Founder of Poor Magazine and author Ms. Tiny Gray-Garcia, and Tony Robles are in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, for tonight at The Beat Museum in North Beach is the Poetry Battle of the Sexes, which Tiny and Tony have organized. I love the way those two work together. And. Oughtta be fun, watching poets beat each other up on Valentine’s Day.
In the meantime, thank you for all the comments coming in on yesterday’s blog post. A couple of excerpts:
From Francisco Aragón:
One of my favorite “historical” models in this “debate” is Charles Reznikoff and the Objectivist Press. They (he and Zufofsky and Oppen) published each other in hard bound editions of 300 or so.
Another? Gary Snyder. In the introduction to MARK MY WORDS: Five Emerging Poets (Momotombo Press, 2001), I talk about the effect of being in Snyder’s seminar at UC Davis in 2000 and hearing how RIP RAP got into print the first time. What I took away from Snyder is the following: one way (not the only way since you never got a sense he was creating hierarchies) to start is small and local and for the benefit of close physical friends. That is: we create small limited editions that we give away and/or sell at readings. In short, we start to create a readership, however small.
My last example, which I talk about in the same Intro: Jim Powell. After having published his first book with University of Chicago Press; his Sappho translations with Farrar Straus & Giroux; after winning a McCarthur; after publishing in such places as The Paris Review and The Threepenny Review….he decided, in the late 90s, to self publish these very plain-looking chapbooks of his new poems under an imprint of his own creation. He did two different titles, each in signed and numbered editions of about 25 or 30, and would sell them for $16. His reasoning?: a CD costs about that; “this is my CD.”
From Collin Kelley:
I am thrilled that folks like Didi [Menendez], Shanna Compton and Bloof Books and Reb Livingston and No Tell Books are out there and producing beautiful, important collections of poetry. The best stuff I’ve read in the last few years have been from the indie and micro-presses.
And from Javier Huerta:
from Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style” (Misused words)
“Prestigious. An adjective of last resort. It’s in the dictionary but that doesn’t mean you have to use it.”
It’s definitely an overused word. The problem is who gets to bestow prestige.
As well, I am guessing that like Ferlinghetti, James Laughlin started New Directions Publishing small and fringe: “Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams, who once had difficulty finding publishers, were early New Directions authors…” So these are also some things to think about: visionaries and foresight. It seems that throwing those words around is maybe not taboo, but you could run the risk of sounding foolish and naive in the poetry industry where I witness so much cynicism and flippancy not only about the work of writing and publishing, but about historical movement, about being a part of, about initiating a movement.
I guess this could be an escape hatch, for the “what if I fail” possibility. Though, as with “prestige,” I question what would define “failure,” if work being published is work that consistently has integrity, and if readerships you are hoping to reach really are being reached.
Tags: Collin Kelley, Francisco Aragón, James Laughlin, Javier Huerta, New Directions Publishing, Poor Magazine, Tiny Gray-Garcia, Tony Robles
16 February 2008 at 3:04 am |
Hello, I’m visiting from another generation, I entered through Bay Area Muse. I’ve been the publisher of Taurean Horn Press for thirty-three years so far. I’ve just published a book by Q. R. Hand, whose really blues. He’s reading, by the way, at Bird & Beckett Books, 653 Chenery St, SF, this Sunday at 3 PM, solo and with his group, wordwind chorus.
I would say from a practical point of view. It helps to have a group you believe in and who seem to have something in common, especially when it comes to getting funds. I was around before the L*A*N*G*U*A*G*E movement and it was amazing how quickly it sprang up because many of them were publishers & writers. I’ve been too diverse & independent. I definitely believe in the poets I’ve published, but what unites them is how different they are, even Carol Lee Sanchez, Paula Gunn Allen and Lee Francis and they are siblings! Also, I think it helps to get a lot of books out there in the beginning for name recognition. I’ve flown under the radar. I got the money together from working a job first and then I’d plan a book. That’s slow. I’ve (only) done 14 books, so from a business standpoint I’ve failed. From a poetry-publishing perspective, I’m sure some people think I should have done more by now. I never planned to make much money, so I think I’ve failed magnificently because I’ve always loved what I’ve done. I don’t think you can succeed unless you fail. I know I didn’t succeed or fail in my “professional” life because my life was all about my writing & publishing, not my job. I was happy treading water; I’m presently “retired.” I hope this adds to the discussion. Otherwise, consider it a glitch.
16 February 2008 at 7:10 pm |
Hi Bill, not a glitch at all. Thank you for your comment. I believe “slow” is relative given the very real issue of access to resources. Let’s hope that current and developing digital print technology will change who gains access to resources.
As well, I am an admirer of Paula Gunn Allen, and I’ve recently seen QR Hand read at Marcus Books, and that was pretty fabulous, so it’s good that you have published his work. The awesome thing about folks like Paula Gunn Allen, like some of the poets I admire much, is that finding publication in venues both “big” and “small,” speaks to a desire (and agenda?) to reach diverse readerships. I consider folks like this formidable role models.
17 February 2008 at 8:07 pm |
I feel blessed with the poets I have come in contact with. Since I’m small, I try to do the best book I can. The author is definitely part of the book’s creative process at all points along the way, which does slow the process a bit. That’s something the bigger presses don’t provide and maybe some authors don’t want that headache. It works both ways. Anyway, thanks for your response. This is my first blogging experience.
20 April 2008 at 11:46 pm |
Anybody know how to get in touch with QR Hand? I’m an old friend who lost touch.
21 April 2008 at 4:14 pm |
Sorry, I wouldn’t know how to get a hold of QR Hand, Peter. Though if you are in the Bay Area, I think he does a lot of poetry readings in various places, so I imagine that’d be the best way to find him.