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The Floating Bear

THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 24, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones (New York, September-October 1962)

The subtitle “A Newsletter” is the key to The Floating Bear’s chief contribution to literature of the 1960’s; it was a newsletter, a speedy line of communication between experimental poets. Diane di Prima, in the introduction to the reprint edition of Floating Bear, recalls Charles Olson’s tribute to the magazine: “The last time I saw Charles Olson in Gloucester, one of the things he talked about was how valuable the Bear had been to him in its early years because of the fact that he could get new work out that fast. He was very involved in speed, in communication. We got manuscripts from him pretty regularly in the early days of the Bear, and we’d usually get them into the very next issue. That meant that his work, his thoughts, would be in the hands of a few hundred writers within two or three weeks. It was like writing a letter to a bunch of friends.”

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The Floating Bear

The subtitle “A Newsletter” is the key to The Floating Bear’s chief contribution to literature of the 1960’s; it was a newsletter, a speedy line of communication between experimental poets. Diane di Prima, in the introduction to the reprint edition of The Floating Bear, recalls Charles Olson’s tribute to the magazine: “The last time I saw Charles Olson in Gloucester, one of the things he talked about was how valuable the Bear had been to him in its early years because of the fact that he could get new work out that fast. He was very involved in speed, in communication. We got manuscripts from him pretty regularly in the early days of the Bear, and we’d usually get them into the very next issue. That meant that his work, his thoughts, would be in the hands of a few hundred writers within two or three weeks. It was like writing a letter to a bunch of friends.”

One is apt to think of a literary newsletter as a device for talking about poetry but not as a means for transmitting the poem itself; in Floating Bear most of the space was given over to primary work. The first twenty-five issues (up to the point when LeRoi Jones resigned as co-editor) were published over a two year period and comprised 284 pages of poetry, creative prose, and comment. Among the more frequent contributors to Floating Bear during those first two years were Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Frank O’Hara, Joel Oppenheimer, William Burroughs, Ed Dorn, A.B. Spellman, and George Stanley, as well as editors Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones.

After 1963, Floating Bear’s function as a swift communicator among poets seems to have diminished (Nos. 29 to 37 appeared over a period of five years). Size and frequency varied widely: No. 27 had 36 pages and included a 19-page section of poems by Philip Whalen; the following numbers had 16 pages and included work by eight authors. The range of contributors widened somewhat during this time, perhaps because a number of guest editors assumed partial responsibility for the magazine’s contents. Billy Linich, Alan Marlowe, Kirby Doyle, John Wieners, and Bill Berkson each appeared on the masthead as guest editor for one of the magazine’s last dozen issues. One last issue (No. 38) appeared in 1971 as a joint issue with Intrepid (its No. 20), and was edited entirely by Diane di Prima.

Floating Bear was supported solely by contributors; it was never offered for sale. Circulation ranged from 117 to 1250 copies over its eight-year span.

– Peter Martin, “An Annotated Bibliography of Selected Little Magazines”, Tri Quarterly 43, Fall 1976.


1. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 1, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, February 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “The Smile Shall Not Be More Mutable than the Final Extinction of Meat. The Smile with Teeth Sunk in Lower Lip”
      Charles Olson – “All My Life I’ve Heard about Many”
      Charles Olson – “A Note on the Above”
      Max Finstein – “Regional Piece”
      Robin Blaser – “Ode for Museums, All of Them!”
      Robin Blaser – “The Flame”
      Robin Blaser – “A Story after Blake”

2. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 2, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, February 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Frank O’Hara – “Now That I Am in Madrid and Can Think”
      Frank O’Hara – “Song”
      Frank O’Hara – “Cohasset”
      Frank O’Hara – “Beer for Breakfast”
      Steve Jonas – “No Saints in Three Acts”
      Steve Jonas – “Quest”
      Robert Creeley – “A Quick Graph”
      LeRoi Jones – “Revue”
      The Editors – “Notice”

3. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 3, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, March 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Ed Dorn – “The Landscape Below”

4. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 4, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, March 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: Daily News”
      Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: The Dog People”
      Fielding Dawson – “Oblivion Calling: King of Crystal”
      Tony Weinberger – “For Sylvia”
      Tony Weinberger – “A Wildflower”
      Tony Weinberger – “My Beloved/ The Bee Tree/ The Whore”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “A Grace for Painters”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “Statement for Patterson Society”
      Barbara Guest – “What Am I Going to Do after the King and Queen of Nepal”
      William Mcnaughton – “Footnote to Creeley’s Graph”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Fielding Dawson went to Black Mountain College as a painter, but after he studied with Kline a few months he decided to give up painting, although he still drew a lot. He drew the original emblem for LeRoi’s Totem Press, and he became a prose writer.”

5. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 5, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, April 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Thomas – “Nine Stages of a Journey from Caledonia to Harpers Ferry”
      John Thomas – “My Bird”
      LeRoi Jones – [Letter to Diane di Prima]
      William Burroughs – “Out Show Window and We’re Proud of It”
      William Burroughs – [Letter to Allen Ginsberg]
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “New Flick in Town”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “‘Aquarian; is always Joel Oppenheimer.”

6. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 6, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, April 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. George Stanley – “1” (“One bird called White…”)
      George Stanley – “2” (“I thought you were savage…”)
      George Stanley – “3” (“At dawn the mosquitoes…”)
      George Stanley – “4” (“What graceless guy…”)
      George Stanley – “5” (“The old train goes…”)
      George Stanley – “6” (“When he asked me…”)
      George Stanley – “7” (“A ball hurted…)
      George Stanley – “8” (“Flit in, little fairy…”)
      George Stanley – “9” (“That sense of indefinite longing…”)
      George Stanley – “10” (“I’m not satisfied with them…”)
      George Stanley – “White Matches”
      George Stanley – “12” (“Simple Simon…”)
      LeRoi Jones – “A Note on the 12 Poems”
      Stan Persky – “Larry Davis Cowboy Poem”
      Stan Persky – “Siege Poem”
      Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Note”
      Robert Creeley – “Edward Dorn in the News”
      [Diane] di Prima – [untitled] “arthur machen, what he has hold of…”
      Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Note”
      Robert Creeley – “’Statement’ for Patterson Society”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “George Stanley was in New York for a while in 1961. He was a part of Jack Spicer’s very tight circle. Jack had printed a lot of books and a magazine called J, and no copies of his things were allowed to go East. Jack felt the East Coast was Babylon. When George returned to San Francisco he went through a very bad period because Jack and the whole circle ostracized him for having gone to New York and having been published there. They said it was prostitution.”

7. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 7, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, May 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Bill Berkson – “’……’ Times”
      Bill Berkson – “How It Goes”
      Bill Berkson – “Hinterland”
      Bill Berkson – “Never”
      Bill Berkson – “You and Me”
      Bill Berkson – “Saturday Afternoon”
      Charles Olson – “Grammar – ‘A Book’”
      The Editors – “Notices”

8. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 8, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York City: The Floating Bear, May 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. A.B. Spellman – “Zapata and The Landlord, for Allen Dulles”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Joel Blues, After and For Him”
      anonymous – “Last Will and Testament of an Urban Herbalist and Agrostologist”
      Joel Oppenheimer – “17-18 April, 1961”
      Ed Dorn – “New York, New York”
      The Editors – “Notice”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “April 17-18, 1961 was the Bay of Pigs fiasco.”

9. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 9, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, June 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. LeRoi Jones – “from The System of Dante’s Hell”
      William Burroughs – “Routine: Roosevelt after Inauguration”
      Philip Whalen – “Itchy”
      unattributed – “Slave Song, 18th Cent.”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “This slave song and the prayer [in issue No. 15] both came from a book on the history of American Negro music that LeRoi was reading then.”

10. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 10, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, June 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Wieners – “On January 20th the Snows Began to Melt”
      John Wieners – “You Can’t Kill These Machines”
      John Wieners – “Long Nook”
      John Wieners – [untitled] “And it would be good to stop…”
      John Wieners – “Ode to the Instrument” [Black Mountain, Spring 1955]
      John Wieners – “Ode to the Instrument”
      John Wieners – “Exchange of the Lady’s Handmaids”
      John Wieners – “Objects from Route 70”
      John Wieners – “Message”
      John Wieners – “Play Land’s Aftermath”
      John Wieners – “Second Flight Across Country”
      John Wieners – “After Meditations, for F O’H”
      John Wieners – “That Old Gang of Mine”

11. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 11, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, July 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 10 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Charles Olson – “A Plausible Entry for, like, Man”
      Gil [Sorrentino] – [Letter to LeRoi Jones]
      Peter Hartman – “The Masai ***”
      James VI [King of England] – “from Reulis and Cautelis to be Observit and Eschewit in Scottis Poesie”
      Robert Kelly – “Letter to the Bear. Re: Rome”
      Denise Levertov – “An Argument. (In response to Trobar #2 and Kelly’s ‘Notes on the Poetry of the Deep Image’)”
      Larry Eigner – “Blabbermouth”
      Fred Herko – [Theater Reviews]
      The Editors – “Notices”

12. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 12, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. John Ashbery – “The Lozenges”
      John Ashbery – “The Suspended Life”
      John Ashbery – “To the Same Degree”
      John Ashbery – “The Ascetic Sensualists”
      A.B. Spellman – “Nocturne for Eric”
      Carl Solomon – “The Bughouse”
      Carl Solomon – “I Was a Communist Youth”
      Carl Solomon – “The Entrance of the Grand Gladiola”
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Allen Ginsberg dedicated ‘Howl’ to Carl Solomon.”

13. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 13, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Second Beautiful Day”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, III”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, IV”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day, V”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day VI”
      A.B. Spellman – “The Beautiful Day VII”
      Joe Early – “Les Enfants du Paradis”
      David Ossman – “Comments on Montage”
      Steve Jonas – “Altar”
      John Thomas – “Alba”
      John Thomas – “Memo for Coffeehouse Psychologists”
      Fielding Dawson – “The Turn of the Wheel”
      The Editors – “Notices”

14. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 14, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, October 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 14 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “!The Feast!, for Ornette Coleman”
      Philip Whalen – “Goodbye & Hello, Again 6:II:60”

Note: an announcement concerning the arrest of the editors was sent out separately and with some copies of No. 14.

15. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 15, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Bruce Boyd – “Canticles for the Hours: Prime”
      Bruce Boyd – “Thread”
      Bruce Boyd – “1.” (“because it wasn’t sugar…”)
      Bruce Boyd – “2.” (“well, old honey, back to the hard sound…”)
      Bruce Boyd – “3.” (“or say that it is not love…”)
      Allen Ginsberg – “History of the Jewish Socialist Party in America”
      author unknown – “Early South Carolina Gullah Prayer”
      Frank O’Hara – “For the Chinese New Year & for Bill Berkson”
      Joseph Lesueur – [Theater Reviews]
      The Editors – “Notices”

16. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 16, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, December 1961
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. George Stanley – [untitled] “They would force scrunched…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “The sailors in their ship…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “Myriads now fly down…”
      Dave Ossman and Martin Green – “A Film Form: Outline for a Filmscript”
      Charles Olson – “To Empty the Mind”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The World of the Lie”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Windows”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Radio”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “The Mendacity of Sculpture”
      Ron Loewinsohn – “Coda: As Far as the Pass”
      Ron Loewinsohn – [untitled] “On the way back from Chicago (September, ’56)…”
      Marian Zazeela – “The Guggenheim Exhibition of Abstract Expressionists and Imagists (to Dec. 31)”
      Alan Marlowe – “Review”
      G. Sorrentino – “Rollins’ Return”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Marian Zazeela’s review of the Guggenheim exhibit caused a lot of commotion. After that point a lot of the New York painters who had been helping us with the Bear wouldn’t give us any more money because she suggested that Robert Motherwell was copying from his wife Helen Frankenthaler. Motherwell got very mad at us and wrote me a very nasty postcard.”

17. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 17, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, January 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Joel Oppenheimer – “A Treatise”
      Hubert Selby, Jr. – “September 24, 1961, A Floating Bear Special”
      Charles Olson – “The Americans”
      Paul Metcalf – “Darlington, South Carolina”
      Max Finstein – “Song”
      Max Finstein – “The Trial”
      Max Finstein – “The Merger”
      Jerry Benjamin – [Theatre Review]
      Fred Herko – “Paul Taylor–A History”
      The Editors – “Notices”

18. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 18, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, February 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. David Meltzer – “Poem to H.P. Lovecraft”
      David Meltzer – “The Struggle / Poems for the Muse”
      David Meltzer – “Heroes: 7 / The Comics”
      Mike Strong – “After”
      Mike Strong – “Overture”
      Mike Strong – “Mornings”
      LeRoi Jones – “Footnote to a Pretentious Book”
      Charles Olson – “In the Face of the Chinese View of the City”
      Joseph Lesueur – “Random Thoughts about Recent Plays, On and Off Broadway”
      George Brecht – “Statement for James Goldsworthy”
      John King [LeRoi Jones] – “Rejoinder: Concerning the Reviews by Miss Zazeela and Mr. Marlowe in FB 16”
      Frank Buck [pseud.; not Identified] – “Consumer’s Guide”

19. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 19, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, March 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Robert Duncan – “Night Scenes”
      Jonathan Williams – “We Take the Golden Road, to Samar, Kansas…”
      Stuart Perkoff – [untitled] “the Christian philo…”
      Stuart Perkoff – “2.” (“we step & and do not step…”)
      Stuart Perkoff – “3.” (“the river was warm, but not warm enough…”)
      Stuart Perkoff – “Three Prayers”
      Stuart Perkoff – “The Swing”
      Gertrude “Ma” Rainey – “Sissy Blues”
      Diane di Prima – “December, 1961”
      LeRoi Jones – “James Waring and Dance Company”
      Edwin Denby – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

20. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 20, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, May 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. The Editors [LeRoi Jones] – “Hello, Ma I Glad I Win!”
      Bertolt Brecht – “A Letter to His Fascist Friend Arnolt Bronnen in the Summer of 1923”
      Paul Blackburn – “The Cronopios in America–1.”
      J. Williams – “Best Reading List”
      Ed Dorn – “A Wild Blue, Yonder”
      Ed Dorn – “Time Blonde”
      Ed Dorn – “In My Youth I Was a Tireless Dancer”
      Ed Dorn – “The Song Is Ended”
      Ed Dorn – “The Poet Lectures Famous Potatoes”
      Ed Dorn – “Nose from Newswhere”
      Diane di Prima – “from Whale Honey”

21. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 21, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Frank O’Hara – “Mary Desti’s Ass”
      Frank O’Hara – “St. Paul and All That”
      Charles Olson – “A Work”
      Norman Solomon – “A Passion Play. 1.”
      Norman Solomon – “962”
      Peter Orlovsky and Allen Ginsberg – “Our Dear Friend Charles”
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “Best Reading List”
      Diane di Prima – “A Concert of Dance–Judson Memorial Church, Friday, 6 July 1962”
      The Editors – “Notices”

22. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 22, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, August 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. David Shapiro – “Lament”
      David Shapiro – “The Bluebird”
      David Shapiro – “The Storm”
      David Shapiro – “Canticle as Grieving”
      David Shapiro – “Poem”
      Yu Suwa – “A Poem, 1961-1962”
      LeRoi Jones – “The Politics of Rich Painters”
      Gary Snyder – “The Curse”
      Joseph Lesueur – “Rotten Apple”
      Steve Jonas – “Green”
      Steve Jonas – “Sub Voce”
      George Stanley – “The Italian”
      Abe Harvard [Peter Hartman] – “In Quest of Ugendun”
      Diane Wakoski – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “David Shapiro was 16 years old. For his age his stuff was brilliant, and people in Frank O’Hara’s crowd were interested in him. He was a very funny person when I met him because all his 16-year-old, adolescent, New Jersey personality was there on the surface, in spite of the fact that he could make these very far-out images. He kept calling me Miss di Prima and Frank Mr. O’Hara, and Frank finally got very embarrassed about it.”

23. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 23, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Kirby Doyle – “from The Happiness Bastard”
      Diane di Prima – “Careers: A Naturalistic Tragedy”
      Frank Lima – “Pudgy”
      James Waring – [Letter to The Floating Bear]
      Anton Webern [Peter Hartman?] – [Letter to the Editors]
      Miles Campion [LeRoi Jones?] – [Letter to the Editors]
      The Editors – “Notices”

24. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 24, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, September-October 1962
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 12 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. William S. Burroughs – “Spain & 42 St.”
      William S. Burroughs – “Dead Whistle Stop Already End”
      William S. Burroughs – “Where Flesh Circulates”
      Paul C. Metcalf – “In This Corner: Charles Olson”
      Soren Agenoux – “A Movie Review”
      Johannes Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “Names & Bodies (Notes)”
      Soren Agenoux – “12 Leçons de Ténèbres”
      George Montgomery – [untitled] “Lemons on barber poles…”
      The Editors – “Notices”

25. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 25, edited by Diane di Prima and LeRoi Jones
Topanga: The Floating Bear, November 1962-March 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 8 pages plus Auerhahn advertisement flyer, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Lew Welch – “Voice from Rat Flat!”
      Richard Baker – “Struggle”
      Richard Baker – “Beer”
      Dale Landers – “III Of a Growth Of”
      Robert Creeley – “The Skeleton”
      A.B. Spellman – “Baltimore Oriole, for M.R.”
      A.B. Spellman – “A Home Brew”
      The Editors – “Thank Yous”
      [Advertisement for Auerhahn Press]

26. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 26, guest-edited by Billy Linich
New York: The Floating Bear, October 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 10 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. [George Herms] – [untitled] “Wet floor feet faster than wine…”
      [George Herms] – “Tap City Easter Circus Report”
      Michael Katz – “4 Short Stories for Passover”
      John [Wieners] – [untitled] “Mary Butts, inhabit her Ashe family of Rings…”
      Mary Butts – [untitled] “Until they came to the world’s end…”
      John [Daley?] – [Letter to Billy Linich]
      George Brecht – [Note to Billy Linich]
      Kirby Doyle – “Moon Poem, for Jarry Heiserman”
      Ray Johnson – [Letters to Various Persons]
      Ray Johnson – “Where Is the Palace? Iodine.”
      Duke Mantee [LeRoi Jones] – “Voices from the Art World (or, Bright Sayings)”
      The Editors – “Notices”
      [Diane di Prima] – “This Is a Very Strong Appeal for Funds”

27. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 27, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 34 pages, mimeograph printed.

  • Contents:
    1. Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature”
      Philip Whalen – “The Saturday Visitations”
      Philip Whalen – “Sunday Afternoon Dinner Fung Loy Restaurant San Francisco”
      Philip Whalen – “Hello to All the Folks Back Home”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, 2nd Part”
      Philip Whalen – “Heigho, Nobody’s at Home”
      Philip Whalen – “Ignorantaccio”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, #3, A Total Explanation, for Dr. A.”
      Philip Whalen – [untitled] “without gills or lungs or brain…”
      Philip Whalen – “Saturday 15:IX:62”
      Philip Whalen – “Fillmore Hob Nob Carburetor”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, Part 4th”
      Philip Whalen – “The Gallery, Mill Valley”
      Philip Whalen – “Applegravy”
      Philip Whalen – “The Professor Comes to Call”
      Philip Whalen – “The Art of Literature, Concluded”
      Philip Whalen – “How We Live the More Abundant Life in America”
      Aquarian [Joel Oppenheimer] – “R I P”
      Ray Johnson – “Review by Ray Johnson (in the Style of Floating Bear)”
      Alan Marlowe – [Theatre Review]
      [Michael Rumaker?] – “Wieners & Stein at Judson”
      Michael Rumaker – “The Island, by Robert Creeley” [book review]
      John Wieners – “The Reporters, A Review by John Wieners”
      John Daley – “Billy Linich’s Party”
      [Author Unknown] – “Mss. Found in the Debris at the Living Theatre: The Journal of an IRS Agent”
      Alan Marlowe and Diane di Prima – [Announcement for the New Choreographers Company]
      The Editors – [Notices]
      Ray Johnson – [Letter to the Floating Bear]

28. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 28, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, December 1963
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Al Leslie.

  • Contents:
    1. Mary Caroline Richards – “Christmas Sonnet”
      Mary Caroline Richards – “To My New Goat”
      Gregory Corso – “I Dream in Daytime”
      Jack Smith – “Normal Love”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Title)”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Veil)”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (a Story.”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (Music of”
      LeRoi Jones – “In Wyoming Territory (Dance/Like/”
      Edward Field – “Chopin”
      John Wieners – “Journal of the First Night”
      Frank O’Hara – “Pistachio Tree at Château Noir”

29. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 29, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, March 1964
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 20 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by George Herms.

  • Contents:
    1. Robert Grosseteste – “On Light or the Beginning of Forms”
      James Waring – [untitled] “Seen anywhere can art avalanche…”
      Julian Beck – “Acrostic for the Community of Poets and Joel Oppenheimer”
      John Thomas – “Some Books”
      Frank O’Hara – “Adventures in Living”
      Gerard Malanga – “Rollerskate”
      Gerard Malanga – “A Magic Realist Painting, for Alan Marlowe”
      John Herbert Mcdowell – “Special to the Floating Bear”
      Morton Feldman – [Letter to the Floating Bear]
      [Gilbert] Sorrentino – “Signal: A New Magazine”
      Fielding Dawson – “I Confess”
      James Waring – “Art Chronicle”
      The Editors – “Notices”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “Jerry Malanga wrote ‘Rollerskate’ as a tribute to Freddie Herko after Freddie’s death. I don’t know if the film it refers to was ever made.”

30. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 30, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1964
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 20 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Jeanne Marlowe.

  • Contents:
    1. Ruth Krauss – “As I Passed the Andy Auto Body Works”
      Alan Marlowe – “A Play”
      author unknown [Peter Abelard?] – “Medieval Latin Song” (trans. Diane di Prima)
      Ferencz Mcnaughton [pseud.?] – “May Meeting with C. Goy”
      Carl Solomon – “Pilgrim State Hospital”
      anon., As Told To Hubert Selby, Jr. – “My Return to Pilgrim State”
      Herbert Huncke – [untitled] “I could not believe we had anything…”
      Gilbert Sorrentino – “For the Floating Bear: Prose of Our Time”
      Allan Kaprow – “from the Construction of Boston”
      James Waring – [Letter to the Floating Bear]
      Alex Katz – [Letter to the Editors]
      Howard Schulman – “Jan Muller (1922-58) at the Guggenheim thru 2/25/62”
      Anne Wilson – “October ‘26 Rauschenberg”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “The cover of Number 30 was done by my daughter Jeannie who was six and a half years old at that time.”

31. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 31, guest-edited by Alan Marlowe
New York City: The Floating Bear, June 1965
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Jess Collins.

  • Contents:
    1. author unknown – “Great Prajna Paramita Sutra” (trans. by Shenryu Suzuki)
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Procrastination”
      John Wieners – “Night Boat to Cairo”
      John Wieners – “The Mole Proposes Solitude”
      John Wieners – “Song Lyric for ‘Shoot the President’”
      Robert Duncan – “Notes from A Reading at the Poetry Center, San Francisco, March 1, 1959”
      The Editors – “Editors Notes”

32. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 32, guest-edited by Kirby Doyle
Kerhonkson: The Floating Bear, February 1966
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 16 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Robert Branaman.

  • Contents:
    1. Michael McClure – “Cupid’s Grin”
      John Keats – “A Fragment to Fanny”
      Thomas Chatterton – “Last Verses”
      Sharon Morrill – [untitled] “Body dying of chemical injecto…”
      Thomas Traherne – “from The Centuries”
      Yvonne Rainer – “Some Thoughts on Improvisation”
      Kirby Doyle – “Some Notes Toward a Text for the Unyielding Kings of the New Undead”
      Allen Ginsberg – “Psalm IV”
      Diane di Prima – “Buddhist New Year Song”
      Sheri Martinelli – “Duties of a Lady Female”
      Clive Matson – “The Good-Bye Scene”
      The Editors – “Notes”
      The Editors – [Advertisement for the Poets Press]

33. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 33, guest-edited by John Wieners
Brooklyn: The Floating Bear, February 1967
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 36 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Paolo Lionni.

  • Contents:
    1. [John Wieners] – “Our Unborn Child”
      John Broderick – “My Flowers…” [illustration]
      Jack Spicer – “The Bridge Game”
      Jack Spicer – “Lives of the Philosophers: Diogenes”
      Deedee Doyle [Sharon Morill] – [untitled illustration]
      B. O’Driscoll [Bobby Driscoll] – “Sunday”
      John Wieners – “The Drug Addict’s Dilemma: An Answer to America”
      Sanders Russell – “Two Poems”
      Philip Lamantia – “For Real”
      John Reed – “Three Poems”
      Kirby Doyle – “A Valo Poem”
      David Rattray – [untitled] “If only I could…”
      Edward Freeman – “Prints and Prisons”
      David Posner – “In Memory of a Friend”
      Allen De Loach – “The A Train”
      Bob Hartman – “This is the Flip Side of the Record”
      Robert Grenier – “A Race”
      Charles Doria – “from Christine’s Version”
      Stephen Jonas – “Subway Haiku”
      Alan Marlowe – [untitled] “Lady cat is missing…”
      Irving Rosenthal – “The Mouse King”
      Lewis Lipschitz – [untitled] “When I See the small fish…”
      Howard Schulman – [untitled] “When you breathe on me…”
      Elizabeth Sutherland – “B’s Blues”
      Joan Gilbert – [untitled] “this is the beginning of our end…”
      Jeanne Phillips – [untitled] “today we have the good witch…”
      Jeanne Phillips – “Observations”
      Jan Balas – [untitled] “I know its Thursday…”
      Jan Balas – “Meth Madness after Many Days”
      Diane di Prima – “Song for My Spooks”
      Diane di Prima – “First Snow, Kerhonkson, for Alan”
      Shreela Ray – [untitled] “I saw myself in abyss-green…”
      Shiela Plant – “Term Paper for 8 Year Old”
      Shiela Plant – “Autobiography”
      Shiela Plant – “Adamancy”
      Madeline Davis – “To Ronny”
      Janine Pommey – “On Train to Holland, 12-29-65”
      Janine Pommey – “October, 65, Ibiza Spain”
      Janine Pommey – “Paris 9-64, to Alex:”
      Janine Pommey – “Spring, Paris 65, to Fernando:”
      Janine Pommey – “Two Line Poems Written in Paris ‘65”
      The Editors – “Notices”

34. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 34, edited by Diane di Prima
Brooklyn: The Floating Bear, October 1967
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 28 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Michael Bowen.

