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Issue #2.0, section a 4/93
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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. This posting
is the first section of our 2nd full electronic issue, containing
all of the short ZINE reviews; a second section contains all of the
chapbook reviews. 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--
(a short but human message; this is not an automated listserve).
I believe it is FTPable from UMich, which also archives back issues.
A cummulative, searchable, and x-referenced HyperCard version is
under development--e-mail for status & availablility information.
Hard-copies of TapRoot Reviews contain additional review
material--in this issue, reviews & articles by Jake Berry, Tom
Beckett, geof huth, Kurt Nimmo, 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 1993 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 are identified by their initials at the end of each review:
Tom Beckett, Jake Berry, Luigi-Bob Drake, R. Lee Etzwiler, Bob Grumman,
Roger Kyle-Keith, Bill Paulauskas, John Stickney, Nico Vassilakis,
Thomas Wiloch, and Ron Zac
*** Many thanx to all contributors. ***
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'ZINES:
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&, A MAGAZINE OF PARAGRAPHS--(Vol. IV, #2, Fall 1992), 92 Manning
St., Providence RI, 02906. 38 pp., $3.00. Exactly as advertised,
a collection of single-paragraph prose pieces. Mostly narratives,
fully complete and self-contained. Several strong, believable real-
life stories; others with the twisted linearity of dreams--bathtubs
full of snakes, blue wolves falling on you, that sort of thing.
Language & images honed and sharp, trimmed of all fat, as appropriate
to the limited space allotted. Fine.--lbd
ABACUS--(#71, Jan 93), 181 Edgemont Ave., Elmwood CT, 06110. 18 pp,
$3.00. Ten mostly introspective poems from Nick Piombino's The Frozen
Witness that generally deal with literature and related topics and
range from rhymed (!) verse through free-verse (and prose) to a poem
that alternates between free-verse and obliquely-resonant-therewith
lists of words that (except in two or three such lists) all begin with
an "f," or a "c," or an "f" or a "c".--bg
ANTISKIOS--(#s 60-62, Jan. 1993), 4143 F. St., Bremerton WA, 98312.
1 pp., $.29@. Each issue is a legal-sized broadsheet with a varied
clutter of poems, aphorisms and illustrations. The poems in these
three issues, and others I've seen, are all omni-lexical (words only)
but range from traditional free-verse to surrealism. Random fragment,
from Diane Webster's "Spirit of the Night" in #61: "Spirit of the
night wanders/ between wolf howl and rooster crow/ dragging her
moonbeam hem/ across the lake like a lover's whisper."--bg
Usually single double-sided oversized sheets filled with original
drawings, poetry, free-form style that I like to see being done with
such enthusiasm: drawings by Blair Wilson, poetry by such as Paul
Weinman, Larry Randle, T.N. Turner. Invites folks to write, submit
poetry, drawings. Obviously open to new ideas and a nice place to
start publishing.--bp
ASYLUM ANNUAL--(1993), PO Box 6203, Santa Maria CA, 93456. 153 pp.,
$12.95 ($10 to subscribers). Edited by Greg Boyd, this is the first
issue of the annual, replacing the former magazine of the same name.
The poetry, fiction and artwork featured here is first rate, drawing
heavily on the neo-surrealist vein in flavor and the prose poem in
particular. Prose poems by Russell Edson, Brian Swann, Jessica Treat
and David Henson stood out. The poetry mixed Rene Daumal (in
translation from the French) with Cynthia Hendershot, some Buk with
Ruben Dario and others, equally known and unknown. Fiction was also a
strong component in both short short and longer form. With some
art/lit criticism (Kirby Olson on the Marquis de Sade was
exceptional), some collages and clipped graphics, it is beautifully
laid out, kind of a cross between old faves KAYAK and GARGOYLE.
Though it may seem pricey, you're getting more than you paid for.--js
B CITY--(#7, Fall 1992), 517 N. 4th St., DeKalb IL, 60015. 48 pp.,
$5.00. One poem after another, the editor does a masterful job of
ignoring boundaries, bandwagons and schools, and jumps on anything
that strikes her fancy. The surprize is that it all hangs together,
somehow. The names I recognize range from Lydia Tomkiw (lead singer
in the band Algebra Suicide) to Stuart Friebert (professor at Oberlin
& editor of the prestigious journal FIELD). The wide range seems to
let in both the mundane and the Big Picture, tying 'em up in an
appropriately complex, and inexplicable web.--lbd
BACKWOODS--(#18, Winter 1992), PO Box 445, Athens GA, 30603. 62 pp.,
$10/yr. If there were such an animal as a classic underground mag,
BACKWOODS would probably fit the bill. It seems to bridge the gap
between '60s radical publications and '80s/'90s marginal press. Full
of stories, screeds, comics, ads for alternative businesses, poetry--
beat, experimental, hip-pastoral--great earthy graphics and crude
scribblings. Anyone thumbing through BACKWOODS and not finding at
least a couple of things to enjoy could pretty much be written off as
a hopeless asshole. A good dose for an anxious age.--jb
BAKUNIN--(#2, fall 1992/winter 1993), PO Box 1853, Simi Valley CA,
93062. 108 pp., $8.00. Not a simulation, but an actual magazine
published to appeal to "the dead Russian anarchist in us all." While
not all that anarchist, it does present work--poetry and fiction--that
has some political outlook, and some that does not. Featured work by
not the usual suspects, a comic strip called "Anti-Communists of
Doom," and a strong review section by editor Jordan Jones and
contributing editor Hugh Fox. Next issues will focus on the relations
between all races in the wake of the LA Riots (Simi Valley was the
site of the infamous Rodney King trial).--js
BANAL PROBE--(#3, July 1992), 115 E. 49th, Austin TX, 78751. 8 pp.,
$1.00. How could anyone dislike a magazine called "bANAL Probe," that
bills itself as "The Rectal Thermometer of a Dying Planet?" Anyway,
this issue contains about forty nicely-written brief reviews of
(mostly) 'zines and comix, almost none of which I'd ever heard of.
One example: FANZINE CULTURE, in one issue of which 13 different
fanzine editors discuss their careers. The magazine also has an
interesting selection of letters, illustrations and process pieces
about life in general.--bg
BIG ALLIS--(#4, 1991), 139 Thompson St. #2, New York NY, 10012. 56
pp., $5.00. All women poets, all more-or-less second wave LANGUAGE
folks, and all fine work--yet still such a wide variety of styles and
voices, it hangs together tenuously, by a thread. Elaine Aqui's words
float singularly in space, threading together like a dream; Mary
Rising Higgins twists haiku form, stringing 17-syllable lines together
to form a prose-poem; Elizabeth Willis fractures individual words as
well as line & linearity. Several excerpts from longer works,
including a chunk from Colleen Lookingbill's INCOGNITA (now available
from Sink Press). Beverly Dahlen's excellent "For Laura Moriarty's
like roads", goes beyond response or criticism to create a new whole
from parts.--lbd
BLACK BREAD--(#2, Nov. 1992), 366 Thayer St. #3, Providence RI, 02906.
88 pp., $5.00. A fine collection of work by a dozen women, thoughtful
and stimulating. Combines innovative formal techniques and a warmth
of human emotion. Several selections each from most of the
contributors, and some longer pieces given space to stretch out and
work. Kimberly Lyon's "Vestive" and "Six Poems for Rosa Luxumburg" by
Jennifer Moxley particularly striking, weaving together history &
everyday life, memory made physical.--lbd
BOLD PRINT--2602 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220. 42 pp., $3.00.
There has always been something wonderfully unpretentious about BOLD
PRINT. Page after page you get the sense of people living, struggling
to survive, struggling for identity, yet retaining a sense of humor.
Most of these poets and story tellers aren't concerned with loft
literary aspirations, they're writing to come clean with themselves
and the world. The graphics generally come closer to graffiti, which
enhances the streetwise aesthetic. Reading this stuff makes you feel
less alone, gives you a sense of the community. Kyle says they need
cash to help keep it going. This is important stuff, so if you a
couple of extra bucks...--jb
CAMELLIA--(Year 4 Fall/Winter 93), PO Box 4092, Ithica, NY, 14852.
20 pp., $.52 and SASE. Poems by 18 writers, including Jeff Vetock,
Miriam Sagan and Wade Bell. Nicely produced, with a light but intense
esthetic. The poetry seems of a piece, the editors having chosen
works that compliment the sense of winter stillness without making it
an obvious device. Nothing very weird or experimental here, but it's
authentic and it shows. -bp
CRASH COLLUSION--(#2), PO Box 49233, Austin TX, 78765. $2.00. A
relatively new mag of alternative science, philosophy, and behavior.
Beautifully produced, utilizes ritualistic artwork both ancient and
modern. The writing is thoughtful and provocative, choosing to leave
the ideas it explores open for further discussion instead of drawing
hard conclusions. This issue concentrates on UFOs, hallucinogens, and
the Marfa Mystery Lights. Also, some Reichian poetics, quite good. A
list of potential subjects in the front includes lucid dreams, sacred
sites, shamanism, and conspiracies among others. Classic fringe.
They are seeking articles and correspondence.--jb
CROTON BUG--(#2), PO Box 11166, Milwaukee, WI, 53211. 56 pp., $8.00.
A handsome & spacious mag of mostly experimental textwork, mostly by
pretty Big Names, tho not all from the same camp. A number of
aleatoric/program-driven texts (Jackson Mac Low's computer-derived
"Forties", f'rinstance) seem connectedly fragmented & disjoint. A
similar experimentalism shows in Charles Stein's graphic Zaumisms
("Zenacious", "Yendrarchy"). Contrasting are Eileen Myles' (poet &
lesbian who ran for president) personal-political graduation address,
Antler's eco-sexual "Waterfall BoyJackoff Offering", and the
minimally graphic & powerfully political "500 Years of Resistance" by
Clemente Padn.--lbd
CVS BULLETIN--(#1, Feb. 1993), Copyright Violation Squad, Box 227,
Iowa City IA, 52244. 24 pp., $2.00. A serious newsletter on the
(mis)use of copyright law by the large and established against the
small and marginal, particularly when the latter appropriate
trademarks, song lyrics, etc. for the purpose of parody or social
commentary. One of its articles, for instance, tells of Meridenth
(BETTER HOMES & GARDENS) Corporation's suing a queerzine called BETTER
HOMOS & GARDENS. It'd be nice if CVS Bulletin were able to influence
somebody in the establishment, for our copyright laws are clearly both
unfair and outmoded; it's not likely, though.--bg
CWM--(#1, Summer 1992), 1300 Kicker Rd., Tuscaloosa AL, 35404. 32
pp., $3.00. Outside: a stiff color cover and a back pocket containing
two hand-decorated matchbooks and a folded narrow piece of cover stock
inside of which G. Huth has rubber-stamped, "watearthm," water being
the theme of this issue. Inside: a nicely eclectic range of poems
including some quite traditional ones, 6 reviews, a striking Guy
Beining collage, and an excerpt from, apparently, a novel--that sums
up this handsomely-produced new 'zine.--bg
CYANOSIS--(#1, 1991), 318 Mendocino Ave., Ste. 30, Santa Rosa CA,
95404. 108 pp., $7.00. Wide-ranging variety magazine for the '90s.
Cyberpunk prose & an interview with Russian poet Mikhail Epstein, more
of Colleen Lookingbill's Incongnita & portraits with lots of exposed
inner organs, review of a recent industrial music CD & an interview
with proprietors of a Death-Art gallery--all over the map, all smartly
laid out in the best DTP style.--lbd
DADA TENNIS--(#3, spring 1993), Box 10, Woodhaven NY, 11421. 16 pp.
A barrage of wordage from a handful of contributors, some of whom are
regulars on the DreamWorld BBS, also operated by editor Bill
Paulauskas (1-718-849-3232, 8-1-N; a source for much more of the same,
& participatory too!). You might suspect amphetamine &/or alcohol as
contributors due to the velocity & dislocation of the textstream--tho
such substances disrupt the REM sleep necessary to enter the
DreamWorld. Actually, less beholden to the Dreamy Surrealists, and
more akin to the (anti-)political Dada Daddies. Maybe best to blame
it on brain-wave disturbances from staring at the computer screen for
too long...--lbd
DIE YOUNG--#3, August 1991, 420 Orangewood, Lafayette, LA, 70503. 48
pp., $5. Proclaims: "DIE YOUNG is a little magazine of vast
pretensions. A powertool amid the squalor of political thought... "
I think it's great. It has a sense of humor, and still manages to
publish very good poetry. Steven Petroff's "Mongolian Proverbs" is a
nice example of wit and poetry at its best. And the rest of the crew
were enjoyable to travel with. Hey, how can you resist a poem with a
title like "The Ten Best Things" by Joe Sheffler, or Darrell Bourque's
"My Mother's Right Foot"? The last is not funny... nor drearily
poetic. These are exciting writers--may none die young.--bp
DREAMTIME TALKINGMAIL--(#3, Spring 1993), Rt. 2 Box 242W, Viola WI,
54664. 30 pp., $3.00. The newsletter for Xexoxial Endarchy's
Dreamtime Village project, a collective outpost in the wilderness of
Wisconsin devoted to experimental intermedia and sustainable
permaculture. The newsletter has information on their varieties of
workshops--which range from Arborescence and Straw Bale Construction
to Bookmaking and Pyrotechnics--as well as reports from past
festivities & articles from visitors. Proprietors Liz Was and Miekal
And are aware of how much this all sounds like the old hippy-commune
stuff from the 60's, and are at pains to differentiate themselves
("village living, not communal living!"). An adventurous & ambitious
project, looking to give & get some participatory energy.--lbd
EXILE--(Vol. 1, #1, Jan.-Feb 1993), 149 Virginia St., #7, St. Paul,
MN, 55102. 4 pp., SASE. A newsletter of "Reviews*Essays*
Information", this premier issue features a half-dozen reviews of
serious non-mainstream books (Bruce Andrews, Thom Metzger, Colleen
Lookingbill); and an impassioned essay called "Reading Between the
Lines: Is There a Place in Minnesota for Alternative Literature?"
