Tag Archives: Antonin Artaud

Project Sigma

Project Sigma, which was the focus of much of Alexander Trocchi’s work from 1962-1977, was an attempt by Trocchi to establish an international network of counter cultural activism largely focused on socially based institutions perceived as limiting free expression such as the media, universities, and workplaces.

According to Beatbooks catalog, #92: “Project Sigma, which grew out of Alexander Trocchi’s involvement with the Situationist International (he was expelled by Guy Debord in 1963), was an ambitious attempt to establish an international network of countercultural activism focused on institutions Trocchi perceived as limiting free expression, including the media, universities and workplaces. The Sigma Portfolio, circulated on a subscription basis, was the concrete manifestation of his project, an invitation to recipients (artists, writers and intellectuals) to participate with their own contributions, as well as acting as an exemplar of underground self-dissemination.

“Several issues were mimeographed by Jeff Nuttall, sometimes assisted by Bob Cobbing, and Trocchi’s neighbour in the flat below him in Notting Hill, Marcus Field, helped in its organisation and collation (insofar as this was necessary, since some issues consisted of a single sheet).

“It has never been clear exactly how many issues were produced, though it’s been claimed there were as many as 39 (other reports suggest 37). It seems likely that several were never printed, possibly as many as 12 or 13…”

1a. THE MOVING TIMES, Sigma Portfolio , No. 1, edited by Alexander Trocchi and Jeff Nuttall
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, broadsheet, 19” x 29”, letterpress printed at Villiers.

Contents: Alexander Trocchi – “The Barbecue”, Kenneth White – “The Real Climate”, William Burroughs – “Martin’s Folly”, Antonin Artaud – “The Theater”.
(See Maynard & Miles C109)

According to Beatbooks catalog #92, the title originated from the broadsheet edited by Burroughs which appeared in Jeff Nuttall’s My Own Mag, No. 6 earlier in 1964.

Note: The design of this, Trocchi’s first release under the banner of the Sigma Portfolio, was a large poster designed to resemble the front page of a newspaper and originally intended to be displayed in subway stations until the project became unfeasible.

1b. THE MOVING TIMES, Sigma Portfolio, No. 1, edited by Alexander Trocchi and Jeff Nuttall
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, second issue, double-sided folded broadsheet, 17” x 13.5”. Printed by Brian Pottle from the Stanhope Press.
(See Maynard & Miles C109)

2. Trocchi, Alexander. INVISIBLE INSURRECTION OF A MILLION MINDS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 2
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, side stapled, 8” x 13”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Alexander Trocchi – “Invisible Insurrection of a Million Minds”. Originally published in the Saltire Review (1962) and subsequently printed in Internationale Situationniste (January 1963), as “Technique du Coup du Monde”

According to Beatbooks catalog #92, “The most comprehensive articulation of the Sigma experiment. In it, Trocchi argues ‘that a cultural revolution is already happening, that techniques can and are being invented for transcending conventional functions which are not appropriate to any imaginable future. Amongst other ideas is that of the “spontaneous university”, a fertile and experimental ambiance designed to equip men and women with those inner resources without which they will be unable to contend with LEISURE… a dominant fact of the future.'”

3. Trocchi, Alexander. SIGMA: A TACTICAL BLUEPRINT, Sigma Portfolio, No. 3
London: Project Sigma, 1964.

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Alexander Trocchi – “Sigma: A Tactical Blueprint”

According to Beatbooks catalog #92, a development of the thesis outlined in the previous issue, including an explanation of the reasons behind the choice of the word ‘sigma’.

Note: an important early text outlining plans for the Sigma Project. The first separate edition, originally printed in City Lights Journal, No. 2.

Variant: edited to six pages and with different formatting.

4. [Trocchi, Alexander]. POTLATCH, Sigma Portfolio, No. 4
London: Project Sigma, July 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: anonymous [Alexander Trocchi] – “Potlatch”

Note: an anonymous text, formatted as a letter to Feliks Topolski [according to Trocchi papers] asking for contributions for an interpersonal log-book for Sigma members. The text continues with an in-depth explanation of Situationist theory.