  • Contents:
    1. Jack Spicer – “The Day Five Thousand Fish Died in the Charles River”
      Jack Spicer – “Poem, by a Computer at Mit, Which Was Fed the Elements of English Grammar, and Directed to Produce Sentences”
      Keith Wilson – “Graves Registry XII, Body at Sea”
      Keith Wilson – “Graves Registry XIV, Sea Songs for Women”
      Gary Snyder – [untitled] “Could she see the whole real world…”
      Gary Snyder – “The Coyote Breath”
      Emily Bronte – “Cold in the Earth”
      Stuart Perkoff – [untitled] “what a city is…”
      Rajkamal Chowdhury – “The Cycle or the Yoni-chakra (a Tantric Song)”
      Lorenzo Thomas – “Poem in Lieu of the Marriage of Andrew Zolem”
      Arcane School, N.Y.C. – “Zodiac”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “I thought and thought…”
      George Stanley – [untitled] “the past (as if in parenthesis)…”
      Bertolt Brecht – “Of Poor B. B.” (trans. Jack Collom)
      Frank O’Hara – “Dérangé sur un Pont de l’Adour”
      Frank O’Hara – “Hôtel Particulier”
      Johannes Koenig [LeRoi Jones] – “The Structure of the Academy Is: Against, the Street, or, Versus.”
      Yukio Matsuda – “The Landing” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Yu Suwa – “Jacob’s Ladder” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Atsushi Sekiguci – “New Year Greeting” (trans. Syunichi Niikura)
      Philip Lamantia – “Rest in Peace”
      Jack Kerouac – “How to Meditate”
      Jack Kerouac – “Hitch Hiker”
      David W. Mckain – “Street Corner Song”
      David W. Mckain – “Special Eye”
      David W. Mckain – “Newark Black Survival Committee Press Conference”
      The Editors – “Notices”

35. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 35, edited by Diane di Prima
New York: The Floating Bear, April 1968
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 26 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by John Reed.

  • Contents:
    1. Philip Lamantia – “Inscription for the Vanishing Republic”
      Philip Lamantia – “Orphic Poem”
      Philip Lamantia – “The Call”
      Philip Lamantia – “Politics Poem”
      Philip Lamantia – “Lava”
      Philip Lamantia – “Cool Apocalypse”
      Philip Lamantia – “Visions”
      Philip Lamantia – [untitled] “That I burned by the screech owl castle…”
      Steve Jonas – “A Poem for Tony Sherrod”
      John Thomas – “The Empty Blues”
      Lenore Kandel – “Junk/Angel”
      LeRoi Jones – “Indians”
      LeRoi Jones – “A Traffic of Love”
      LeRoi Jones – “Old Men’s Feet”
      LeRoi Jones – “Nick Charles Meets the Wolf-Man”
      LeRoi Jones – “West of Dodge”
      Michael Rumaker – “The Island, by Robert Creeley” [book review]
      Michael Rumaker – “WFME Interview with Night Editor of Newark Evening News”
      The Editors – “Notices of All Kinds”

36. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 36, guest-edited by Bill Berkson
New York City: The Floating Bear, January-July 1969
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 40 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Ray Johnson.

  • Contents:
    1. Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “Beautiful Music”
      Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “Dog Salt”
      Larry Fagin, Bill Berkson, and Ron Padgett – “The Secret of Jane Bowles”
      Max Ernst – “From”
      Michael Brownstein – “Driving Through Belgium”
      Michael Brownstein – “The Shining Hand”
      Michael Brownstein – “Woman Walking Slowly Downstairs and Waving”
      Anne Waldman – “Be Happy O Sad World Be Happy”
      Anne Waldman – “Bright Side”
      Tom Clark – “Where I Live”
      Clark Coolidge – “Nothing at Newbegins”
      Clark Coolidge – “Noun Adder”
      Blaise Cendrars – “Dorypha” (trans. Ron Padgett)
      Bill Berkson – “Forked Dah”
      Bill Berkson – “Stanky”
      David Shapiro – “For the Princess Hello”
      Diane di Prima – “Stone Take”
      Kenneth Koch – “I Am from Argentina”
      John Thorpe – “Shaman’s Pain”
      John Thorpe – “When”
      John Thorpe – “Dust Eater”
      Ron Padgett – “Movable Basketballs”
      Lewis Warsh – “Opening the Day”
      John Ashbery – “Upper Silesia”
      The Editors – “Readables”

37. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER, No. 37, edited by Diane di Prima
New York City: The Floating Bear, March-July 1969
First edition, corner-stapled sheets, 8.5” x 11”, 24 pages, mimeograph printed. Cover art by Wallace Berman.

  • Contents:
    1. Lenore Kandel – “Hymn to Maitreya in America”
      LeRoi Jones – “What the Arts Need Now”
      Kirby Doyle – “An Unfinished Letter, Amir id-Emaid”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “The belly of the moon…”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “Again the butterfly visits me…”
      Kirby Doyle – [untitled] “I came to the top of this…”
      Kirby Doyle – “Upon Jail”
      Kirby Doyle – “-1- the Alchemist”
      Kirby Doyle – “-2- the Angel”
      Kirby Doyle – “-3- the Singer”
      Kirby Doyle – “-4- the Fallen”
      Kirby Doyle – “-5- the Risen”
      Gary Snyder – “Buddhism & The Coming Revolution”
      Victor Hernandez Cruz – “Poem for the Empire”
      Victor Hernandez Cruz – “Third World”
      Diane di Prima – “Canticle of St. Joan, for Robert Duncan”
      Michael McClure – “Tear Gas”
      Janine Pommy-Vega – “Poem for David”
      Janine Pommy-Vega – “Poem to Pitt/ If That Is Your Name…..”
      Tao Te Ching – “from Tao Te Ching” (trans. Paul Carus)
      Dave Cunliffe and Tina Morris – “Invocation”
      Freewheelin’ Frank [Frank Reynolds] – “’The Hymn’ to ‘Lucifer’”