Apparently fed up with the strictures of the local Poetry
Establishment, the editor decided to try to shake things up a little
and call attention to newer trends that seem dissed in St. Paul.
Admirable commitment to a hometown scene, although the problems of
conservative provincialism are everywhere (the grass might look
greener in NYC, but it's artificial turf).--lbd
FEH!--(#14), 147 Second Ave. #603, New York NY, 10003. 54 pp., $2.00.
Alas, according to an announcement in the editorial section this is
the last issue to be edited by Simeon Styleites. But as it becomes a
monster of Morgana Malatesta, Simeon's companion for some time now, I
doubt it'll change much. I hope not. This issue continues in classic
style the odious traditions of its predecessors. Simeon's editorial
is one of the highlights--his obsessions with DITS (devils-that-
infest-my-tortured-soul) and sin provide some tremendous
entertainment. And Morgana's idea of a romantic dinner is
delightfully disgusting. Bob Z appears and reappears to bitch and
endarken. And there's much much more--from the sweltering erotic to
the sickmaking. High perversion.--jb
FINE MADNESS--(winter/spring 1993), PO Box 31138, Seattle, WA, 98103.
64 pp., $9/yr. They seem to favor a more widely published assortment
of poets, which gives the magazine a professional feel. This presents
the reader with a rather balanced range of styles. There are no
amateurs here... made me wish for a touch more "madness" at the risk
of less finesse. The Carol Knox' poem "A Rune" was especially
refreshing.--bp
FISH WRAP--(#4, Fall 1992), 921 1/2 24th Ave., Seattle WA, 98122.
4 pp., $1.00. Poetry tabloid that includes illumagery and a short
story. In my favorite of its poems, a visual one by G. Huth, a large-
lettered "CIAO" juts out from such kinds of military printout as
"MSYSYSYSYS" collaged with something about Venus and "Roma," and a
vivid description of a streetscene after gunfire. Most of the other
poems are straight-forward free verse about everyday concerns, but--
usually--with a snap.--bg
FOUND SHEET--(#3, January 1993), 14492 Ontario Cir., Westminster CA,
92683. 2 pp., $2/6 issues. This issue features a characteristically
brain-charging collage by Malok about God, Man, having a fun car, and
several varieties of who-knows-what. It also contains one of
Bennett's recent apostrophe-littered poems, an arresting visual poem
by G. Huth, and a poem by Guy Beining about, among other things, a
"morning moon... (that is) no more than sky marrow."--bg
FOUND STREET--(Vol. 2, 1993), 14492 Ontario Cir., Westminster CA,
92683. 24 pp., $3.00. The full version, for which the FOUND SHEET
broadsides are maybe a teaser (catalog of all available for SASE).
Most (but not all) work is "found," or based on found sources via
d tournement, collage or aleatoric composition. The pure text pieces
(by Tom Willoch, Jack Skelly, and Musicmaster) seemed strongest (tho
it's not always clear if/how they are "found"). Some of the graphic
pieces are pretty conceptual, such as Brooks Roddan's "The Genius of
Glenn Gould", which consists of a xerox of the bar-code tag from a
Bach cassette. Inventive layout with hidden pages, so the reader is
in on the "finding".--lbd
FREE LUNCH--(#10, Summer 1992), Box 7647, Laguna Niguel CA, 92607.
32 pp., $10/3 issues. Excellent 'zine to send poems to, for editor
Ron Offen painstakingly comments on everything he receives, and
rejected poets win free subscriptions to the magazine if Offen thinks
them deserving. Of course, this can mean double-rejection if he
declines your work AND rates you unworthy of a free subscription. The
poetry in #10 is mostly conventional free verse, but much of it
clicks, like Billy Collins's "Refrigerator Light," which I quote in
full: "I stop thinking/ about her/ the minute/ she slams/ the door."
--bg
FUEL--(#2, 1992), PO Box 146640, Chicago IL, 60614. 44 pp., $3.00.
The image on the cover (& centerfold) is a guy at the gas pump, about
to light a cig after dousing himself with gasoline. On the surface,
that fits w/ most of the work inside, which is often from a kind of
down & out regular-guy persona--plenty of dishwashers, smack-addicts,
ex-cons, & pick-ups. (It's not always clear the material comes from
personal experience, & for the sake of the cover-boy i hope not.) On
second glance, tho, it seems that many of the writers are more
optimistic & hopeful than they let on--certainly Sesshu Foster's
opening "How a Man Getting Off a Bus is Like a Fruit, a Flower" is
seeing the brighter side. Even Jay Marvin, with "...& fuck you
amerika/ for taking jack, martin, bobby,/ malcom, huey, & leaving us
with/ dick, ronnie, george to preside/ over our crumbling desires"
seems to see a glass full enough to propose a toast.--lbd
GREEN Z ERO--(#11, Fall 1992), Box 3104, Shiremanstown PA, 17011.
24 pp., $1.00. The second space in this zine's title is no typo; and
it typifies the kind of vernal end-of-alphabet/beginning-of-counting/
almost-Eros micro-concern with language that it's poets seem most
devoted to. It's most far-gone exemplar is Paul Collier, as in "13.":
"onyx bet'n/ robing/ rush statix/ ein hook a bronze/ orange bellie
flame/ fish sich hard/ I never/ non dat tame/ radice red booms"--bg
HAIGHT ASHBURY LITERARY REVIEW--(Vol. 12 #1, 1993), 558 Joost Ave.,
San Francisco CA, 94127. 16 pp., $2.00. A diverse and conscientious
journal from the San Francisco area. This issue includes one short
story and seventy-two poems intermixed with black and white art. Well
done and alive with the muse. Around for twelve years and still going
strong. Various free verse imagism and experimental word-slinging,
idolizing Jack Kerouac-like beat mystery and correct punctuation most
of the time. It includes variety within this sub-genre. "Your
fingers grip the wheel/ feel the wanderer's void/ up black mountains/
you see/ the bones of your fathers". Many poems like this are
included and excite the mind with vivid surprises and twists.
Includes a sense of cultural awareness and diversity. Well thought
out, this is a mellow collection.--rle
HAMMERS--(#6, 1992), 1718 Sherman, Suite #205, Evanston, IL, 60201.
92 pp., $5.00. Bill Hennessey's opening "This Light Of Physics", with
its picture of a Japanese woman cradling her irradiated baby in the
bath, sets the tone of commitment & intensity. Lisa Buscani's closing
"Solidarity", a song for AIDS victims (all of us), has the force &
directness that won her the National Poetry Slam title last year. In
between are a wide variety of voices, all accessible and working hard
to communicate. Craft meant as a vehicle, not decoration or dazzle.
Fans of SLIPSTREAM magazine will find find this one equally
compelling.--lbd
HOUSE ORGAN--(#1), 1250 Belle Avenue, Lakewood, OH, 44107. SASE +
donation. This is a new magazine. A tapestry of Modernist, Post-
Modernist, and Jungian Poetic idea. A constellation of prose poems,
poem poems, articles, comments and poetic insights. A woven collage
of language play by loom operator Kenneth Warren. Poetic origins in
Pound, Olson, Duncan, etc. All engaging poetics by committed authors.
These titles reveal some of the metal: "Nothing to Worry About in
Heraclitus," "thINK," "13 Lines from Fortune Cookies I Opened Last
Week," "The Episteme of the Serpent," "Nymphactra," "Usufruct," "98.6%
Loaded." This is all a magazine of poetry. Now, while all of this
intoxicates the imagination it is not a pretentious or pompous
presentation. The magazine's glyph conveys the playfulness of poetry,
the limitless of possibility of language, and the fashion in which
word defines reality.--Michael Basinski
HOUSE ORGAN--(#2, Spring 1993), c/o Kenneth Warren, 1250 Belle Ave.,
Lakewood OH, 44107. 12 pp., SASE + donation. A small, xerox 'zine,
that primarily features poetry. This issue has poems by Russell
Atkins, George Myers Jr., Joe Napora, Vincent Ferrini, Michael
Basinski, Clayton Eshleman and others. It is packed with superior,
solid work. Editor Kenneth Warren contributes an essay on Napora's
take on "The Walam Olum." Receiving something like this in the mail is
reason enough to get up in the morning.--js
INDEFINITE SPACE--(Vol. 1, #2; Autumn 1992), PO Box 40101, Pasadena
CA, 91114. 39 pp., $3.00. A graceful collection of impressive poems,
musical, thoughtful, bordering on surrealism with a touch of improv-
jazz. A bright spot of intelligent works which are not fierce, but
calming. Included: some experimental works, odd spacing, lack of
capitalization and punctuation, even a collage poem--nothing
oppressive. Everything fits to form a mood of veiled understanding,
almost reaching for omniscience at times. To look behind the veil is
to be forbidden understanding. But the urge is still there. And so
is the potential. Each poem has a calm power building within, a lusty
paean of oozing images nailed swiftly into a fortress of wonder. From
Carrie Etter's "Miscarriage: "Monday I had found out. It had been/
eight years and Dad's layoff since/ the last child, and I wept,/ Tell
me, what are the rules?/ . . . on a pale winter night, empty roads/
lead back to memory." This is only one example of the passion
contained in this publication, a mournful passion at times, a passion
compounded by youthful images lost and found, but a worthy passion.
--rle
INDUSTRIAL SABOTAGE--(#53: The Zoo Issue), 1357 Lansdowne, Toronto,
ONT, CANADA, M6H 3Z9. 19 pp. A thematic issue, a beastiary, from
ants to vultures, & the human animal too. Each poem has its own
specie, is it's own page/object, rubber-stamped onto a separate card,
various colors & sizes, collected in an envelope. Beautiful as a
thing-in-itself. Each voice stands on its own, distinct & deserving
of the individualized attention, unified by the pared-to-the-bone
Essence that marks traditional haiku. Tho linguistically more playful
than most haiku, in general not as radically experimental as some past
issues of this mag. Can't resist quoting the late bpNichol's
contribution, a version of Basho, "The Queerness of It All":
frQg
pQnd
plQp
--lbd
KETTLE OF FISK--(Vol. 3 #1), PO Box 42872, Philadelphia PA, 19101.
$1.00. afungusboy has always made great mailart and since he got a PC
the quality has improved and issues seem to be coming more rapidly.
This issue even contains a review section. The best part of this one
though is a mail interview with John M. Bennett--allowing us a glimpse
into some of his methods and ideas. Also excellent graphics, and
articles by Geof Huth among others on archiving, and there's more.
Quite a lot for a buck or a trade--jb
LIFT--(#1O &11, Fall 92.), 10-rear Oxford St., Somerville MA,
Somerville MA. 129 pp., $9.00. Devoted to the work of Stephen Jonas.
Jonas, who died 'in 1970, was a black, homosexual, self-educated poet
I'd never heard of 'til getting this magazine but who wrote at the
level of his friend Jack Spicer, as this scrappy collection of funk-
to-Plato-wide, "bam-a-lam-lam" splattering of poems proves.--bg
LILLIPUT REVIEW--(#s 41 & 42, March 1993), 207 S. Millvale Ave., #3,
Pittsburgh PA, 15224. 12 pp., $1.00. Tiny, straightforward poems in
small unassuming packages. Not as spartan as haiku (tho sometimes
shorter), nor sentimental greeting-card verse, but usually limited a
single image or incident. Lyn Lifshin's feature poem in #41 weighs in
at 2-dozen lines, several times the average, and packs an extra punch
thanx to sex, death & enjambment.--lbd
LOGODAEDALUS--(#3, Nov 92), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA, 17104. 28 pp.,
$2.00. Fascinating abstract drawings by (I think) editor Paul Collier
and such dislocational poems as Ficus Stangulensis's "Staid Greyface,"
whose final stanza is: "KillFaceRockWest/ satis Kali fry/
Scichismafecal/ snow voilet," and William B. Keckler's "The White
Feather" with its "Frozen command, rippled, conchoidal/ Blue launched
birds, Latin frescoes/ Quails feather air's glow/ Refraining bone's
flowering..."-bg
LOGODAEDALUS--(#4, Dec 92), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA, 17104. 28 pp.,
$2.00. Possibly America's leading magazine of microherent poetry--
which is what I call poetry of intentionally distorted words like the
five here in Tio Veracols "Etude 230b:Cathe" (with "wind"):
"perpelo/slooke," "silva," "tieir" and "winsbloe"--which puts me back
in the middle ages, turning from Dante's dark wood onto a better path
than he took--bg
LONG NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY--(#2), PO BOX 150-455, Brooklyn NY,
11215. 108 pp., $5.00. Centered on the theme of mourning, this is a
high powered literary magazine with many big guns from the New York
and Language schools. Good work by Bernadette Mayer, Fanny Howe and
new-comer Wang Ping. The theme got lost or I missed the point of some
of the pieces. Wouldn't be the first time.--js
LONG NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY--(#3) , PO Box 150-455, Brooklyn, NY,
11215. 125 pp., $5.00. A very solid magazine of innovative writing
and art. There are over forty contributors to this issue and all of
the work sustains interest. I was particularly taken by Tyrone
Williams' lyrically enthusiastic "Eleven Sentences," an extraordinary
essay on a one line poem by Chris Tysh. Also of note are the
contributions by Johanna Drucker, Harryette Mullen, Nicole Brossard,
Chris Tysh, Carolee Schneeman, Lewis Warsh and Clark Coolidge. LONG
NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY is a magazine to keep on your desk and to
keep an eye on.--tb
LONG SHOT--(Vol. 13, 1992), PO Box 6238, Hoboken NJ, 07030. 127 pp.,
$6.00. When time travel is perfected, someone will go back and
attempt to smash Bukowski's first typewriter. Probably the wrong
tactic, maybe get him a date to the senior prom or just get him laid
early enough to put a stop to it! Anyway, this could be subtitled
"Buk's Kids," it takes much the same stance, throws in some New York
school writers--Eileen Myles, Orlovsky, and Ed Sanders (he's also
interviewed)--some aware art, and tops it off with a piece on Wild
Girls A-Go-Go, a performance dress-up goof. It has an awful lot of
energy, eroticism (see Tsaurah Litsky's poems), street smarts
(Hiphoprisy & Paul Beatty), and a Jack Wiler poem on exterminating
what in Tibet is called a god. Not bad at all.--js
MEAT EPOCH--(#10, Jan 93), 3055 Decatur Ave., apt. 2S, Bronx NY,
10467, 2 pp., SASE, Poetry that ranges from C. Mulrooney's direct but
crackling mordancies to such nondirect work as Michael Basinski's
"Spell of Quince" (Ist line: "low olo ore odil") and St. Thomasino's
"Ekphrasis No. 811 (which ends "Glottis/ Hic/ Cough/ Angel" . . . but
wait, those are all real words!) with Crag Hill's fascinatingly
lyrical/political "Spring Wound" and some astronomical illustrations
of the solar system in between.--bg
MEAT EPOCH--(#11, Jan. 1993), 3055 Decatur Ave., Apt 2S, Bronx NY,
10467. 2 pp., SASE. No criticism in this issue, but a computer-
scanned reproduction of a ten-dollar bill by William Conlon; two short
evocative poems by the editor, a mathematical poem (in which a snow-
obscured island is raised to the power of one over "Persephone") by
m'self, and two fine philosophical poems, one by Spencer Selby (in
which "Meaning gathers in emptiness/ and waits on all things"), the
other by A. L. Nielson (about a "context (which) rose in the eastern
window").--bg
MESHUGGAH--(#6), 147 Second Ave. #603, New York, NY, 10003. 32 pp.,
$1.00. A rapidly growing and improving mag, MESHUGGAH brings together
all manner of radical text. This issue is much commentary and
complaining about the state of things, liberation rants, and bizarro
fiction. Also, a few articles & etc. culled from elsewhere. A higher
than usual amount of seriousness for MESHUGGAH , but in combination
with some of the more deranged material it works quite well, moving
away from the fiction collective it once was to a powerful document of
the times.--jb
MODERN HAIKU--(Vol. XXIV, #1), Box 175, Madison WI, 53701. 92 pp.,
$4.85. A magazine of long duration that is devoted to traditional
haiku. Too many clunkingly old contrasts for me (e.g., spring vs.