5. Trocchi, Alexander. SIGMA GENERAL INFORMATION SERVICE EXISTENTIAL CONSULTANTS LONDON PARIS NEW YORK, Sigma Portfolio, No. 5
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: anonymous [written by Trocchi] – “Sigma General Information Service Existential Consultants London Paris New York”

Note: essay discussing the Sigma Project in relation to theories from Burroughs, McClure, R.D. Laing, Wallace Berman, and others.

6. Laing, R.D. PRACTICE AND THEORY – THE PRESENT SITUATION, Sigma Portfolio, No. 6
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 6 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: R.D. Laing – “Practice and Theort – The Present Situation”

Note: a paper from the pseudo-scientist R.D. Laing, as presented at the 6th International Congress for Psychotherapy August 1964; a mixture of neo-Freudian text and an adaptation of existentialism.

7. Trocchi, Alexander. THE UNOFFICIAL POETRY CONFERENCE, EDINBURGH FESTIVAL, Sigma Portfolio, No. 7
London/Edinburgh: Project Sigma/Moving Times, September 1964

First edition, single leaf, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contributors include: Alexander Trocchi – “Unofficial Poetry Conference, Edinburgh Festival”

Note: Trocchi’s diatribe against the Daily Express’s reactionary reporting of the Unofficial Poetry Conference which took place during the Edinburgh Festival. Published as a special supplement to The Moving Times.

8. Howe, Eric. SHORT CONTRIBUTIONS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 8

9. McClure, Michael. POEMS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 9
[not issued, see Sigma Portofolio, No. 21]

10. LETTER FROM STAN BRAKHAGE TO ROBERT KELLY, Sigma Portfolio, No. 10
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 4 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Letter from Stan Brakhage to Robert Kelly

Note: contains the text of a letter from film-maker, Stan Brakkjage to Robert Kelly (the poet) where they discuss the function of art.

11. JOAN LITTLEWOOD PRESENTS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 11
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, folded broadsheet, 11.5” x 8.25” (folded), offset printed.

Together with a mimeograph sheet listing the Sigma Portfolio’s contents to date with a brief note to subscribers.

Note: produced in collaboration with the architect Cedric Price; also reproduces a text for Giant Space Mobile.

12. [Trocchi, Alexander]. THE SIGMA FOLIO – SUBSCRIPTION FORM, Sigma Portfolio, No. 12
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, printed recto only, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Sigma Folio Subscription Form

Note: Includes a brief overview of the Sigma Portfolio which is “outflanking the traditional trap of publishing-house policy, and by means of which the reader gets it, so to speak ‘hot’ from the writer’s pen.”

13. Field, Marcus. SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT TO THE MOVING TIMES: WRITERS NIGHT AT BETTER BOOKS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 13
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed. Published as a special supplement to The Moving Times.

Contents: Marcus Field – “The Theatre and Its Future”

Note: features Marcus Field’s contribution to the discussion at the “inaugural meeting of Mr. John Calder’s Writers Night at Better Books, November 1964”.

14. [Trocchi, Alexander]. PORTFOLIO LIST CUMULATIVE, Sigma Portfolio, No. 14
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: a list of all available portfolios including projected numbers up to No. 28.

Note: attached to present copy are copies of Sigma portfolio Nos. 2, 5 and 12 (18 pages in total). Trocchi often sent bundles of all available issues to new subscribers.

15. [Trocchi, Alexander]. LETTER TO POTENTIAL SUBSCRIBERS / POTLACH, Sigma Portfolio, No. 15
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 4 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: a letter to potential subscribers [unattributed], a quote about Sigma from playwright John Arden and a list of 11 issues of the portfolio and a short unattributed text [by Alexander Trocchi?].

16. [Trocchi, Alexander]. LETTER TO UNIVERSITIES, Sigma Portfolio, No. 16
London: Project Sigma, October 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: effectively a cover letter explaining the Sigma project which was designed to be sent along with Sigma material for free.

17. [Trocchi, Alexander]. PUBLIC RELATIONS – SELECTIVE LIST OF INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPANTS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 17
London: Project Sigma, October 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: a list of individuals who were willing to be associated with the project including William Burroughs, Robert Creely, Anthony Burgess, John Arden, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure, Jeff Nuttall, Timothy Leary, and others.

