens like this. Sometimes
it shouldn't.--dw
Jim Thiebaud: LOOSE CHANGE--Box 11462, Berkley CA 94701. 60 pp.,
$5. Ultra-contemporary commentaries on urban decay and the
superficiality of man. A tribute to American desperation.
Humorous, dismal, and thoroughly real.--dw
Thomas L. Vaultonburg: DEMENTED CHILDREN'S STORY HOUR--Box 7157,
Pittsburgh PA 15213. 8pp., $2. Raging. Demented. Raw.
Vaultonburg uses language as ammunition, and is a skilled
marksman. He can juxtapose with me any day! --dw
Jeff Vetock: FRAMEWORK--Box 11186, Philadelphia PA 19136. 24 pp.,
$5. Vetock's first collection of poetry, it includes four
collage drawings and a cover hand-colored by Vetock. Short
experimental poems, not terribly odd but they are strange
enough to hold my interest. Mysterious collage-work gives it
an edge.--bp
Eddie Watkins: A GREEN DIGESTION OF NIGHT--315 Mullberry St.,
Lewes DE 19958. 28 pp., $2. Freaky rich language in dense
poems kept me interested in Watkins' effort. Nice price and
worth it.--bp
Paul Weinman & Blair Wilson: YOUR NOSE KNOWS--7940 Convoy Court,
San Diego CA 92111. 26 pp. Street-level poetry from the
prolific Paul Weinman. He gets himself wound up like a top and
then explodes on the page, and the poems move from childish to
malevolent very quickly. The more you get into this chapbook
the more intense it gets. Interspersed with drawings by Blair
Wilson.--rkk
Donald Wellman: THE HOUSE IN THE FIELDS--29 Lynton PL., White
Plains NY 10606. 16 pp. Wellman's work is concise. His images
evoke a crisp awareness. Here we have 21 poems, each flawless,
forming a chain of thought. The word that ends a poem is title
for the proceeding one. Tangent thought becomes the spearhead
of intention--the ruminations of an observed periphery makes
this read a challenging construction of poetic staring.--nv
Gail D. Whitter and Karen Ballinger: RESISTING THE SUN and
ISOLATION--Box 64026-555 Clarke Rd., Coquitlam, B.C., CANADA
V3J 7V6. 32pp. The blues, as only women can sing them. A
tribute to the bag lady. To the battered wife. To the mother
dying of cancer. Painful, yet triumphant, and ultimately, what
womanhood is all about.--dw
Maw Shein Win: TALES OF A LONELY MEAT EATER--4646 Grisham Ave.,
Long Beach CA 90805. 95pp. ,$7.50. A collection of poetry and
prose. Psychedelic fairy-tales reminiscent of childhood dreams
and adult nightmares. Bold.--dw
t. Winter-Damon: THE HOUR OF HALLUCINATIONS--PO Box 321, Beech
Grove IN 46107. 52 PP., $5.95. This is Baudelairian visionary
excess at its finest, with a bit of Rimbaud (and Rambo) mixed
into the brew. Damon does a Dionysian danse macabra on the
razor's edge of things, like a shaman invoking intense verbal
energies to shake the mental routine and reveal the delicious
terrors just beyond the edges of your senses. His poems are
great sweeps of language, swinging back around you, forming
satisfying circles of imagery you didn't even suspect until
they were done. At their best, these poems are like strong
nectar. Exotic, intoxicating and addictive.--tw
Ronald Zack: DETROIT--Box 2520, Shiprock NM 87420. 18pp., $2.
Poetry probing into the ruins of buried cultures and torrid
love affairs. Simple, yet effective language which traces
the manic and depressive phases of living and loving.
Accurate.--dw
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end, TapRoot Reviews #1 12/92
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