mortality), but I liked George Swede's "spring moon/ under the alley
tomcat's fierce eyes/ a nametag glows" and a few others, and this
issue also has some excellent articles on the haiku, and--as always--
many informative reviews that cover haiku of all schools, even LeRoy
("onde omb elleelle") Gorman's.--bg
MOLECULAR JUICE GLUE: DECENTRALIZED NETWORKER CONGRESS, 1992 DREAMTIME
CORROBOREE--Xexoxial Endarchy, Rt. 1 Box 131, Lafarge, WI, 54639. 48
pp. This is a 81/2 X 7 booklet documenting a Decentralized Networker
Congress held Aug. 22, 1992 at Miekel And's and Liz Was's Dreamtime
Village. Includes a long introduction to the participants in this
particular event and to networker culture in general by John Held, Jr.
The rest of the book has graphic pieces and collaborations by the
participants and mail art from others. Includes a bibliography and
address lists. Judging by this book, a great time was had by all.
--jmb
NEW AMERICAN WRITING--(#10, Fall 1992), 2920 West Pratt, Chicago IL,
60645. 150 pp., $6.00. NAW is put out by the people who brought you
OINK, poets Maxine Chernoff and Paul Hoover. They've dressed up the
name and package, but inside there's the same mix of strong poetry
running across the best lines from Language, NY School, and the
independents. As always, the best here are by female writers--Lydia
Davis in some short short prose, Connie Deanovich and Elaine Equi...
in fact, this is the place where I first read Equi. Funny, ironic and
not too tragically hip, a good mix.--js
NOTUS--(#11, Fall, 1992), 2420 Walter Dr., Ann Arbor MI, 48103.
118 pp., $6.00. The opening essay waits 'til the second paragraph
torefer to Barthes; the closing essay cites Derrida & Baudrillard.
In between, the poetry is polished clean, but not as difficult as
the bracketing erudition might have suggested. Many are almost
anecdotal, if fragmented. I appreciated again Charles Bernstein's
humor, and wanted to get the whole of Myung Mi Kim's "Bounty",
portions of which appear in BLACK BREAD as well as here. Translations
from Blaise Cendrars & Appollinaire, too.--lbd
O!!ZONE--(#2, Feb. 1993), 1266 Fountain View Dr., Houston TX, 77057.
18 pp., $2.50. A new 'zine devoted to unconventional writing. This
issue features poems by Guy R. Beining and Ken Brandon--with
illumagery by the authors as as an added attraction. Beining's poems
are what I'd call "compound disjunctional," for they combine
syntactical unorthodoxy and surrealism; but they include at least one
fine traditionally-lyrical passage: "solvent edge of moon on/ blush of
lake/ green veins of may in/ chalk of birch." Brandon's poems, on the
other hand, are fairly straight-forward, but flirt slightly with
surrealism as when, in his first poem he describes how he is dying...
himself green & purple.--bg
OSTENTATIOUS MIND--224 82nd St., Brooklyn NY, 11209. 24 pp., $3.00.
A valiant attempt to get the poetry to the people. A folded journal
of submitted poetry using paste and copy machine. Gives address of
each poet so you can contact your favorite. A large selection of
poems, by people from all over and in all walks of life. Very
diversified in content. The addresses allow you to contact poets you
like and tell them so--nice touch.--rle
OXYGEN--(#6, Autumn 1992), 535 Geary St. #1010, San Francisco CA,
94102. 40 pp., $3.00. Bracketed by long quotations from Toni
Morrison and Ted Berrigan, the writers here take on "the aesthetic,
political, and religious dimensions of life" --a tall order, and they
are sincere rather than ironic. The poetry usually reachs high and
sometimes exceeds its grasp, while the prose more often is content to
just hand over the story. If they could get together somewhere
inbetween...--lbd
PARADOX--(#2), 49 Pine St. Apt 1, Saranac Lake NY, 12983. 20 pp.,
$2.50. Somewhat innovative in that the cover is dense line drawing on
a transparency. The poetry, prose and graphics move around from
experimental to confessional--most of it quite good, and generally
with only one piece to a page. Very accessible for something this
deviant, and a good ride from one muse to another.--jb
PHOTOSTATIC--(#41, Jan .93) , Box 227, Iowa City IA, 52244. 22 pp.,
$10/yr. Back after three years on Art Strike, as good as ever though
now much more a discussion than art 'zine. This issue has some
excellent audio cassette and 'zine reviews; a discussion of poetry in
code by Tom Wiloch; two pages from Ross Martin's intriguing collagetc.
book about books, Your Name Here; and news from editor Lloyd Dunn that
Penguin Books has recognized the 'zine scene with The World of Zines
by Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice. Does that mean it's time
for authentic 'zine people to mosey on?--bg
PICKLES & OLIVES--(#l, 1992), PO Box 2382, Janesville WI, 53547.
12 pp., $1.00. This is an admirable first attempt by a young teen-
punk flexing her creative muscle. Xeroxed drawings, photos, letters,
and articles make P&O an eclectic and lively 'zine. The mix of typed
and handwritten copy includes instructions on making a cherry bomb,
satirical political essays ("Punx for Vegetable Rights" and "The
Caimanist Manifesto."), and both serious and humorous rantings of
tortured teen-aged minds in the form of poems, short stories, and
quotes.--rz
POETRY FLASH--(Number 237, December 1992), PO Box 4172, Berkeley CA,
94704. 28 pp., $1.00. Jampacked with news and poetry of the West
Coast, what's going on and where to submit, reviews and personal
accounts of the poetry scene, last minute breakthroughs and personal
insights. Mainstream but not stuffy. Has a monthly calendar of
readings and events. This issue included an indepth article on
"Cowboy Poets" and their works in progress; an interview with Robert
Hunter (songwriter for the "Grateful Dead"), many poems, and much
more. If you want to know what is going on on the West Coast, this is
for you.--rle
POETRY MOTEL--(#19, 1993), 1619 Jefferson St., Duluth MN, 55812.
52 pp., $5.95. Raw, naked poetry you could probably read outloud at
the corner bar and not only not get laughed at or punched, but
probably be understood. Easy to "get" but not simple; tough-hearted,
violent & sexy, full of juice... reminds a little of Bukowski but not
so goddam self-absorbed, and more insightful to boot. Editor Pat
McKinnon got a computer and a new book of Mayan glyphs to cut-n'-
paste, the layout is still slapdash but ever easier to read. Special
bonus: blue basset-hounds on the cover!--lbd
RED DANCEFLOOR REVIEW--(Vol.#2 Issue#4), PO Box 7392, Van Nuys, CA,
91409. 5.00. Flat-spine, slick cover, nice art and a high class
format make this one of the finest new poetry magazines on the West
Coast. The power of the poetry and it's intensity will enthrall any
poetry lover. Classy but not stuck-up. This issue includes a review
by an Ohio poet, as well as an interview with Beat poet Allen
Ginsberg. This is a tastefully done softcovered book which will last
for years on your bookshelf. Very enjoyable.--rle
RENOVATED LIGHTHOUSE--(#36, Summer 1991), PO Box 100. Riparius, NY,
12862. 30 pp., $2.90. Poetry, prose, reviews, haikus, social
commentary, and black and white fantasy art encapsulated into a pro-
nature, pro-animal format, utilizing a selfproclaimed unconventional
attitude in their editorial policy. One example of this
unconventional policy appears to be a short story which is "concluded
in the next issue." While this transition of a short story from one
issue to another can be accomplished smoothly, in this case it is
abrupt and disturbing. Some of the rhymes seem forced, but the free
verse and prose are flexible and lucid. Don't expect scintillation,
or even liberation. However, a celebration of life exists here, a
small celebration but a celebration none-the-less. lt is obvious these
people are headed in the right direction and with a little support
they might make it.--rle
SCREECHOWL--(Feb. 1993), PO Box 1473, Russellville AR, 72801. 1 pp.,
SASE?? All forms, styles, etc. accepted. Contributors receive ten
copies of this delightful single sheet. This issue is buzzing with
neatly scattered engravings of bugs, insects and owls... as well as
poetry by John M. Bennett, Jessica Goad, and others. I think Jessica
is someone to watch. I liked the voices of the other poets and their
feel for the music in language. I think with Bennett in their midst
they may grow more experimental and benefit from the risks.--bp
SHINY INTERNATIONAL--(#7/8, 1992) , 39 E.12th Street, Suite 603, New
York NY, 10003. 161 pp., $10.00. Subtitled "The Magazine of the
Future," this is a slick, literary with a capital L magazine,
beautifully done, and appropriate for any coffee table. Inside, with
large white pages, are lots of big names from the Language crowd and
those NY School graduates, in a lay-out that gives each poem some
space to breathe. Notable work by everyone's favorite deviant Bob
Flanagan, Tom Clark and Lewis Warsh, some art portfolios, a collection
of new Berlin poetry (which seem remarkably American) and an in-depth
interview with Jackson Mac Low.--js
SHORT FUSE--(#52), Box 90436, Santa Barbara, CA, 93190. 6 pp, $1.00.
A lot of interesting stuff in a small space. Excerpts from
contributor's dream journals, tributes to John Cage, theories,
screeds, poems, excellent graphics. Another enticingly active neuron
in the fringe of liberation xerology.--jb
SITUATION--(#1, Dec. 92), 82 Fargo Ave. #3, Buffalo NY, 14201.
16 pp., $8/yr. Omni-textual poems, most of them by the people
involved with POETIC BRIEFS. Mostly about everyday concerns, but
unobtrusively expression-concerned, too, as when Elizabeth Burns
brings her scatter of unheightened but affecting thought-fragments
about being in the hospital with a friend who has breast cancer to
"a room at the top of my head/ where I open drawers and closets/ and
birds and letters fly out/ and flock to you."--bg
SLAM Newsletter--(Vol 1. #3, March '93), 945 Main St. #807, Worcester,
MA, 01610. 4 pp. , $1.25. The Poetry Slam is a peculiar genre of
performance poetry with peculiar rules: 3 minute time limit; no props;
judged olympic-point style by members of the audience. Spawned in
Chicago, it's a phenom that's spread to over 30 cities nationwide &
international. It promotes & popularizes poetry (where else have you
ever seen 2000 people on their feet screaming for poetry?); purists
sometimes have reservations about the restrictions & the competitive
aspects, which can get pretty cut-throat. Easily understood &
accessible poetry, as well as dramatic monologues & humorous material,
tends to go over well; quieter & more thoughtful/complicated work
sometimes gets lost in the crowd. This newsletter provides networking
& access information for Slams in various cities, as well as reports
from the most recent national Slam and news of upcoming nationals (to
be held in SanFran--get on the stick if you plan to organize a team).
If you're tired of the usual poetry reading format, this might be the
spur towards something more energetic & alive.--lbd
SLUG & LETTUCE--(#28, 1992), c/o Christine, PO Box 2067 Peter Stuy.
Stn., New York NY, 10009. 8 pp., SASE. The multi-talented Chris
Boarts puts together an entertaining and informative collection of
news on the NYC punk scene (with implications for far beyond), 'zine
and record reviews, classifieds, and probing photos.
The issue opens with Christine's pleasantly rambling thoughts on
a variety of topics--like stepping into her personal journal--a
compendium of sincere introspection mixed with items from the scene.
Dan Werle's column launches from a touching account of a nursing home
death into an editorial on health care, right-to-die and meaning-of-
life issues. The center of the tabloid opens into a photo-essay on
the now defunct Fetus Squat, an abandoned house that had been home to
a group of industrious punks, and the front page offers advice on
saving the environment.