18. [Trocchi, Alexander?]. MANIFESTO SITUATIONISTE: PROJECT SIGMA EDITION, Sigma Portfolio, No. 18

19. Brakhage, Stan and Alexander Trocchi. LETTER FROM STAN BAKHAGE TO TROCCHI, Sigma Portfolio, No. 19
London: Project Sigma, November 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 4 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: two letters, one from Stan Brakhage to Alexander Trocchi and the second is Trocchi’s reply.

20. Wilson, Colin. EXISTANTIALISM: A REAPPRAISAL, Sigma Portfolio, No. 20

21. ESSAY BY MICHAEL MCCLURE, Sigma Portfolio, No. 21
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Michael McClure – “Revolt” [published in Meat Science Essays (City Lights, 1963)]

Note: prefatory paragraph notes that this essay was published in lieu of Sigma Portofolio, No. 9 which was not issued.

22. [Trocchi, Alexander]. CULTURAL ENGINEERING PROJECTS: THE HOLDING COMPANY, Sigma Portfolio, No. 22
London: Project Sigma, October 1964

First edition, single sheet, 8” x 13”, 2 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Trocchi text proposing the formation of a limited company to “exploit the many and various cultural engineering projects” arising from Sigma.

23. White, Kenneth. JARGON PAPER NO 1, Sigma Portfolio, No. 23

24. Fernandez, Pablo. POEMS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 24

25. Hellawell, Neil. POTLATCH CONT., Sigma Portfolio, No. 25

26. Creeley, Robert. AN AMERICAN SENSE, Sigma Portfolio, No. 26
London: Project Sigma, 1964

First edition, corner-stapled, 8” x 13”, 6 pages, mimeograph printed.

Contents: Robert Creeley – “An American Sense”

27. Creeley, Robert. POETRY, Sigma Portfolio, No. 27

28. Castalio Foundation. EXPERIENTIAL WORKSHOPS, Sigma Portfolio, No. 28

29. [?]

30. Trocchi. Alexander. INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION, Sigma Portfolio, No. 30

31. Trocchi. Alexander. THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE “SPECTACULAR” COMMODITY-ECONOMY, Sigma Portfolio, No. 31

32. Burroughs, William. THE INVISIBLE GENERATION, Sigma Portfolio, No. 32

—

Bulletin from Nothing

1. BULLETIN FROM NOTHING, No. 1, edited by Claude Pelieu and Mary Beach
San Francisco: Beach Books, 1965

First edition, saddle-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 8.5” x 11”, 28 pages, offset-printed by Charles Plymell.

Contributors include: Claude Pelieu, Mary Beach, Jeff Nuttall, Antonin Artaud, William S. Burroughs, Charles Plymell, Roxie Powell, Benjamin Peret, Ed Sanders, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Bob Kaufman, David Omer Bearden, Leland S. Meyerzove, Norman O. Mustill.

2. BULLETIN FROM NOTHING, No. 2, edited by Claude Pelieu and Mary Beach
San Francisco: Beach Books, 1965

First edition, gathered and folded but unbound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 8.5” x 11”, 28 pages, offset-printed by Charles Plymell.

Contributors include: William Burroughs, Roxie Powell, Claude Pelieu, Jeff Nuttall, Chano Pozo [aka Claude Pelieu], Jean-Jacques Lebel, Bob Kaufman, Charles Plymell, Norman O. Mustill, Ed Sanders, Peter Orlovsky, Mary Beach.

3. BULLETIN FROM NOTHING, No. 3, edited by Claude Pelieu and Mary Beach
San Francisco: Beach Books, Texts & Documents, 1969

First edition, single sheet of paper stock printed on both sides and folded to make 4 pages, 8.5” x 11” (folded). 

According to BeatBooks: “A collage of texts, drawings and photographs (including Allen Ginsberg, Taylor Mead and Viva, Joe Dallesandro, and Jean-Jacques Lebel), printed in purple and titled Bulletin From Nothing #3 along left edge (since this issue is more of a flyer publicising Beach Books than a magazine, the previous two issues from 1965 are usually considered to be the only two published). A statement printed along the right edge reads, ‘This Issue Is Dedicated to: Albert Fine, Wallace Berman, Janis Joplin, Harry Smith, the Motherfuckers, Super Love & Bradly-Martin…’”

Online resources:

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The Eight Pager

1. THE EIGHT PAGER, Series 1, Part 1, edited by D.r. Wagner
Niagara Falls: press : today : niagara, 1966
First edition, top-stapled, 8.5” x 11”, 12 leaves printed recto only, mimeograph printed.