According to Diane di Prima in notes to Laurence McGilvery’s facsimile edition of The Floating Bear, “The poem by Freewheelin’ Frank [Frank Reynolds] came out of a book that was done here in San Francisco. It was issued as a portfolio and ws the last printing effort of the Free City people; they had been doing a free publishing thing. They did Brautigan’s Please Plant This Book, poems printed on packets of seeds. They also did a dittoed version of Kirby Doyle’s Angelfaint, which he wouldn’t let them release because it had too many typographical errors in it. One thousand copies of it are probably still in Irving Rosenthal’s basement, without covers. Frank’s book was beautifully printed, all on separate sheets in about four colors. Freewheelin’ Frank’s name somehow didn’t get on this poem, so we had to write it in by hand on all the copies.”


References Consulted:

Clay, Steven and Rodney Phillips. A SECRET LOCATION ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE: ADVENTURES IN WRITING, 1960-1980
New York: New York Public Library / Granary Books, 1998

di Prima, Diane and LeRoi Jones. editors. THE FLOATING BEAR: A NEWSLETTER. Numbers 1-37, 1961-1969
La Jolla: Laurence McGilvery, 1973


Online Resources:

· Beat Visions and the Counterculture – Floating Bear
· From a Secret Location – The Floating Bear
· Reality Studio – Floating Bear Archive

Joel Oppenheimer: Contributions to Periodicals

>> return to JOEL OPPENHEIMER main page >>

Section C:
Contributions to Periodicals

[excluding reviews, letters, miscellaneous prose]

1. THE BLACK MOUNTAIN COLLEGE REVIEW, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by M.C Richards, A. Kemeny, and H. Larsen

Black Mountain:Black Mountain Review, June 1951
“Sonnet”
(Butterick C1)
[not in archive]


2. ORIGIN, No. 14, edited by Cid Corman
Ashland: Origin Press, Autumn 1954
“Lovesong” [collected in A3], “An Approach to Le Bain” [collected in A3]
(Butterick C2-C3)



3. BLACK MOUNTAIN REVIEW, No. 4, edited by Robert Creeley
Black Mountain: Black Mountain College, Winter 1954
“The Gardner” [collected in A3], “Provence” [collected in A3]
(Butterick C4-C5)


4. BLACK MOUNTAIN REVIEW, No. 5, edited by Robert Creeley
Black Mountain: Black Mountain College, Summer 1955
“The Rain” [collected in A3]
(Butterick C6)



5. BLACK MOUNTAIN REVIEW, No. 6, edited by Robert Creeley
Black Mountain: Black Mountain College, Spring 1956
“Today an Ophelia”, “A” [collected in A3]
(Butterick C7-C8)



6. HEARSE, No. 1, edited by E.V. Griffith
Eureka: Hearse Press, 1957
“The Chart” [collected in A4], “The Charivari”, “The Anybody Blues” [collected in A4], “The Young Bloods” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C9-C12)


7. BLACK MOUNTAIN REVIEW, No. 7, edited by Robert Creeley
Black Mountain: Black Mountain College, Autumn 1957
“Young Mother Blues” [collected in A4], “Formal Verse, Father of Seventy-three” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C13-C14]


8. HEARSE, No. 2, edited by E.V. Griffith
Eureka: Hearse Press, 1958
“Lilies and Roses All Sorts of”, “The Plan” [collected in A4], “Eve”, “The Love Bit” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C15-C18)



9. CHICAGO REVIEW, Vol. 12, No. 3, edited by Irving Rosenthal
Chicago: University of Chicago, Autumn 1958
“Mare Nostrum” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C19)




10. HEARSE, No. 5, edited by E.V. Griffith
Eureka: Hearse Press, 1959
“Ah, These Ungenerous Lovers”, “To a Friend” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C20-C21)



11. NEON, No. 4, edited by Gilbert Sorrentino
Brooklyn: Neon Magazine, 1959
“Cartogtraphy” [collected in A4], “The Breadwinner” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C22-C23)



12. YUGEN, No. 4, edited by LeRoi Jones
New York: Totem Press, 1959
“In the Clutch”, “Fugue”
(Butterick C24-C25)




13. YUGEN, No. 5, edited by LeRoi Jones
New York: Totem Press, 1959
“The Issue at Hand” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C26)




14. THE NATION, No. 188
New York, April 1959
“April Fool” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C27)

15. THE GALLEY SAIL REVIEW, Vol. 2, No. 1, edited by Stanley McNail
San Francisco: The Galley Sail Review, Winter 1959-1960
“The Torn Nightgown” [collected in A4], “Mid-Passage” [collected in A4]
(Butterick C28-C29)


16. THE HASTY PAPERS: A ONE-SHOT REVIEW, edited by Alfred Leslie
New York: Hasty Papers, 1960
“A Fable”
(Butterick C30)

17. KULCHUR, No. 2, edited by Marc Schleifer
New York: Kulchur Press, 1960
“A View of the Trinity” [prose]
(Butterick C31)