All this and much more make this a worthwhile publication
reaching far beyond its native NYC. In fact, it would be worth a look
if it only consisted of Christine's energetic action photos that
capture the essence of concerts, concert-goers, and the vibrant
diversity of the Big Apple--rz
THE SOW'S EAR POETRY REVIEW--(Vol. III #3; February 1992), 245
McDowell St., Bristol TN , 37620. $3.50. This is an innocent
quarterly which often has bite. Its large format makes it a pleasure
to hold and its neat, well-spaced layout is pleasant to the eyes,
dignified. Poetry, short stories, art, photographs, and reviews
provide a well-rounded selection of diverse works. There is work by a
fifth-grade student, a literature professor, a Polish poetry
translator, a Native American, a high school student, and many others,
including many new poets first-time publishing their work. This
southern-based poetry review will not insult anyone's taste or
sensibilities and includes thoughtful and intriguing works which range
from a Haiku about McDonalds to an amusing and quite sardonic poem-
curse on the topic of editorial misuse of "Mr." and "Ms." This is a
positive work, one which will delight parents and teenagers alike.
--rle
STROKER--(#50, 1992), 124 N. Main St. #3, Shavertown, PA, 18708.
48 pp., $3.95. The editor doesn't hide his predilections: in his own
excerpt-from-a novel contribution, he's painting Tristan Tzara's old
flat, he conjures the names of Balzac, Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Tristan
Tzara, & Hemingway--finally, he goes on to "quote form the Master...
Or a man of genius--also one of the great writers (and a poet!) of all
time--who has best put a finger on a country of genius: Henry Miller."
More than just a Miller fanzine, STROKER strikes a balance between the
old warriors (Miller, Tommy Trantino, Bukowski) & new voices in the
same vein. From-th-gut spirituality, holiness seen in the body as
well as the soul--even the saints had to take a shit sometimes.--lbd
sub-TERRAIN--(#9, Dec. 1992), PO Box 1575, Sta. A, Vancouver BC,
CANADA, V6C 2P7. 30 pp., $2.50. About half of this is devoted to a
coupla excerpts from the winners of their annual 3-Day Novel Contest
(which i can't quite imagine--what do they do, sit there & watch you
while you write?). The rest is fairly straight-talkin' poetry in
which work and/or sex seem to be popular subjects. A fine tuff one
from Pat McKinnon, consoling his kids in the face of starving
"ballooned-out babies" in Africa.--lbd
TEKELI-LI!: Journal of Terror--(#4, Winter/Spring 1992), c/o Jon B.
Cooke, 106 Hanover Ave., Pawtucket RI, 02861. 128 pp., A horror
'zine, it features some fiction and poetry but really shines in the
area of non-fiction. Heavy contributions by practitioners in the
genre. An interview with short story master Thomas Ligotti (Song Of A
Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe) reveals his influences to include Bruno
Schulz, E.M. Cioran, Thomas Bernhard. The section on Ligotti includes
a story and an essay by Ligotti, a bibliography and two critical looks
at his work. Cover artist Harry O. Morris is featured and also
interviewed. Terrific art, good critical reviews, and articles
entitled "Vampires: Why They Matter," all add up to a pretty good
read.--js
TIGHT--(Vol. 3 #5, October 1992), PO Box 1591, Guerneville CA, 95446.
75 pp., $4.50. Full of a variety of poetry from all over. Some
abstract sketches and collages. Lifshin's here, and so is Surbanum,
Bigiorno, Thomosine Reed, and Mandy Y. Khaiyat. There are poems about
every thing imaginable; oranges, clouds, nuclear holocaust, 1944,
Native Americans, the Garden of Eden, dozens of poems. It is a good
read, a biodegradable magazine meant to be passed around, enjoyed and
not retained for too long. This is poetry from and about the people
who count; common, every day, working class human beings who love
poetry. This one is for quantity, you can't help but find something
you like.--rle
TIGHT--(Vol. 4 #1, Jan. 1993), PO Box 1591, Guerneville, CA, 95446.
74 pp., $4.50. One poem after another in the pure poetry-mag
tradition. A labor of love for the editor, and love--love of
language, human love, or at least compassion & heart--plays a part in
many of the poems. Plenty of image, plenty of straightforward stories
to tell, and the occasional disquietude. Many poets are represented
by a selection of several poems, which gives you a chance to get to
know 'em a bit better.--lbd
TO: A Journal of Poetry, Prose + the Visual Arts--(#1, Summer 1992),
Box 121, Narbeth, PA, 19072. 141 pages, $7.00. This promising first
issue features a wealth of recent writing, plus a very beautiful
portfolio of nude photographs by, and interview with, Jock Sturges.
There's also work by John Ashbery, Charles Bernstein, Leslie
Scalapino, John Taggart, Rod Smith, Michael Heller, Raymond Federman,
Stephen Dixon and many others. All of the work printed testifies to
the editors' stated strategy of presenting material "that intersects
and renegotiates the modernisms of Stein, Williams, Duchamp,
Stieglitz, et al." Best of all, though, are the essay and poem
contributed by Rachel Blau DuPlessis. "On Drafts: A Memorandum of
Understanding" documents originating impulses behind her ongoing long
poem DRAFTS. "Conjunctions," the poem, enacts "part of a running
script on the running subject." Pithy and pivotal, this work alone is
worth the price of subscription.--tb
TRANSMOG--(#9, Jan 1993), Rt. 6, Box 138, Charleston, WV, 25311.
28 pp., SASE. Wide variety of good otherstream matter by names
unfamiliar to me, always a sign of worthwhile activity, I think.
Poetry as deep as Tom Wiloch's "soft ticking/ of the/ eloquent
street// (night steps)" (quoted in full) and as comic as Paul
Weinman's "Count-Down to Lift-Off," whose protagonist, while having
sex, "howled out/ memorized list/ of Fortune's 500./ Got to #15." Lots
of intriguingly weird illumagery, too.--bg
TRANSMOG has evolved from the computer scramblings of editor Ficus
Strangulensis himself to a document of some of the more absurd Dada
poems and graphics currently materializing. We need more mags like
this one. A host of contributors keep the pace rapid and gleeful
and more than a little maddening. This stuff is guaranteed to crack
a few delusions and compel you to think from multiple perspectives.
Powerful medicine for a couple of Elvis stamps.--jb
THE VILLAGE IDIOT--(#16, May-August 1992), PO Box 66, Harrison ID,
83833. 48 pp., $3.00. More words per square centimeter than any
other little (literary) magazine, interesting black and white art,
some color, and a money back guarantee. Strong poetry and prose,
mostly short stories, full of vigor, brutal realism, and often...
social revelations! This publication is anything but light. These
stories draw you in, perforate your empathy, twist you around, and
surprise you at the end. The protagonists are everyday people,
observed through a critical magnifying glass, engaged with the word in
some intense manner, slightly distorted but interesting. They labor
life making valid observations drawn from the psyche of anguish and
painted with vivid metaphorical significance. This publication is not
for everyone, it has an edge, an outspoken candor, a degree of
unconformity which appeals to those with a risque nature. THE VILLAGE
IDIOT might be one of the more unusual and interesting little magazines
of its day..--rle
VIVISECTION: EVISCERATING THE LIVING WORD--PO Box 6571, Richmond, KY,
40475, , $1.00 ea.?, Each is a single folded sheet and suggests in
form and content one of those tiny religious tracts you pick up off
the cigarette machine at a truck stop. There's more than meets the
eye here, though: one is an illustrated poem or chant titled "The
Snake God's Salvation" and the other intercuts "salvation" rants with
a Burroughs-like text:
... In
_____________________________
S:::LAST CHANCE:::NO SALVATIO
_____________________________
heavy antedeluvian accent the
Kid drawls, Bad bardo, bad ka
rdo, he looking like Alan Lad
d in greenface-white Latinc
rosses rain down on dunes lit
Fine additions to the free tract genre!--jmb
VIZ--(#4, Nov 92), Box 1584, Hattiesburg MS, 39403. 62 pp., $3.00.
Too many pages not printed on both sides, but otherwise a nice
collection of otherstream works that include a neato collage narrative
by Stephen Young, and something by Reed Altemus I hesitatingly
classify as a microherent visual poem. A stack of variably-sized
nonsense-words on graph paper whose lines are variably-spaced, it can
get a brain whirly after a while--and the letters of its text can be
used to spell, "GIRLZ AT," if that means anything.--bg
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?--(#l, Oct.1992), PO Box 6424,
Evanston IL, 60204. The first issue of a new newspaper-format
periodical published by "The Surrealist Group in Chicago." The center
piece is an international surrealist manifesto against the "Columbus
Quincentennial" which notes that "poetry--an authentic act of total
insubordination--continues to explode the foundations of a stifling
totalitarianism." Equally significant are the poems by Penelope
Rosemont, Jayne Cortez, Mary Low, Franklin Rosemont. Includes a
listing of works by participants in the Surrealist Movement in the
United States since Jan. of 1989. WHAT presents a glimpse at a
uncompromising, serious commitment and an authentic vision, not often
found among our artists, one much missed.--js
WHITE WALL OF SOUND--(#8, Winter 1992), 1320 W. 116th St. #9,
Cleveland OH, 44102. 18 pp., $5.00 ($8.00 in NYC). The "Photo
Essay/Visual Poetics/Cinema of the Imagination" issue. Twelve actual
B&W photographic prints (5x7") present a disjointed urban landscape of
troubled beauty. I think the reference is to Alfred Stieglitz's mag
CAMERA WORK, which also included photos tipped in--the identification
is with Dada, more political than Surrealism. Also includes a reprint
of an article by Clive Philpot (librarian at MOMA) on artist's books.
--lbd
THE ?WHY? PROJECT--(Anabasis Project #1, 1992), P0 Box 8766, Portland,
OR, 97207. 104 pp., $8.00. Thomas Taylor, editor; Susan Smith Nash,
contributing editor. A well-produced, perfectbound volume of essays,
poetry, and texts circling about the concept of "why," by some 28
contributors, including Rochelle Owens, John Byrum, Peter Ganick, Dan
Raphael, M. Kettner, Harry Polkinhorn, Susan Smith Nash, John M.
Bennett, and Crag Hill. Contributions range from the visual poetry of
Byrum and Hill to essays like the one by Nash on the relationships
between poetic and geologic paradigms of causality. There is a strong
"LANGUAGE" flavor to many of these works, but none of them are sterile
or merely academic. In fact, the whole collection is lively and
stimulating and contains a remarkable variety of approaches to a
difficult and elusive topic.--jmb (the 1993 edition will be The Love
Project).
THE WINDLESS ORCHARD--(#56, Fall/Winter 92), Eng. Dept., Indiana-
Purdue U., Fort Wayne IN, 46805. 34 pp., $4.00. Technically-
conventional poems that mostly discuss reality rather than ascend from
it, but are nonetheless often effective: for example, Lora Dunetz's
elegy for her storm-loving father, and an amusingly chagrined plaint
by Lawrence Watson about how hard it is for him to get more of his
physicality than his brain and hands into his poetry.--bg
THE WORLD--(#44), The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, 10th St.
and 2nd Ave., New York NY, 10003. 72 pp., $5.00. The old WORLD was a
mimeo magazine; this new, updated version keeps the same feel, like
hand to hand circulated copies. If there was an MFA program from the
New York School this would be it's IOWA REVIEW. Featuring members of
that poetic's grouping from the first to what must now be the fourth
or fifth generation, you always know what you're getting when you pick
it up. This issue: Baraka, Coolidge, Nauen, Sanders, Towle, Waldman
and Ward, to name a few.--js
THE WORLD--(#45), The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, 10th St.
and 2nd Ave., New York NY, 10003. $5.00. Strong issue with prose
poems by Kenneth Koch, selections from Jerome Rothenberg's LORCA
VARIATIONS, James Graham's meditation on his balls ("My balls are two
iron ingots caught in a vise... two green felafels waiting for the
sauce"), and Hal Sirowitz''s childhood poems: "Don't swim in the ocean
while it's raining,/ Mother said. Lightening can hit the water,/ &
you'll be paralyzed. You don't like/ to eat vegetables. Imagine
having/ to spend the rest of your life being one..." (from "Damaged
Body"). Highly recommended.--js.
WRAY--(#IV, March 1993), PO Box 91052, Cleveland OH, 44101. 88 pp.,
$3.00. Continued concatenation & cacophony from the SlowHouse--this
one subtitled Crying Out Loud. Contributors about evenly split
between folks well-known (Robert Ashley, Dodie Belamy, Robert
Kostelanetz, Denise Dee) and local friends (John Stickney, Jessica
Grimm, Tom Beckett--famous in their own right). Moving away from some
of the punkier (& funnier) work they've used in the past, towards more
serious and (self?)-important. Despite that, the whole seems less
coherent than the parts--an "eclection" (=eclectic selection, w/out
the oxymoron). Beautiful cover--black with blind-stamped relief
lettering.--lbd
XEROLAGE--(#23, Dec 92), Rt. 1, Box 131, Lafarge WI , 54639. 24 pp.,
$10.00. Some nice visual poems, many of them flavored with the long-
ago, particularly the Egyptian and sub-Saharan long-ago. And gems
like "Logos Spermatikos," in which a kind of porridge of 3-D c-shaped
tubes unjumbles into the beginnings of 2-D abstract letters. An
important collection for anyone interested in contemporary American
Visual Poetry.--bg
xib--(#4), PO Box 262112, San Diego, CA, 92126. 52 pp., $4.00.
Gutbucket poetry & the occasional short prose. Sex & violence, with
occasional respite in drinking, depression or death. Tightly written
& laid out, with plenty of stark graphics to match.--lbd
ZYX--(#5, Feb. 1993), 58-09 205th St., Bayside NY, 11364. 5 pp.,
$.52. A one-man (Arnold Skemer) review ''zine in small print that is
full of provocative impressions of cutting edge fiction, poetry, and
criticism, such as: books of essays on Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein
and Monique Wittig, the latter a kind of lesbian Rabelais; two studies
(from 1976, which shows how serious Skemer is) of language; a book on
the future of poetry from Australia; some critical essays by Richard
Kostelanetz, a study of laughter; a Canadian anthology of miniature
literary works, and a surrealistic novel written in 1928, Michael
Leiris's Aurora. Whew.--bg
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end TapRoot Reviews Electronic, issue 2.0 section a (ZINES)
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Issue #2.0, section a 4/93
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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. This posting
is the first section of our 2nd full electronic issue, containing
all of the short ZINE reviews; a second section contains all of the
chapbook reviews. 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--
(a short but human message; this is not an automated listserve).