“this publication is not to be taken internally except as an aphrodisiac”

  • Contents:
    1. D.r. Wagner – “Orange Satori II”
      rjs – [untitled] “so you know a girl…”
      rjs – [untitled] “snake-eyes always jumps tomorrow…”
      d.a. levy – “Segment from a Destroyed Journal”
      d.a. levy – “from The North American Book of the Dead”
      Dave Rasey – “T.V. Western”
      d.a. levy – “from Hate Rays Cleveland”
      E.R. Baxter – [letter]
      D.r. Wagner – “Orange Satori III”
      D.r. Wagner – [book reviews]

2. THE EIGHT PAGER, Series 1, Part 2, edited by D.r. Wagner
Niagara Falls: press : today : niagara, 1966
First edition, top-stapled, 8.5” x 11”, 11 leaves printed recto only, mimeograph printed.

“this publication may be chopped up burned cooked on a spoon and mainlined and is recommended as a real aphrodisiac”

  • Contents:
    1. John Montgomery – “Parable”
      John Montgomery – “Bang”
      Kent Taylor – [untitled] “memories crushing my eyes…”
      Kent Taylor – “January 10, 1966”
      Kent Taylor – “Feb. 10, 1966”
      Doug Blazek – “The Atoms in My Life”
      Doug Blazek – “Birth”
      Antonin Artaud – [untitled] “Masterpieces of the past…”
      Doug Blazek – “Snow Fever”
      Tuli Kupferberg – [untitled] “I sit by the window early…”

3. THE EIGHT PAGER, Series 1, Part 3, edited by D.r. Wagner
Niagara Falls: press : today : niagara, 1966
First edition, top-stapled, 8.5” x 11”, 13 leaves printed recto only, mimeograph printed.

“this publication is excellent mixed with gin and tonic and is an excellent aphrodisiac”

  • Contents:
    1. Margaret Randall – “The Called Shots”
      Margaret Randall – “The Strike”
      Charles Bukowski – “The Stupid Are Best At The Cruelties:”
      Charles Bukowski – “The Sex-Obsessed Ladies Walking By Me After Work”
      Charles Bukowski – [untitled] “the way to stay alive…”
      Gene Fowler – “Glimpses of a Cold Night”
      Gene Fowler – “The Descent”
      Grace Butcher – “Trip”
      Grace Butcher – “Excerpt from a Letter”
      D.r. Wagner – [book reviews]
      author unknown – “A Special Note on Richmond and his Poetry”

4. THE EIGHT PAGER, Series 1, Part 4, edited by D.r. Wagner
Niagara Falls: press : today : niagara, 1966
First edition, top-stapled, 8.5” x 11”, 12 leaves printed recto only, mimeograph printed.

“by this time I’d bet you expected this space to say something about how ‘8’ is an aphrodisiac”

  • Contents:
    1. Erik Kiviat – “Treaty”
      Erik Kiviat – “Letter to Marcia”
      Carl Larsen – “Telethong”
      Walter Lowenfels – “Motherfucker Time”
      Russell Salamon – [untitled] “she is out of the seashell…”
      Sid Rufus – “The Homo Sapien Waltz”
      Jacob Leed – “Version Z”
      Sid Rufus – “Hobby Utmostess”
      Mel Buffington – “Musicman”
      Mel Buffington – “Decapitation”
      Douglas Blazek – “Earth”
      Kenneth Patchen – “from See You in the Morning”
      Steve Richmond – “A Selection of Poems”
      Steve Richmond – “My Cock”
      E.R. Baxter – “A Public Service Announcement”
      D.r. Wagner – [book reviews]
little magazines

CALL IT BIG TABLE

BIG TABLE, No. 1, edited by Irving Rosenthal and Paul Carrol.

