Writers Forum was a small publisher, workshop and writers’ network established by Bob Cobbing. The roots of Writers Forum were in the 1954 arts organization Group H, and the And magazine that Cobbing edited. The writers’ branch of Group H was called Writers Forum. In 1963 a press with the publishing imprint “Writers Forum” was begun and administered by Cobbing, John Rowan, and Jeff Nuttall. Between 1963 and 2002 Writers’ Forum published more than one thousand pamphlets and books including works by Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Brion Gysin, and P. J. O’Rourke, as well as a wide range of British Poetry Revival modernist poets, such as Eric Mottram, Bill Griffiths, Geraldine Monk, Maggie O’Sullivan, Paula Claire, and Sean Bonney. While publishing was integral to the Cobbing-led workshop, it also provided an opportunity for poets to read their works in a supportive and non-critical environment.

Reference consulted: Bob Cobbing & Writers Forum, edited by Peter Mayer. Published as Ceolfrith 26, October 1974 (ref. Mayer)

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Check List of Writers Forum publications:

1. AND, No. 1, edited by Bob Cobbing and Mary Levien
London: Hendon Arts Together, July 1954
(Mayer 1)

2. POEMS BY TWELVE MEMBERS OF WRITERS’ FORUM, edited by Bob Cobbing and John Rowan
London: Writers Forum, August 1959

First edition, saddle-stapled in illustrated wrappers, 4” x 5”, 16 pages, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover design by W.H. Nessler. (Mayer 2)

Contributors include: Mary Berry, Lois Hieger, Wendy Stockham, Ninette Quinn, Norman Wallace, Bob Cobbing, John Rowan, Nancy Taylor, Gerda Mayer, Maurice Langham, Jean Salisbury, Brian Gould.

3. AND, No. 2, edited by Bob Cobbing and Mary Levien
London: Arts Together, February 1961
(Mayer 3)

4. AND, No. 3, edited by Bob Cobbing and Mary Levien
London: Arts Together, February 1963
(Mayer 4)

5. Musgrove, Keith and Jeff Nuttall. THE LIMBLESS VIRTUOSO
London: Writers’ Forum, June 1963

First edition, side-stapled and bound in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6.5” x 9”, 40 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover linocut by Jeff Nuttall. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 1. (Mayer 5)

According to Mayer, “This was the real beginning of Writers Forum as a publishing venture; though it had existed as the literary branch of Arts Together since December 1952, when it was Hendon Writers’ Group.”

6. Cobbing, Bob and John Rowan . THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS
London: Writers Forum, July 1963

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6.75” x 8.75”, 34 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover linocut by Jeff Nuttall. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 2. (Mayer 6)

7. Roberts, Derek and Michael McGrinder. TOMBSTONES
London: Writers Forum, August 1963
(Mayer 7)

8. Ball, David and Anselm Hollo. WE JUST WANTED TO TELL YOU
London: Writers Forum, October 1963
(Mayer 8)

9. Ginsberg, Allen. THE CHANGE
London: Writers Forum, November 1963

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6.75” x 9”, 24 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover linocut by Jeff Nuttall. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 5. (Mayer 9)

The first state:
According to Mayer, the “first twelve copies of this had ‘Ginsburg’ on cover, altered by hand to ‘Ginsberg'”. This is the first state, described in Morgan (A7). The corrected state above was reprinted with the linocut revised to correct the spelling.

10. Hieger, Lois. THE HUMAN DRESS
London: Writers Forum, February 1964
(Mayer 10)

11. BARNET POETS, an anthology from schools in the New Borough of Barnet
London: Writers Forum, April 1965
(Mayer 11)

12. Cobbing, Bob. SOUND POEMS
London: Writers Forum, January 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7” x 9”, 56 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 7. (Mayer 12)

Note: a second edition was published in October 1965, and a third edition in June 1967.

13. Cobbing, Bob. TYPESTRACT ONE
London: Writers Forum, January 1965
(Mayer 13)

14. Hardwick, Anne. TO THE NORTH
London: Writers Forum, March 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7” x 9”, 22 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 8.
(Mayer 14)

15. Richardson, Heather and Keith Musgrove. THE EXCREMENT OF ANGELS
London: Writers Forum, March 1965
(Mayer 15)

16. Jandl, Ernst. MAI HART LIEB ZAPFEN EIBE HOLD
London: Writers Forum, May 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7” x 9.5”, 56 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike from a design by Bob Cobbing. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 11. (Mayer 16)

Note: a second edition was published in November 1965, and a third edition in June 1971.

According to Mayer, this book was published to celebrate Ernst Jandl’s visit to England for the Albert Hall ‘International Poetry Incarnation’, June 11, 1965. On this occasion, three poets, Ernst Jandl, Anselm Hollo, and Allen Ginsberg, read from Writers Forum booklets.

17. Rowan, John. THE TEN PLAGUES
London: Writers Forum, May 1965
(Mayer 17)

18. Harwood, Lee. TITLE ILLEGIBLE
London: Writers Forum, June 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6.75” x 8.5”, 42 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 13. (Mayer 18)

Note: Lee Harwood’s first book.

19. Houedard, Dom Silvester. OP AND KINKON POEMS / AND SOME NON-KINKON
London: Writers Forum, June 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 7.25” x 9.5”, 54 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike from a design by Bob Cobbing, title pages designed by Bob Cobbing. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 14. (Mayer 19)

Note: a second edition was published in December 1965, and a third edition in April 1967.

20. Cobbing, Bob. SOUND POEMS; and Jandl, Ernst. SPRECHGEDICHTE [12″ LP]
London: Writers Forum, September 1965
(Mayer 20)

21. Cobbing, Bob. SOUND POEMS; and Jandl, Ernst. SPRECHGEDICHTE
London: Writers Forum, September 1965

First edition, side-stapled in printed and illustrated wrappers, 6.75” x 8.5”, 46 pages printed recto only, 220 copies, mimeograph printed, cover silkscreen by Jennifer Pike. Introduction, Ancestry, and Chronology by Dom Silvester Houedard. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 15. (Mayer 21)

Note: published to accompany Writers Forum Record No. 1 (see Mayer 20)

22. Fetherston, Patrick. EIGHTEEN QUADRUPLE READINGS
London: Writers Forum, September 1965
(Mayer 22)

23.Nuttall, Jeff. PIECES OF POETRY
London: Writers Forum, February 1966

First edition, side-stapled and bound in photo-illustrated and printed wrappers, 6.75” x 9”, 36 pages, 500 copies (12 copies numbered and signed by the author), offset printed at the Coptic Press. Cover photo of Nuttall by Dave Trace. Published as Writers Forum Poets No. 17. (Mayer 23)

…

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References consulted:

• • • Better Books/Better Bookz: Art, Anarchy, Apostasy, Counter-culture & the New Avant-garde, edited by Rozemin Keshvani, Axel Heil, and Peter Weibel
      London: Koenig Books, 2018

• • • Bob Cobbing & Writers Forum, edited by Peter Mayer
      Ceolfrith Arts/Sunderland Arts Centre, October 1974
      Published as Ceolfrith 26. (ref. Mayer)

• • • Morgan, Bill. The Works of Allen Ginsberg
      Wesport: Greenwood Press, 1995