I believe it is FTPable from UMich, which also archives back issues.
A cummulative, searchable, and x-referenced HyperCard version is
under development--e-mail for status & availablility information.
Hard-copies of TapRoot Reviews contain additional review
material--in this issue, reviews & articles by Jake Berry, Tom
Beckett, geof huth, Kurt Nimmo, 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 1993 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 are identified by their initials at the end of each review:
Tom Beckett, Jake Berry, Luigi-Bob Drake, R. Lee Etzwiler, Bob Grumman,
Roger Kyle-Keith, Bill Paulauskas, John Stickney, Nico Vassilakis,
Thomas Wiloch, and Ron Zac
*** Many thanx to all contributors. ***
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'ZINES:
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&, A MAGAZINE OF PARAGRAPHS--(Vol. IV, #2, Fall 1992), 92 Manning
St., Providence RI, 02906. 38 pp., $3.00. Exactly as advertised,
a collection of single-paragraph prose pieces. Mostly narratives,
fully complete and self-contained. Several strong, believable real-
life stories; others with the twisted linearity of dreams--bathtubs
full of snakes, blue wolves falling on you, that sort of thing.
Language & images honed and sharp, trimmed of all fat, as appropriate
to the limited space allotted. Fine.--lbd
ABACUS--(#71, Jan 93), 181 Edgemont Ave., Elmwood CT, 06110. 18 pp,
$3.00. Ten mostly introspective poems from Nick Piombino's The Frozen
Witness that generally deal with literature and related topics and
range from rhymed (!) verse through free-verse (and prose) to a poem
that alternates between free-verse and obliquely-resonant-therewith
lists of words that (except in two or three such lists) all begin with
an "f," or a "c," or an "f" or a "c".--bg
ANTISKIOS--(#s 60-62, Jan. 1993), 4143 F. St., Bremerton WA, 98312.
1 pp., $.29@. Each issue is a legal-sized broadsheet with a varied
clutter of poems, aphorisms and illustrations. The poems in these
three issues, and others I've seen, are all omni-lexical (words only)
but range from traditional free-verse to surrealism. Random fragment,
from Diane Webster's "Spirit of the Night" in #61: "Spirit of the
night wanders/ between wolf howl and rooster crow/ dragging her
moonbeam hem/ across the lake like a lover's whisper."--bg
Usually single double-sided oversized sheets filled with original
drawings, poetry, free-form style that I like to see being done with
such enthusiasm: drawings by Blair Wilson, poetry by such as Paul
Weinman, Larry Randle, T.N. Turner. Invites folks to write, submit
poetry, drawings. Obviously open to new ideas and a nice place to
start publishing.--bp
ASYLUM ANNUAL--(1993), PO Box 6203, Santa Maria CA, 93456. 153 pp.,
$12.95 ($10 to subscribers). Edited by Greg Boyd, this is the first
issue of the annual, replacing the former magazine of the same name.
The poetry, fiction and artwork featured here is first rate, drawing
heavily on the neo-surrealist vein in flavor and the prose poem in
particular. Prose poems by Russell Edson, Brian Swann, Jessica Treat
and David Henson stood out. The poetry mixed Rene Daumal (in
translation from the French) with Cynthia Hendershot, some Buk with
Ruben Dario and others, equally known and unknown. Fiction was also a
strong component in both short short and longer form. With some
art/lit criticism (Kirby Olson on the Marquis de Sade was
exceptional), some collages and clipped graphics, it is beautifully
laid out, kind of a cross between old faves KAYAK and GARGOYLE.
Though it may seem pricey, you're getting more than you paid for.--js
B CITY--(#7, Fall 1992), 517 N. 4th St., DeKalb IL, 60015. 48 pp.,
$5.00. One poem after another, the editor does a masterful job of
ignoring boundaries, bandwagons and schools, and jumps on anything
that strikes her fancy. The surprize is that it all hangs together,
somehow. The names I recognize range from Lydia Tomkiw (lead singer
in the band Algebra Suicide) to Stuart Friebert (professor at Oberlin
& editor of the prestigious journal FIELD). The wide range seems to
let in both the mundane and the Big Picture, tying 'em up in an
appropriately complex, and inexplicable web.--lbd
BACKWOODS--(#18, Winter 1992), PO Box 445, Athens GA, 30603. 62 pp.,
$10/yr. If there were such an animal as a classic underground mag,
BACKWOODS would probably fit the bill. It seems to bridge the gap
between '60s radical publications and '80s/'90s marginal press. Full
of stories, screeds, comics, ads for alternative businesses, poetry--
beat, experimental, hip-pastoral--great earthy graphics and crude
scribblings. Anyone thumbing through BACKWOODS and not finding at
least a couple of things to enjoy could pretty much be written off as
a hopeless asshole. A good dose for an anxious age.--jb
BAKUNIN--(#2, fall 1992/winter 1993), PO Box 1853, Simi Valley CA,
93062. 108 pp., $8.00. Not a simulation, but an actual magazine
published to appeal to "the dead Russian anarchist in us all." While
not all that anarchist, it does present work--poetry and fiction--that
has some political outlook, and some that does not. Featured work by
not the usual suspects, a comic strip called "Anti-Communists of
Doom," and a strong review section by editor Jordan Jones and
contributing editor Hugh Fox. Next issues will focus on the relations
between all races in the wake of the LA Riots (Simi Valley was the
site of the infamous Rodney King trial).--js
BANAL PROBE--(#3, July 1992), 115 E. 49th, Austin TX, 78751. 8 pp.,
$1.00. How could anyone dislike a magazine called "bANAL Probe," that
bills itself as "The Rectal Thermometer of a Dying Planet?" Anyway,
this issue contains about forty nicely-written brief reviews of
(mostly) 'zines and comix, almost none of which I'd ever heard of.
One example: FANZINE CULTURE, in one issue of which 13 different
fanzine editors discuss their careers. The magazine also has an
interesting selection of letters, illustrations and process pieces
about life in general.--bg
BIG ALLIS--(#4, 1991), 139 Thompson St. #2, New York NY, 10012. 56
pp., $5.00. All women poets, all more-or-less second wave LANGUAGE
folks, and all fine work--yet still such a wide variety of styles and
voices, it hangs together tenuously, by a thread. Elaine Aqui's words
float singularly in space, threading together like a dream; Mary
Rising Higgins twists haiku form, stringing 17-syllable lines together
to form a prose-poem; Elizabeth Willis fractures individual words as
well as line & linearity. Several excerpts from longer works,
including a chunk from Colleen Lookingbill's INCOGNITA (now available
from Sink Press). Beverly Dahlen's excellent "For Laura Moriarty's
like roads", goes beyond response or criticism to create a new whole
from parts.--lbd
BLACK BREAD--(#2, Nov. 1992), 366 Thayer St. #3, Providence RI, 02906.
88 pp., $5.00. A fine collection of work by a dozen women, thoughtful
and stimulating. Combines innovative formal techniques and a warmth
of human emotion. Several selections each from most of the
contributors, and some longer pieces given space to stretch out and
work. Kimberly Lyon's "Vestive" and "Six Poems for Rosa Luxumburg" by
Jennifer Moxley particularly striking, weaving together history &
everyday life, memory made physical.--lbd
BOLD PRINT--2602 W. Main St., Richmond, VA, 23220. 42 pp., $3.00.
There has always been something wonderfully unpretentious about BOLD
PRINT. Page after page you get the sense of people living, struggling
to survive, struggling for identity, yet retaining a sense of humor.
Most of these poets and story tellers aren't concerned with loft
literary aspirations, they're writing to come clean with themselves
and the world. The graphics generally come closer to graffiti, which
enhances the streetwise aesthetic. Reading this stuff makes you feel
less alone, gives you a sense of the community. Kyle says they need
cash to help keep it going. This is important stuff, so if you a
couple of extra bucks...--jb
CAMELLIA--(Year 4 Fall/Winter 93), PO Box 4092, Ithica, NY, 14852.
20 pp., $.52 and SASE. Poems by 18 writers, including Jeff Vetock,
Miriam Sagan and Wade Bell. Nicely produced, with a light but intense
esthetic. The poetry seems of a piece, the editors having chosen
works that compliment the sense of winter stillness without making it
an obvious device. Nothing very weird or experimental here, but it's
authentic and it shows. -bp
CRASH COLLUSION--(#2), PO Box 49233, Austin TX, 78765. $2.00. A
relatively new mag of alternative science, philosophy, and behavior.
Beautifully produced, utilizes ritualistic artwork both ancient and
modern. The writing is thoughtful and provocative, choosing to leave
the ideas it explores open for further discussion instead of drawing
hard conclusions. This issue concentrates on UFOs, hallucinogens, and
the Marfa Mystery Lights. Also, some Reichian poetics, quite good. A
list of potential subjects in the front includes lucid dreams, sacred
sites, shamanism, and conspiracies among others. Classic fringe.
They are seeking articles and correspondence.--jb
CROTON BUG--(#2), PO Box 11166, Milwaukee, WI, 53211. 56 pp., $8.00.
A handsome & spacious mag of mostly experimental textwork, mostly by
pretty Big Names, tho not all from the same camp. A number of
aleatoric/program-driven texts (Jackson Mac Low's computer-derived
"Forties", f'rinstance) seem connectedly fragmented & disjoint. A
similar experimentalism shows in Charles Stein's graphic Zaumisms
("Zenacious", "Yendrarchy"). Contrasting are Eileen Myles' (poet &
lesbian who ran for president) personal-political graduation address,
Antler's eco-sexual "Waterfall BoyJackoff Offering", and the
minimally graphic & powerfully political "500 Years of Resistance" by
Clemente Padn.--lbd
CVS BULLETIN--(#1, Feb. 1993), Copyright Violation Squad, Box 227,
Iowa City IA, 52244. 24 pp., $2.00. A serious newsletter on the
(mis)use of copyright law by the large and established against the
small and marginal, particularly when the latter appropriate
trademarks, song lyrics, etc. for the purpose of parody or social
commentary. One of its articles, for instance, tells of Meridenth
(BETTER HOMES & GARDENS) Corporation's suing a queerzine called BETTER
HOMOS & GARDENS. It'd be nice if CVS Bulletin were able to influence
somebody in the establishment, for our copyright laws are clearly both
unfair and outmoded; it's not likely, though.--bg
CWM--(#1, Summer 1992), 1300 Kicker Rd., Tuscaloosa AL, 35404. 32
pp., $3.00. Outside: a stiff color cover and a back pocket containing
two hand-decorated matchbooks and a folded narrow piece of cover stock
inside of which G. Huth has rubber-stamped, "watearthm," water being
the theme of this issue. Inside: a nicely eclectic range of poems
including some quite traditional ones, 6 reviews, a striking Guy
Beining collage, and an excerpt from, apparently, a novel--that sums
up this handsomely-produced new 'zine.--bg
CYANOSIS--(#1, 1991), 318 Mendocino Ave., Ste. 30, Santa Rosa CA,
95404. 108 pp., $7.00. Wide-ranging variety magazine for the '90s.
Cyberpunk prose & an interview with Russian poet Mikhail Epstein, more
of Colleen Lookingbill's Incongnita & portraits with lots of exposed
inner organs, review of a recent industrial music CD & an interview
with proprietors of a Death-Art gallery--all over the map, all smartly
laid out in the best DTP style.--lbd
DADA TENNIS--(#3, spring 1993), Box 10, Woodhaven NY, 11421. 16 pp.
A barrage of wordage from a handful of contributors, some of whom are
regulars on the DreamWorld BBS, also operated by editor Bill
Paulauskas (1-718-849-3232, 8-1-N; a source for much more of the same,
& participatory too!). You might suspect amphetamine &/or alcohol as
contributors due to the velocity & dislocation of the textstream--tho
such substances disrupt the REM sleep necessary to enter the
DreamWorld. Actually, less beholden to the Dreamy Surrealists, and
more akin to the (anti-)political Dada Daddies. Maybe best to blame
it on brain-wave disturbances from staring at the computer screen for
too long...--lbd
DIE YOUNG--#3, August 1991, 420 Orangewood, Lafayette, LA, 70503. 48
pp., $5. Proclaims: "DIE YOUNG is a little magazine of vast
pretensions. A powertool amid the squalor of political thought... "
I think it's great. It has a sense of humor, and still manages to
publish very good poetry. Steven Petroff's "Mongolian Proverbs" is a
nice example of wit and poetry at its best. And the rest of the crew
were enjoyable to travel with. Hey, how can you resist a poem with a
title like "The Ten Best Things" by Joe Sheffler, or Darrell Bourque's
"My Mother's Right Foot"? The last is not funny... nor drearily
poetic. These are exciting writers--may none die young.--bp
DREAMTIME TALKINGMAIL--(#3, Spring 1993), Rt. 2 Box 242W, Viola WI,
54664. 30 pp., $3.00. The newsletter for Xexoxial Endarchy's
Dreamtime Village project, a collective outpost in the wilderness of
Wisconsin devoted to experimental intermedia and sustainable
permaculture. The newsletter has information on their varieties of
workshops--which range from Arborescence and Straw Bale Construction
to Bookmaking and Pyrotechnics--as well as reports from past
festivities & articles from visitors. Proprietors Liz Was and Miekal
And are aware of how much this all sounds like the old hippy-commune
stuff from the 60's, and are at pains to differentiate themselves
("village living, not communal living!"). An adventurous & ambitious
project, looking to give & get some participatory energy.--lbd
EXILE--(Vol. 1, #1, Jan.-Feb 1993), 149 Virginia St., #7, St. Paul,
MN, 55102. 4 pp., SASE. A newsletter of "Reviews*Essays*
Information", this premier issue features a half-dozen reviews of
serious non-mainstream books (Bruce Andrews, Thom Metzger, Colleen
Lookingbill); and an impassioned essay called "Reading Between the
Lines: Is There a Place in Minnesota for Alternative Literature?"