“Big Table was launched in Spring 1959 following the suppression of the Winter 1958 issue of The Chicago Review. An exposé in the Chicago Daily News revealed editors Irving Rosenthal’s and Paul Carroll’s plans to publish work by William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and other Beat writers, and the administration quashed the magazine…”

— from A Secret Location on the Lower East Side

>> further reading >>

Big Table

“Big Table was launched in Spring 1959 following the suppression of the Winter 1958 issue of The Chicago Review. An exposé in the Chicago Daily News revealed editors Irving Rosenthal’s and Paul Carroll’s plans to publish work by William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and other Beat writers, and the administration quashed the magazine.

Rosenthal and Carroll, along with other Chicago Review editors, resigned and with the suppressed material started Big Table. The first issue was edited by Rosenthal and Carroll, though Carroll had to withdraw his name in order to avoid being fired by Loyola University where he was employed. This issue contained work by Jack Kerouac (who named the magazine in a telegram: “CALL IT BIG TABLE”), Edward Dahlberg, and Burroughs (a section from Naked Lunch), and was summarily impounded by the US Post Office.

The lawsuit was unsuccessful and Big Table continued through 1960 and five issues. Rosenthal left the magazine after the first issue and Carroll stayed on as editor for the duration, publishing such writers and artists as Paul Bowles, Antonin Artaud, Leon Golub, John Logan, Robert Duncan, Denise Levertov, Robert Fulton, Harry Callahan, Douglas Woolf, Aaron Siskind, Paul Blackburn, Franz Kline, Diane di Prima, and Gregory Corso.”

— from A Secret Location on the Lower East Side

1. BIG TABLE, No. 1, edited by Irving Rosenthal and Paul Carroll
Chicago: Big Table, Spring 1959
First edition, sewn signatures bound in printed wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 158 pages, printed by The Profile Press of New York.

  • Contents:
    1. Irving Rosenthal – “Editorial”
      Jack Kerouac – “Old Angel Midnight”
      Edward Dahlberg – “Further Sorrow of Priapus”
      Edward Dahlberg – “The Garment of Ra”
      William S. Burroughs – “Ten Episodes from Naked Lunch”
      Gregory Corso – “Power, for Allen Ginsberg”
      Gregory Corso – “Army”
      Gregory Corso – “Police”

2. BIG TABLE, No. 2, edited by Paul Carroll
Chicago: Big Table, Summer 1959
First edition, sewn signatures bound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 124 pages. Cover art by Leon Golub.

  • Contents:
    1. John D. Keefauver – “The Daring Old Maid on the Flying Trapeze”
      Serge Essenin – “The Tramp’s Confession”
      Lawrence Alloway – “Heroes & Monsters & Mothers”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Horseman”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Burnt Man”
      Allen Ginsberg – “Kaddish”
      John Logan – “Fire”
      Antonin Artaud – Three Exhortations”
      Alan Ansen – “Anyone Who Can Pick Up a Frying Pan Owns Death”
      Paul Bowles – “Burroughs in Tangier”
      William S. Burroughs – “In Quest of Yage”
      Gael Turnbull – “The Priests of Paris”
      Brother Antoninus – “Zone of Death”
      Andre Breton – “Despair”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Birth VII”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Orestes”
      Edward Dahlberg – “Because I Was Flesh”
      Paul Blackburn – “The Signals”
      Margarita Liberaki – “Wedding”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Abraham Lincoln”
      Leon Golub – “Plate: Columnar Head”
      Lawrence Ferlinghetti – “The Great Chinese Dragon”

3. BIG TABLE, Vol. 1, No. 3, edited by Paul Carroll
Chicago: Big Table, 1959
First edition, sewn signatures bound in printed and photo-illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 120 pages. Cover photograph by Aaron Siskind.

  • Contents:
    1. Allen Ginsberg – “Kaddish”
      John Rechy – “The Fabulous Wedding of Miss Destiny”
      Robert Duncan – “Evocation”
      John Ashbery – “How much longer will I be able to inhabit the Divine Sepulcher”
      John Ashbery – “April Fool’s Day”
      Aaron Siskin – “Terrors & Pleasures of Levitation: four plates”
      Edward Dahlberg – “Because I was Flesh”
      Robert Creeley – “The Way”
      James Wright – “A Whisper to the Ghost who woke Me”
      Paul Carroll – “Father”
      Norman Mailer – “Quick & Expensive Comment on the Talent in the Room”
      Paul Blackburn – “Banyalbufar”
      Edward Dorn – “The Air of June Sings”
      Renee Riese Hubert – “Sizes”
      Peter Orlovsky – “First Poem”
      Lawrence Ferlinghetti – “Her”
      Jean Genet – “The Beggars of Barcelona”

4. BIG TABLE, Vol. 1, No. 4, edited by Paul Carroll
Chicago: Big Table, Spring 1960
First edition, sewn signatures bound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 144 pages. Cover art by Robert Fulton.