Apparently fed up with the strictures of the local Poetry
Establishment, the editor decided to try to shake things up a little
and call attention to newer trends that seem dissed in St. Paul.
Admirable commitment to a hometown scene, although the problems of
conservative provincialism are everywhere (the grass might look
greener in NYC, but it's artificial turf).--lbd
FEH!--(#14), 147 Second Ave. #603, New York NY, 10003. 54 pp., $2.00.
Alas, according to an announcement in the editorial section this is
the last issue to be edited by Simeon Styleites. But as it becomes a
monster of Morgana Malatesta, Simeon's companion for some time now, I
doubt it'll change much. I hope not. This issue continues in classic
style the odious traditions of its predecessors. Simeon's editorial
is one of the highlights--his obsessions with DITS (devils-that-
infest-my-tortured-soul) and sin provide some tremendous
entertainment. And Morgana's idea of a romantic dinner is
delightfully disgusting. Bob Z appears and reappears to bitch and
endarken. And there's much much more--from the sweltering erotic to
the sickmaking. High perversion.--jb
FINE MADNESS--(winter/spring 1993), PO Box 31138, Seattle, WA, 98103.
64 pp., $9/yr. They seem to favor a more widely published assortment
of poets, which gives the magazine a professional feel. This presents
the reader with a rather balanced range of styles. There are no
amateurs here... made me wish for a touch more "madness" at the risk
of less finesse. The Carol Knox' poem "A Rune" was especially
refreshing.--bp
FISH WRAP--(#4, Fall 1992), 921 1/2 24th Ave., Seattle WA, 98122.
4 pp., $1.00. Poetry tabloid that includes illumagery and a short
story. In my favorite of its poems, a visual one by G. Huth, a large-
lettered "CIAO" juts out from such kinds of military printout as
"MSYSYSYSYS" collaged with something about Venus and "Roma," and a
vivid description of a streetscene after gunfire. Most of the other
poems are straight-forward free verse about everyday concerns, but--
usually--with a snap.--bg
FOUND SHEET--(#3, January 1993), 14492 Ontario Cir., Westminster CA,
92683. 2 pp., $2/6 issues. This issue features a characteristically
brain-charging collage by Malok about God, Man, having a fun car, and
several varieties of who-knows-what. It also contains one of
Bennett's recent apostrophe-littered poems, an arresting visual poem
by G. Huth, and a poem by Guy Beining about, among other things, a
"morning moon... (that is) no more than sky marrow."--bg
FOUND STREET--(Vol. 2, 1993), 14492 Ontario Cir., Westminster CA,
92683. 24 pp., $3.00. The full version, for which the FOUND SHEET
broadsides are maybe a teaser (catalog of all available for SASE).
Most (but not all) work is "found," or based on found sources via
d tournement, collage or aleatoric composition. The pure text pieces
(by Tom Willoch, Jack Skelly, and Musicmaster) seemed strongest (tho
it's not always clear if/how they are "found"). Some of the graphic
pieces are pretty conceptual, such as Brooks Roddan's "The Genius of
Glenn Gould", which consists of a xerox of the bar-code tag from a
Bach cassette. Inventive layout with hidden pages, so the reader is
in on the "finding".--lbd
FREE LUNCH--(#10, Summer 1992), Box 7647, Laguna Niguel CA, 92607.
32 pp., $10/3 issues. Excellent 'zine to send poems to, for editor
Ron Offen painstakingly comments on everything he receives, and
rejected poets win free subscriptions to the magazine if Offen thinks
them deserving. Of course, this can mean double-rejection if he
declines your work AND rates you unworthy of a free subscription. The
poetry in #10 is mostly conventional free verse, but much of it
clicks, like Billy Collins's "Refrigerator Light," which I quote in
full: "I stop thinking/ about her/ the minute/ she slams/ the door."
--bg
FUEL--(#2, 1992), PO Box 146640, Chicago IL, 60614. 44 pp., $3.00.
The image on the cover (& centerfold) is a guy at the gas pump, about
to light a cig after dousing himself with gasoline. On the surface,
that fits w/ most of the work inside, which is often from a kind of
down & out regular-guy persona--plenty of dishwashers, smack-addicts,
ex-cons, & pick-ups. (It's not always clear the material comes from
personal experience, & for the sake of the cover-boy i hope not.) On
second glance, tho, it seems that many of the writers are more
optimistic & hopeful than they let on--certainly Sesshu Foster's
opening "How a Man Getting Off a Bus is Like a Fruit, a Flower" is
seeing the brighter side. Even Jay Marvin, with "...& fuck you
amerika/ for taking jack, martin, bobby,/ malcom, huey, & leaving us
with/ dick, ronnie, george to preside/ over our crumbling desires"
seems to see a glass full enough to propose a toast.--lbd
GREEN Z ERO--(#11, Fall 1992), Box 3104, Shiremanstown PA, 17011.
24 pp., $1.00. The second space in this zine's title is no typo; and
it typifies the kind of vernal end-of-alphabet/beginning-of-counting/
almost-Eros micro-concern with language that it's poets seem most
devoted to. It's most far-gone exemplar is Paul Collier, as in "13.":
"onyx bet'n/ robing/ rush statix/ ein hook a bronze/ orange bellie
flame/ fish sich hard/ I never/ non dat tame/ radice red booms"--bg
HAIGHT ASHBURY LITERARY REVIEW--(Vol. 12 #1, 1993), 558 Joost Ave.,
San Francisco CA, 94127. 16 pp., $2.00. A diverse and conscientious
journal from the San Francisco area. This issue includes one short
story and seventy-two poems intermixed with black and white art. Well
done and alive with the muse. Around for twelve years and still going
strong. Various free verse imagism and experimental word-slinging,
idolizing Jack Kerouac-like beat mystery and correct punctuation most
of the time. It includes variety within this sub-genre. "Your
fingers grip the wheel/ feel the wanderer's void/ up black mountains/
you see/ the bones of your fathers". Many poems like this are
included and excite the mind with vivid surprises and twists.
Includes a sense of cultural awareness and diversity. Well thought
out, this is a mellow collection.--rle
HAMMERS--(#6, 1992), 1718 Sherman, Suite #205, Evanston, IL, 60201.
92 pp., $5.00. Bill Hennessey's opening "This Light Of Physics", with
its picture of a Japanese woman cradling her irradiated baby in the
bath, sets the tone of commitment & intensity. Lisa Buscani's closing
"Solidarity", a song for AIDS victims (all of us), has the force &
directness that won her the National Poetry Slam title last year. In
between are a wide variety of voices, all accessible and working hard
to communicate. Craft meant as a vehicle, not decoration or dazzle.
Fans of SLIPSTREAM magazine will find find this one equally
compelling.--lbd
HOUSE ORGAN--(#1), 1250 Belle Avenue, Lakewood, OH, 44107. SASE +
donation. This is a new magazine. A tapestry of Modernist, Post-
Modernist, and Jungian Poetic idea. A constellation of prose poems,
poem poems, articles, comments and poetic insights. A woven collage
of language play by loom operator Kenneth Warren. Poetic origins in
Pound, Olson, Duncan, etc. All engaging poetics by committed authors.
These titles reveal some of the metal: "Nothing to Worry About in
Heraclitus," "thINK," "13 Lines from Fortune Cookies I Opened Last
Week," "The Episteme of the Serpent," "Nymphactra," "Usufruct," "98.6%
Loaded." This is all a magazine of poetry. Now, while all of this
intoxicates the imagination it is not a pretentious or pompous
presentation. The magazine's glyph conveys the playfulness of poetry,
the limitless of possibility of language, and the fashion in which
word defines reality.--Michael Basinski
HOUSE ORGAN--(#2, Spring 1993), c/o Kenneth Warren, 1250 Belle Ave.,
Lakewood OH, 44107. 12 pp., SASE + donation. A small, xerox 'zine,
that primarily features poetry. This issue has poems by Russell
Atkins, George Myers Jr., Joe Napora, Vincent Ferrini, Michael
Basinski, Clayton Eshleman and others. It is packed with superior,
solid work. Editor Kenneth Warren contributes an essay on Napora's
take on "The Walam Olum." Receiving something like this in the mail is
reason enough to get up in the morning.--js
INDEFINITE SPACE--(Vol. 1, #2; Autumn 1992), PO Box 40101, Pasadena
CA, 91114. 39 pp., $3.00. A graceful collection of impressive poems,
musical, thoughtful, bordering on surrealism with a touch of improv-
jazz. A bright spot of intelligent works which are not fierce, but
calming. Included: some experimental works, odd spacing, lack of
capitalization and punctuation, even a collage poem--nothing
oppressive. Everything fits to form a mood of veiled understanding,
almost reaching for omniscience at times. To look behind the veil is
to be forbidden understanding. But the urge is still there. And so
is the potential. Each poem has a calm power building within, a lusty
paean of oozing images nailed swiftly into a fortress of wonder. From
Carrie Etter's "Miscarriage: "Monday I had found out. It had been/
eight years and Dad's layoff since/ the last child, and I wept,/ Tell
me, what are the rules?/ . . . on a pale winter night, empty roads/
lead back to memory." This is only one example of the passion
contained in this publication, a mournful passion at times, a passion
compounded by youthful images lost and found, but a worthy passion.
--rle
INDUSTRIAL SABOTAGE--(#53: The Zoo Issue), 1357 Lansdowne, Toronto,
ONT, CANADA, M6H 3Z9. 19 pp. A thematic issue, a beastiary, from
ants to vultures, & the human animal too. Each poem has its own
specie, is it's own page/object, rubber-stamped onto a separate card,
various colors & sizes, collected in an envelope. Beautiful as a
thing-in-itself. Each voice stands on its own, distinct & deserving
of the individualized attention, unified by the pared-to-the-bone
Essence that marks traditional haiku. Tho linguistically more playful
than most haiku, in general not as radically experimental as some past
issues of this mag. Can't resist quoting the late bpNichol's
contribution, a version of Basho, "The Queerness of It All":
frQg
pQnd
plQp
--lbd
KETTLE OF FISK--(Vol. 3 #1), PO Box 42872, Philadelphia PA, 19101.
$1.00. afungusboy has always made great mailart and since he got a PC
the quality has improved and issues seem to be coming more rapidly.
This issue even contains a review section. The best part of this one
though is a mail interview with John M. Bennett--allowing us a glimpse
into some of his methods and ideas. Also excellent graphics, and
articles by Geof Huth among others on archiving, and there's more.
Quite a lot for a buck or a trade--jb
LIFT--(#1O &11, Fall 92.), 10-rear Oxford St., Somerville MA,
Somerville MA. 129 pp., $9.00. Devoted to the work of Stephen Jonas.
Jonas, who died 'in 1970, was a black, homosexual, self-educated poet
I'd never heard of 'til getting this magazine but who wrote at the
level of his friend Jack Spicer, as this scrappy collection of funk-
to-Plato-wide, "bam-a-lam-lam" splattering of poems proves.--bg
LILLIPUT REVIEW--(#s 41 & 42, March 1993), 207 S. Millvale Ave., #3,
Pittsburgh PA, 15224. 12 pp., $1.00. Tiny, straightforward poems in
small unassuming packages. Not as spartan as haiku (tho sometimes
shorter), nor sentimental greeting-card verse, but usually limited a
single image or incident. Lyn Lifshin's feature poem in #41 weighs in
at 2-dozen lines, several times the average, and packs an extra punch
thanx to sex, death & enjambment.--lbd
LOGODAEDALUS--(#3, Nov 92), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA, 17104. 28 pp.,
$2.00. Fascinating abstract drawings by (I think) editor Paul Collier
and such dislocational poems as Ficus Stangulensis's "Staid Greyface,"
whose final stanza is: "KillFaceRockWest/ satis Kali fry/
Scichismafecal/ snow voilet," and William B. Keckler's "The White
Feather" with its "Frozen command, rippled, conchoidal/ Blue launched
birds, Latin frescoes/ Quails feather air's glow/ Refraining bone's
flowering..."-bg
LOGODAEDALUS--(#4, Dec 92), Box 14193, Harrisburg PA, 17104. 28 pp.,
$2.00. Possibly America's leading magazine of microherent poetry--
which is what I call poetry of intentionally distorted words like the
five here in Tio Veracols "Etude 230b:Cathe" (with "wind"):
"perpelo/slooke," "silva," "tieir" and "winsbloe"--which puts me back
in the middle ages, turning from Dante's dark wood onto a better path
than he took--bg
LONG NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY--(#2), PO BOX 150-455, Brooklyn NY,
11215. 108 pp., $5.00. Centered on the theme of mourning, this is a
high powered literary magazine with many big guns from the New York
and Language schools. Good work by Bernadette Mayer, Fanny Howe and
new-comer Wang Ping. The theme got lost or I missed the point of some
of the pieces. Wouldn't be the first time.--js
LONG NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY--(#3) , PO Box 150-455, Brooklyn, NY,
11215. 125 pp., $5.00. A very solid magazine of innovative writing
and art. There are over forty contributors to this issue and all of
the work sustains interest. I was particularly taken by Tyrone
Williams' lyrically enthusiastic "Eleven Sentences," an extraordinary
essay on a one line poem by Chris Tysh. Also of note are the
contributions by Johanna Drucker, Harryette Mullen, Nicole Brossard,
Chris Tysh, Carolee Schneeman, Lewis Warsh and Clark Coolidge. LONG
NEWS: IN THE SHORT CENTURY is a magazine to keep on your desk and to
keep an eye on.--tb
LONG SHOT--(Vol. 13, 1992), PO Box 6238, Hoboken NJ, 07030. 127 pp.,
$6.00. When time travel is perfected, someone will go back and
attempt to smash Bukowski's first typewriter. Probably the wrong
tactic, maybe get him a date to the senior prom or just get him laid
early enough to put a stop to it! Anyway, this could be subtitled
"Buk's Kids," it takes much the same stance, throws in some New York
school writers--Eileen Myles, Orlovsky, and Ed Sanders (he's also
interviewed)--some aware art, and tops it off with a piece on Wild
Girls A-Go-Go, a performance dress-up goof. It has an awful lot of
energy, eroticism (see Tsaurah Litsky's poems), street smarts
(Hiphoprisy & Paul Beatty), and a Jack Wiler poem on exterminating
what in Tibet is called a god. Not bad at all.--js
MEAT EPOCH--(#10, Jan 93), 3055 Decatur Ave., apt. 2S, Bronx NY,
10467, 2 pp., SASE, Poetry that ranges from C. Mulrooney's direct but
crackling mordancies to such nondirect work as Michael Basinski's
"Spell of Quince" (Ist line: "low olo ore odil") and St. Thomasino's
"Ekphrasis No. 811 (which ends "Glottis/ Hic/ Cough/ Angel" . . . but
wait, those are all real words!) with Crag Hill's fascinatingly
lyrical/political "Spring Wound" and some astronomical illustrations
of the solar system in between.--bg
MEAT EPOCH--(#11, Jan. 1993), 3055 Decatur Ave., Apt 2S, Bronx NY,
10467. 2 pp., SASE. No criticism in this issue, but a computer-
scanned reproduction of a ten-dollar bill by William Conlon; two short
evocative poems by the editor, a mathematical poem (in which a snow-
obscured island is raised to the power of one over "Persephone") by
m'self, and two fine philosophical poems, one by Spencer Selby (in
which "Meaning gathers in emptiness/ and waits on all things"), the
other by A. L. Nielson (about a "context (which) rose in the eastern
window").--bg
MESHUGGAH--(#6), 147 Second Ave. #603, New York, NY, 10003. 32 pp.,
$1.00. A rapidly growing and improving mag, MESHUGGAH brings together
all manner of radical text. This issue is much commentary and
complaining about the state of things, liberation rants, and bizarro
fiction. Also, a few articles & etc. culled from elsewhere. A higher
than usual amount of seriousness for MESHUGGAH , but in combination
with some of the more deranged material it works quite well, moving
away from the fiction collective it once was to a powerful document of
the times.--jb
MODERN HAIKU--(Vol. XXIV, #1), Box 175, Madison WI, 53701. 92 pp.,
$4.85. A magazine of long duration that is devoted to traditional
haiku. Too many clunkingly old contrasts for me (e.g., spring vs.
mortality), but I liked George Swede's "spring moon/ under the alley
tomcat's fierce eyes/ a nametag glows" and a few others, and this
issue also has some excellent articles on the haiku, and--as always--
many informative reviews that cover haiku of all schools, even LeRoy
("onde omb elleelle") Gorman's.--bg
MOLECULAR JUICE GLUE: DECENTRALIZED NETWORKER CONGRESS, 1992 DREAMTIME
CORROBOREE--Xexoxial Endarchy, Rt. 1 Box 131, Lafarge, WI, 54639. 48
pp. This is a 81/2 X 7 booklet documenting a Decentralized Networker
Congress held Aug. 22, 1992 at Miekel And's and Liz Was's Dreamtime
Village. Includes a long introduction to the participants in this
particular event and to networker culture in general by John Held, Jr.
The rest of the book has graphic pieces and collaborations by the
participants and mail art from others. Includes a bibliography and
address lists. Judging by this book, a great time was had by all.
--jmb
NEW AMERICAN WRITING--(#10, Fall 1992), 2920 West Pratt, Chicago IL,
60645. 150 pp., $6.00. NAW is put out by the people who brought you
OINK, poets Maxine Chernoff and Paul Hoover. They've dressed up the
name and package, but inside there's the same mix of strong poetry
running across the best lines from Language, NY School, and the
independents. As always, the best here are by female writers--Lydia
Davis in some short short prose, Connie Deanovich and Elaine Equi...
in fact, this is the place where I first read Equi. Funny, ironic and
not too tragically hip, a good mix.--js
NOTUS--(#11, Fall, 1992), 2420 Walter Dr., Ann Arbor MI, 48103.
118 pp., $6.00. The opening essay waits 'til the second paragraph
torefer to Barthes; the closing essay cites Derrida & Baudrillard.
In between, the poetry is polished clean, but not as difficult as
the bracketing erudition might have suggested. Many are almost
anecdotal, if fragmented. I appreciated again Charles Bernstein's
humor, and wanted to get the whole of Myung Mi Kim's "Bounty",
portions of which appear in BLACK BREAD as well as here. Translations
from Blaise Cendrars & Appollinaire, too.--lbd
O!!ZONE--(#2, Feb. 1993), 1266 Fountain View Dr., Houston TX, 77057.
18 pp., $2.50. A new 'zine devoted to unconventional writing. This
issue features poems by Guy R. Beining and Ken Brandon--with
illumagery by the authors as as an added attraction. Beining's poems
are what I'd call "compound disjunctional," for they combine
syntactical unorthodoxy and surrealism; but they include at least one
fine traditionally-lyrical passage: "solvent edge of moon on/ blush of
lake/ green veins of may in/ chalk of birch." Brandon's poems, on the
other hand, are fairly straight-forward, but flirt slightly with
surrealism as when, in his first poem he describes how he is dying...
himself green & purple.--bg
OSTENTATIOUS MIND--224 82nd St., Brooklyn NY, 11209. 24 pp., $3.00.
A valiant attempt to get the poetry to the people. A folded journal
of submitted poetry using paste and copy machine. Gives address of
each poet so you can contact your favorite. A large selection of
poems, by people from all over and in all walks of life. Very
diversified in content. The addresses allow you to contact poets you
like and tell them so--nice touch.--rle
OXYGEN--(#6, Autumn 1992), 535 Geary St. #1010, San Francisco CA,
94102. 40 pp., $3.00. Bracketed by long quotations from Toni
Morrison and Ted Berrigan, the writers here take on "the aesthetic,
political, and religious dimensions of life" --a tall order, and they
are sincere rather than ironic. The poetry usually reachs high and
sometimes exceeds its grasp, while the prose more often is content to
just hand over the story. If they could get together somewhere
inbetween...--lbd
PARADOX--(#2), 49 Pine St. Apt 1, Saranac Lake NY, 12983. 20 pp.,
$2.50. Somewhat innovative in that the cover is dense line drawing on
a transparency. The poetry, prose and graphics move around from
experimental to confessional--most of it quite good, and generally
with only one piece to a page. Very accessible for something this
deviant, and a good ride from one muse to another.--jb
PHOTOSTATIC--(#41, Jan .93) , Box 227, Iowa City IA, 52244. 22 pp.,
$10/yr. Back after three years on Art Strike, as good as ever though
now much more a discussion than art 'zine. This issue has some
excellent audio cassette and 'zine reviews; a discussion of poetry in
code by Tom Wiloch; two pages from Ross Martin's intriguing collagetc.
book about books, Your Name Here; and news from editor Lloyd Dunn that
Penguin Books has recognized the 'zine scene with The World of Zines
by Mike Gunderloy and Cari Goldberg Janice. Does that mean it's time
for authentic 'zine people to mosey on?--bg
PICKLES & OLIVES--(#l, 1992), PO Box 2382, Janesville WI, 53547.
12 pp., $1.00. This is an admirable first attempt by a young teen-
punk flexing her creative muscle. Xeroxed drawings, photos, letters,
and articles make P&O an eclectic and lively 'zine. The mix of typed
and handwritten copy includes instructions on making a cherry bomb,
satirical political essays ("Punx for Vegetable Rights" and "The
Caimanist Manifesto."), and both serious and humorous rantings of
tortured teen-aged minds in the form of poems, short stories, and
quotes.--rz
POETRY FLASH--(Number 237, December 1992), PO Box 4172, Berkeley CA,
94704. 28 pp., $1.00. Jampacked with news and poetry of the West
Coast, what's going on and where to submit, reviews and personal
accounts of the poetry scene, last minute breakthroughs and personal
insights. Mainstream but not stuffy. Has a monthly calendar of
readings and events. This issue included an indepth article on
"Cowboy Poets" and their works in progress; an interview with Robert
Hunter (songwriter for the "Grateful Dead"), many poems, and much
more. If you want to know what is going on on the West Coast, this is
for you.--rle
POETRY MOTEL--(#19, 1993), 1619 Jefferson St., Duluth MN, 55812.
52 pp., $5.95. Raw, naked poetry you could probably read outloud at
the corner bar and not only not get laughed at or punched, but
probably be understood. Easy to "get" but not simple; tough-hearted,
violent & sexy, full of juice... reminds a little of Bukowski but not
so goddam self-absorbed, and more insightful to boot. Editor Pat
McKinnon got a computer and a new book of Mayan glyphs to cut-n'-
paste, the layout is still slapdash but ever easier to read. Special
bonus: blue basset-hounds on the cover!--lbd
RED DANCEFLOOR REVIEW--(Vol.#2 Issue#4), PO Box 7392, Van Nuys, CA,
91409. 5.00. Flat-spine, slick cover, nice art and a high class
format make this one of the finest new poetry magazines on the West
Coast. The power of the poetry and it's intensity will enthrall any
poetry lover. Classy but not stuck-up. This issue includes a review
by an Ohio poet, as well as an interview with Beat poet Allen
Ginsberg. This is a tastefully done softcovered book which will last
for years on your bookshelf. Very enjoyable.--rle
RENOVATED LIGHTHOUSE--(#36, Summer 1991), PO Box 100. Riparius, NY,
12862. 30 pp., $2.90. Poetry, prose, reviews, haikus, social
commentary, and black and white fantasy art encapsulated into a pro-
nature, pro-animal format, utilizing a selfproclaimed unconventional
attitude in their editorial policy. One example of this
unconventional policy appears to be a short story which is "concluded
in the next issue." While this transition of a short story from one
issue to another can be accomplished smoothly, in this case it is
abrupt and disturbing. Some of the rhymes seem forced, but the free
verse and prose are flexible and lucid. Don't expect scintillation,
or even liberation. However, a celebration of life exists here, a
small celebration but a celebration none-the-less. lt is obvious these
people are headed in the right direction and with a little support
they might make it.--rle
SCREECHOWL--(Feb. 1993), PO Box 1473, Russellville AR, 72801. 1 pp.,
SASE?? All forms, styles, etc. accepted. Contributors receive ten
copies of this delightful single sheet. This issue is buzzing with
neatly scattered engravings of bugs, insects and owls... as well as
poetry by John M. Bennett, Jessica Goad, and others. I think Jessica
is someone to watch. I liked the voices of the other poets and their
feel for the music in language. I think with Bennett in their midst
they may grow more experimental and benefit from the risks.--bp
SHINY INTERNATIONAL--(#7/8, 1992) , 39 E.12th Street, Suite 603, New
York NY, 10003. 161 pp., $10.00. Subtitled "The Magazine of the
Future," this is a slick, literary with a capital L magazine,
beautifully done, and appropriate for any coffee table. Inside, with
large white pages, are lots of big names from the Language crowd and
those NY School graduates, in a lay-out that gives each poem some
space to breathe. Notable work by everyone's favorite deviant Bob
Flanagan, Tom Clark and Lewis Warsh, some art portfolios, a collection
of new Berlin poetry (which seem remarkably American) and an in-depth
interview with Jackson Mac Low.--js
SHORT FUSE--(#52), Box 90436, Santa Barbara, CA, 93190. 6 pp, $1.00.
A lot of interesting stuff in a small space. Excerpts from
contributor's dream journals, tributes to John Cage, theories,
screeds, poems, excellent graphics. Another enticingly active neuron
in the fringe of liberation xerology.--jb
SITUATION--(#1, Dec. 92), 82 Fargo Ave. #3, Buffalo NY, 14201.
16 pp., $8/yr. Omni-textual poems, most of them by the people
involved with POETIC BRIEFS. Mostly about everyday concerns, but
unobtrusively expression-concerned, too, as when Elizabeth Burns
brings her scatter of unheightened but affecting thought-fragments
about being in the hospital with a friend who has breast cancer to
"a room at the top of my head/ where I open drawers and closets/ and
birds and letters fly out/ and flock to you."--bg
SLAM Newsletter--(Vol 1. #3, March '93), 945 Main St. #807, Worcester,
MA, 01610. 4 pp. , $1.25. The Poetry Slam is a peculiar genre of
performance poetry with peculiar rules: 3 minute time limit; no props;
judged olympic-point style by members of the audience. Spawned in
Chicago, it's a phenom that's spread to over 30 cities nationwide &
international. It promotes & popularizes poetry (where else have you
ever seen 2000 people on their feet screaming for poetry?); purists
sometimes have reservations about the restrictions & the competitive
aspects, which can get pretty cut-throat. Easily understood &
accessible poetry, as well as dramatic monologues & humorous material,
tends to go over well; quieter & more thoughtful/complicated work
sometimes gets lost in the crowd. This newsletter provides networking
& access information for Slams in various cities, as well as reports
from the most recent national Slam and news of upcoming nationals (to
be held in SanFran--get on the stick if you plan to organize a team).
If you're tired of the usual poetry reading format, this might be the
spur towards something more energetic & alive.--lbd
SLUG & LETTUCE--(#28, 1992), c/o Christine, PO Box 2067 Peter Stuy.
Stn., New York NY, 10009. 8 pp., SASE. The multi-talented Chris
Boarts puts together an entertaining and informative collection of
news on the NYC punk scene (with implications for far beyond), 'zine
and record reviews, classifieds, and probing photos.
The issue opens with Christine's pleasantly rambling thoughts on
a variety of topics--like stepping into her personal journal--a
compendium of sincere introspection mixed with items from the scene.
Dan Werle's column launches from a touching account of a nursing home
death into an editorial on health care, right-to-die and meaning-of-
life issues. The center of the tabloid opens into a photo-essay on
the now defunct Fetus Squat, an abandoned house that had been home to
a group of industrious punks, and the front page offers advice on
saving the environment.