  • Contents:
    1. William S. Burroughs – “But is all Back Seat of Dreaming”
      Richard G. Stern – “Two Talking”
      John Ashbery – “Europe”
      Douglas Woolf – “Wall to Wall”
      Franz Kline – “Plate: Mister”
      John Logan – “from Monologues of The Son of Saul”
      Robert Creeley – “The Awakening, for Charles Olson”
      Robert Creeley – “The Wife”
      Robert Creeley – “The Memory”
    2. Robert Creeley – “The Snow”
      Harold Norse – “I Am in the Hub of the Fiery Force”
      Harold Norse – “The Fire Sermon”
      James Wright – “Snow Storm in the Mid-West”
      James Wright – “A Young One in a Garden”
      Lawrence Ferlinghetti – “New York – Albany”
      Paul Blackburn – “The Idiot”
      Paul Blackburn – “Homage to the Spirit”
      Frank O’Hara – “Les Luths”
      Frank O’Hara – “Joe’s Jacket”
      Robert Duncan – “Four Pictures of the Real Universe”
      Denise Levertov – “The Rainwalkers”
      Gregory Corso – “Rembrandt – Self Portrait”
      Gregory Corso – “Emily Dickenson”
      Gregory Corso – “Walk”
      Kenneth Koch – “Lunch”
      Allen Ginsberg – “Message”
      William Hunt – Song from the End of the Earth”
      Michael McClure – “Two Poems from a Small Secret Book”
      Bill Berkson – “Poem”
      Paul Carroll – “34′-23′-35′”
      Diane Di Prima – [untitled] “I am a woman and my poems…”
      Philip Lamantia – “Still Poem 8”
      Philip Lamantia – “Cool Apocalypse”
      David Meltzer – “from Notes for a History”
      Gary Snyder – “The Manichaeans”
      Leroi Jones – “For Hettie in her Fifth Month”
      Charles Olson – “Maximus, to Gloucester, Sunday, July 19”
      Robert Creeley – “Olson & Others”
      Allen Ginsberg – “Notes on Young Poets”
      Paul Blackburn – “Writing for the Ear”
      Paul Carroll – “Five Poets in their Skins”

5. BIG TABLE, Vol. 2, No. 5, edited by Paul Carroll
Chicago: Big Table, 1960
First edition, sewn signatures bound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 5.5″ x 8″, 128 pages. Cover art by Harry Callahan.

  • Contents:
    1. Douglas Woolf – “Stand Still”
      Frank O’Hara – “Naptha”
      Edward Dahlberg – “Because I was Flesh”
      Frederick Tristan – “The Bread Tree”
      Frederick Tristan – “The Whole Sea is yet to Come”
      Robert Duncan – “Apprehensions”
      Paul Bowles – “He of the Assembly”
      Kenneth Koch – “Farms’ Thoughts”
      John Rechy – “Between two Lions”
      Bill Berkson – “Poem for Frank O’Hara”
      Pablo Neruda – “Lone Gentleman” (trans. Clayton Eshleman)
      Pablo Neruda – “Death” (trans. Clayton Eshleman)
      John Updike – “Archangel”
      John Ashbery – “Night”
    2. John Ashbery – “A Last Word”
      Harold Rosenberg – “from Arshile Gorky”
      David Meltzer – “Rain Poem”
      David Meltzer – “Heroes: Zap, the Zen Monk”
      Alain Robbe-Grillet – “Scene”
      John Schultz – “Witness”

Online Resources:

From a Secret Location – Big Table

Reality Studio – Big Table

References Consulted:

Maynard, Joe and Barry Miles. William S. Burroughs: A Bibliography, 1953-73
Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1978