All this and much more make this a worthwhile publication
reaching far beyond its native NYC. In fact, it would be worth a look
if it only consisted of Christine's energetic action photos that
capture the essence of concerts, concert-goers, and the vibrant
diversity of the Big Apple--rz
THE SOW'S EAR POETRY REVIEW--(Vol. III #3; February 1992), 245
McDowell St., Bristol TN , 37620. $3.50. This is an innocent
quarterly which often has bite. Its large format makes it a pleasure
to hold and its neat, well-spaced layout is pleasant to the eyes,
dignified. Poetry, short stories, art, photographs, and reviews
provide a well-rounded selection of diverse works. There is work by a
fifth-grade student, a literature professor, a Polish poetry
translator, a Native American, a high school student, and many others,
including many new poets first-time publishing their work. This
southern-based poetry review will not insult anyone's taste or
sensibilities and includes thoughtful and intriguing works which range
from a Haiku about McDonalds to an amusing and quite sardonic poem-
curse on the topic of editorial misuse of "Mr." and "Ms." This is a
positive work, one which will delight parents and teenagers alike.
--rle
STROKER--(#50, 1992), 124 N. Main St. #3, Shavertown, PA, 18708.
48 pp., $3.95. The editor doesn't hide his predilections: in his own
excerpt-from-a novel contribution, he's painting Tristan Tzara's old
flat, he conjures the names of Balzac, Verlaine, Victor Hugo, Tristan
Tzara, & Hemingway--finally, he goes on to "quote form the Master...
Or a man of genius--also one of the great writers (and a poet!) of all
time--who has best put a finger on a country of genius: Henry Miller."
More than just a Miller fanzine, STROKER strikes a balance between the
old warriors (Miller, Tommy Trantino, Bukowski) & new voices in the
same vein. From-th-gut spirituality, holiness seen in the body as
well as the soul--even the saints had to take a shit sometimes.--lbd
sub-TERRAIN--(#9, Dec. 1992), PO Box 1575, Sta. A, Vancouver BC,
CANADA, V6C 2P7. 30 pp., $2.50. About half of this is devoted to a
coupla excerpts from the winners of their annual 3-Day Novel Contest
(which i can't quite imagine--what do they do, sit there & watch you
while you write?). The rest is fairly straight-talkin' poetry in
which work and/or sex seem to be popular subjects. A fine tuff one
from Pat McKinnon, consoling his kids in the face of starving
"ballooned-out babies" in Africa.--lbd
TEKELI-LI!: Journal of Terror--(#4, Winter/Spring 1992), c/o Jon B.
Cooke, 106 Hanover Ave., Pawtucket RI, 02861. 128 pp., A horror
'zine, it features some fiction and poetry but really shines in the
area of non-fiction. Heavy contributions by practitioners in the
genre. An interview with short story master Thomas Ligotti (Song Of A
Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe) reveals his influences to include Bruno
Schulz, E.M. Cioran, Thomas Bernhard. The section on Ligotti includes
a story and an essay by Ligotti, a bibliography and two critical looks
at his work. Cover artist Harry O. Morris is featured and also
interviewed. Terrific art, good critical reviews, and articles
entitled "Vampires: Why They Matter," all add up to a pretty good
read.--js
TIGHT--(Vol. 3 #5, October 1992), PO Box 1591, Guerneville CA, 95446.
75 pp., $4.50. Full of a variety of poetry from all over. Some
abstract sketches and collages. Lifshin's here, and so is Surbanum,
Bigiorno, Thomosine Reed, and Mandy Y. Khaiyat. There are poems about
every thing imaginable; oranges, clouds, nuclear holocaust, 1944,
Native Americans, the Garden of Eden, dozens of poems. It is a good
read, a biodegradable magazine meant to be passed around, enjoyed and
not retained for too long. This is poetry from and about the people
who count; common, every day, working class human beings who love
poetry. This one is for quantity, you can't help but find something
you like.--rle
TIGHT--(Vol. 4 #1, Jan. 1993), PO Box 1591, Guerneville, CA, 95446.
74 pp., $4.50. One poem after another in the pure poetry-mag
tradition. A labor of love for the editor, and love--love of
language, human love, or at least compassion & heart--plays a part in
many of the poems. Plenty of image, plenty of straightforward stories
to tell, and the occasional disquietude. Many poets are represented
by a selection of several poems, which gives you a chance to get to
know 'em a bit better.--lbd
TO: A Journal of Poetry, Prose + the Visual Arts--(#1, Summer 1992),
Box 121, Narbeth, PA, 19072. 141 pages, $7.00. This promising first
issue features a wealth of recent writing, plus a very beautiful
portfolio of nude photographs by, and interview with, Jock Sturges.
There's also work by John Ashbery, Charles Bernstein, Leslie
Scalapino, John Taggart, Rod Smith, Michael Heller, Raymond Federman,
Stephen Dixon and many others. All of the work printed testifies to
the editors' stated strategy of presenting material "that intersects
and renegotiates the modernisms of Stein, Williams, Duchamp,
Stieglitz, et al." Best of all, though, are the essay and poem
contributed by Rachel Blau DuPlessis. "On Drafts: A Memorandum of
Understanding" documents originating impulses behind her ongoing long
poem DRAFTS. "Conjunctions," the poem, enacts "part of a running
script on the running subject." Pithy and pivotal, this work alone is
worth the price of subscription.--tb
TRANSMOG--(#9, Jan 1993), Rt. 6, Box 138, Charleston, WV, 25311.
28 pp., SASE. Wide variety of good otherstream matter by names
unfamiliar to me, always a sign of worthwhile activity, I think.
Poetry as deep as Tom Wiloch's "soft ticking/ of the/ eloquent
street// (night steps)" (quoted in full) and as comic as Paul
Weinman's "Count-Down to Lift-Off," whose protagonist, while having
sex, "howled out/ memorized list/ of Fortune's 500./ Got to #15." Lots
of intriguingly weird illumagery, too.--bg
TRANSMOG has evolved from the computer scramblings of editor Ficus
Strangulensis himself to a document of some of the more absurd Dada
poems and graphics currently materializing. We need more mags like
this one. A host of contributors keep the pace rapid and gleeful
and more than a little maddening. This stuff is guaranteed to crack
a few delusions and compel you to think from multiple perspectives.
Powerful medicine for a couple of Elvis stamps.--jb
THE VILLAGE IDIOT--(#16, May-August 1992), PO Box 66, Harrison ID,
83833. 48 pp., $3.00. More words per square centimeter than any
other little (literary) magazine, interesting black and white art,
some color, and a money back guarantee. Strong poetry and prose,
mostly short stories, full of vigor, brutal realism, and often...
social revelations! This publication is anything but light. These
stories draw you in, perforate your empathy, twist you around, and
surprise you at the end. The protagonists are everyday people,
observed through a critical magnifying glass, engaged with the word in
some intense manner, slightly distorted but interesting. They labor
life making valid observations drawn from the psyche of anguish and
painted with vivid metaphorical significance. This publication is not
for everyone, it has an edge, an outspoken candor, a degree of
unconformity which appeals to those with a risque nature. THE VILLAGE
IDIOT might be one of the more unusual and interesting little magazines
of its day..--rle
VIVISECTION: EVISCERATING THE LIVING WORD--PO Box 6571, Richmond, KY,
40475, , $1.00 ea.?, Each is a single folded sheet and suggests in
form and content one of those tiny religious tracts you pick up off
the cigarette machine at a truck stop. There's more than meets the
eye here, though: one is an illustrated poem or chant titled "The
Snake God's Salvation" and the other intercuts "salvation" rants with
a Burroughs-like text:
... In
_____________________________
S:::LAST CHANCE:::NO SALVATIO
_____________________________
heavy antedeluvian accent the
Kid drawls, Bad bardo, bad ka
rdo, he looking like Alan Lad
d in greenface-white Latinc
rosses rain down on dunes lit
Fine additions to the free tract genre!--jmb
VIZ--(#4, Nov 92), Box 1584, Hattiesburg MS, 39403. 62 pp., $3.00.
Too many pages not printed on both sides, but otherwise a nice
collection of otherstream works that include a neato collage narrative
by Stephen Young, and something by Reed Altemus I hesitatingly
classify as a microherent visual poem. A stack of variably-sized
nonsense-words on graph paper whose lines are variably-spaced, it can
get a brain whirly after a while--and the letters of its text can be
used to spell, "GIRLZ AT," if that means anything.--bg
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?--(#l, Oct.1992), PO Box 6424,
Evanston IL, 60204. The first issue of a new newspaper-format
periodical published by "The Surrealist Group in Chicago." The center
piece is an international surrealist manifesto against the "Columbus
Quincentennial" which notes that "poetry--an authentic act of total
insubordination--continues to explode the foundations of a stifling
totalitarianism." Equally significant are the poems by Penelope
Rosemont, Jayne Cortez, Mary Low, Franklin Rosemont. Includes a
listing of works by participants in the Surrealist Movement in the
United States since Jan. of 1989. WHAT presents a glimpse at a
uncompromising, serious commitment and an authentic vision, not often
found among our artists, one much missed.--js
WHITE WALL OF SOUND--(#8, Winter 1992), 1320 W. 116th St. #9,
Cleveland OH, 44102. 18 pp., $5.00 ($8.00 in NYC). The "Photo
Essay/Visual Poetics/Cinema of the Imagination" issue. Twelve actual
B&W photographic prints (5x7") present a disjointed urban landscape of
troubled beauty. I think the reference is to Alfred Stieglitz's mag
CAMERA WORK, which also included photos tipped in--the identification
is with Dada, more political than Surrealism. Also includes a reprint
of an article by Clive Philpot (librarian at MOMA) on artist's books.
--lbd
THE ?WHY? PROJECT--(Anabasis Project #1, 1992), P0 Box 8766, Portland,
OR, 97207. 104 pp., $8.00. Thomas Taylor, editor; Susan Smith Nash,
contributing editor. A well-produced, perfectbound volume of essays,
poetry, and texts circling about the concept of "why," by some 28
contributors, including Rochelle Owens, John Byrum, Peter Ganick, Dan
Raphael, M. Kettner, Harry Polkinhorn, Susan Smith Nash, John M.
Bennett, and Crag Hill. Contributions range from the visual poetry of
Byrum and Hill to essays like the one by Nash on the relationships
between poetic and geologic paradigms of causality. There is a strong
"LANGUAGE" flavor to many of these works, but none of them are sterile
or merely academic. In fact, the whole collection is lively and
stimulating and contains a remarkable variety of approaches to a
difficult and elusive topic.--jmb (the 1993 edition will be The Love
Project).
THE WINDLESS ORCHARD--(#56, Fall/Winter 92), Eng. Dept., Indiana-
Purdue U., Fort Wayne IN, 46805. 34 pp., $4.00. Technically-
conventional poems that mostly discuss reality rather than ascend from
it, but are nonetheless often effective: for example, Lora Dunetz's
elegy for her storm-loving father, and an amusingly chagrined plaint
by Lawrence Watson about how hard it is for him to get more of his
physicality than his brain and hands into his poetry.--bg
THE WORLD--(#44), The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, 10th St.
and 2nd Ave., New York NY, 10003. 72 pp., $5.00. The old WORLD was a
mimeo magazine; this new, updated version keeps the same feel, like
hand to hand circulated copies. If there was an MFA program from the
New York School this would be it's IOWA REVIEW. Featuring members of
that poetic's grouping from the first to what must now be the fourth
or fifth generation, you always know what you're getting when you pick
it up. This issue: Baraka, Coolidge, Nauen, Sanders, Towle, Waldman
and Ward, to name a few.--js
THE WORLD--(#45), The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church, 10th St.
and 2nd Ave., New York NY, 10003. $5.00. Strong issue with prose
poems by Kenneth Koch, selections from Jerome Rothenberg's LORCA
VARIATIONS, James Graham's meditation on his balls ("My balls are two
iron ingots caught in a vise... two green felafels waiting for the
sauce"), and Hal Sirowitz''s childhood poems: "Don't swim in the ocean
while it's raining,/ Mother said. Lightening can hit the water,/ &
you'll be paralyzed. You don't like/ to eat vegetables. Imagine
having/ to spend the rest of your life being one..." (from "Damaged
Body"). Highly recommended.--js.
WRAY--(#IV, March 1993), PO Box 91052, Cleveland OH, 44101. 88 pp.,
$3.00. Continued concatenation & cacophony from the SlowHouse--this
one subtitled Crying Out Loud. Contributors about evenly split
between folks well-known (Robert Ashley, Dodie Belamy, Robert
Kostelanetz, Denise Dee) and local friends (John Stickney, Jessica
Grimm, Tom Beckett--famous in their own right). Moving away from some
of the punkier (& funnier) work they've used in the past, towards more
serious and (self?)-important. Despite that, the whole seems less
coherent than the parts--an "eclection" (=eclectic selection, w/out
the oxymoron). Beautiful cover--black with blind-stamped relief
lettering.--lbd
XEROLAGE--(#23, Dec 92), Rt. 1, Box 131, Lafarge WI , 54639. 24 pp.,
$10.00. Some nice visual poems, many of them flavored with the long-
ago, particularly the Egyptian and sub-Saharan long-ago. And gems
like "Logos Spermatikos," in which a kind of porridge of 3-D c-shaped
tubes unjumbles into the beginnings of 2-D abstract letters. An
important collection for anyone interested in contemporary American
Visual Poetry.--bg
xib--(#4), PO Box 262112, San Diego, CA, 92126. 52 pp., $4.00.
Gutbucket poetry & the occasional short prose. Sex & violence, with
occasional respite in drinking, depression or death. Tightly written
& laid out, with plenty of stark graphics to match.--lbd
ZYX--(#5, Feb. 1993), 58-09 205th St., Bayside NY, 11364. 5 pp.,
$.52. A one-man (Arnold Skemer) review ''zine in small print that is
full of provocative impressions of cutting edge fiction, poetry, and
criticism, such as: books of essays on Djuna Barnes, Gertrude Stein
and Monique Wittig, the latter a kind of lesbian Rabelais; two studies
(from 1976, which shows how serious Skemer is) of language; a book on
the future of poetry from Australia; some critical essays by Richard
Kostelanetz, a study of laughter; a Canadian anthology of miniature
literary works, and a surrealistic novel written in 1928, Michael
Leiris's Aurora. Whew.--bg
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