18. NEON OBIT, edited by Gilbert Sorrentino
Brooklyn: Neon, 1960
“Romance is a Eulogy for the Dead Past”
(Butterick C32)




19. NOMAD, No. 5-6, edited by Donald Factor and Anthony Linick
Culver City: Nomad, Winter-Spring I960
“A Love Poem”, “Statement”, “New Blues for the Moon”
(Butterick C33-C35)



20. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 4, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, 1961
“A Grace for Painters”, “Statement for Paterson Society” [prose]
(Butterick C36-C37)

21. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 5, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, April 1961
“New Flick in Town” [prose]
(Butterick C38)




22. PROVINCETOWN REVIEW, No. 4, edited by Bill Ward
New York: Provincetown Review, Summer 1961
“Shenandoah” [prose] [collected in A13]
(Butterick C39)

21. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 8, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, 1961
“America 17-18 Apr.” [reprinted separately as A10, collected in A9]
(Butterick C40)

22. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 17, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, 1961
“A Treatise” [reprinted in Pa’lante (New York, 1962), seaparately as A5, collected in A9]
(Butterick C41)



23. KULCHUR, No. 3, edited by Marc Schleifer
New York: Kulchur Press, 1961
“Not Even Important” [prose], “You Two Go That Way…” [prose]
(Butterick C42-C43)



24. KULCHUR, No. 4, edited by Marc Schleifer
New York: Kulchur Press, 1961
“Given Other Necessities” [review of The Newly Fallen by Edward Dorn]
(Butterick C44)

25. YUGEN, No. 7, edited by LeRoi Jones
New York: Totem Press, 1961
“Letter to LeRoi Jones”, “Morning Song”
(Butterick C45-C46)




25. PERISKOP, No. 3, edited by Wolfgang Hake
Cologne: Periskop, 1962
“The Lover”, “The Answer”, “The God” [translated into German by Anselm Hollo]
(Butterick C47-C49)



26. TROBAR, No. 4, edited by George Economou, Joan Kelly, and Robert Kelly
New York: Trobar, 1962
“Mathematics” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C50)

27. KULCHUR, Vol. 2, No. 5, edited by Marc Schleifer
New York: Kulchur Press, Spring 1962
Review of Come and Join the Dance by Joyce Glassman [signed “jacob hammer”], Review of For Love by Robert Creeley [signed “Tom White”]
(Butterick C51-C52)

28. THE NATION, Vol. 194, No. 5, edited by W.S. Merwin
New York: The Nation Company, May 1962
“Orpheus”
(Butterick C53)

29. THE OUTSIDER, No. 2, edited by Gypsy Lou and Jon Webb
New Orleans: The Outsider, Summer 1962
“A Long Way” [collected in A9], “The Present” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C54-C55)



30. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 21, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear,  August 1962
“Best Reading Test” [book reviews]
(Butterick C56)




31. NOMAD, No. 10/11, edited by edited by Donald Factor and Anthony Linick
Culver City: Nomad, Autumn 1962
“La Revolucion”
(Butterick C57)

32. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 1, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, December 1962
“A Little Mayan Head”
(Butterick C58)




33. ECO CONTEMPORANEO, No. 5, edited by Miguel Grinberg
Buenos Aires: Miguel Grinberg, 1963
“Poema a la Muerte de William Carlos Williams” [collected A9]
(Butterick C59)
[not in archive]


34. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 4, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, Summer 1963
“Poem in Praise of Perseverance” [collected A9], “Public Affairs”
(Butterick C60-61)



35. JUDSON REVIEW, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Al Carmines, and Don Katzman
New York: Judson Review, May 1963
“Christmas Text”
(Butterick C62)

36. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 7, No. 28, edited by Barney Rosset
New York: Evergreen Review, January-February 1963
“Un bel di” [story] [collected in A13]
(Butterick C63)

37. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 3, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, May 1963
“A Long Testament”
(Butterick C64)




38. SIGNAL, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Bret Rohmer
New York: The Brownstone Press, Fall 1963
“The Brushes” [collected in A9], “African Memories” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C65-C66)

39. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 21, edited by Diane Di Prima and Leroi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, November 1963
“RIP” [prose] [signed “Aquarian”]
(Butterick C67)




40. KULCHUR, Vol. 3. No. 12, edited by Lita Hornick
New York: Kulchur Press, Winter 1963
“Some of My Best Peers” [prose]
(Butterick C68)

41. SIGNAL, Vol. 1, No. 2, edited by Bret Rohmer
New York: The Brownstone Press, 1964
“Mexican Standoff” [story]
(Butterick C69)

42. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 6, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, April 1964
“Fragments of a Letter from New York to San Francisco”, “Lesson I for Charles Olson”, “Balso/s Blues” [collected in A11], “For our Cousins”, “Where Are My Glasses”
(Butterick C70-C74)

43. WILD DOG, No. 7, edited by Drew Wagnon and Gino Clays
Pocatello: Wild Dog, April 1964
“Progress Report”, “Grown Alba” [collected in A9], “The Surgeon in Spite of Himself” [collected in A9], “Thirty Days, Next Case” [collected in A9], “The Three and a Half Minute Mile” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C75-C79)

44. JOGLARS, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Clark Coolidge and Michael Palmer
Providence: Joglars, Spring 1964
“The Riddle” [collected in A9], “The Title Repeats” [collected in A9], “Old Story” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C80-C82)



45. WILD DOG, No. 8, edited by Drew Wagnon and Gino Clays
Pocatello: Wild Dog, April 1964
“The World of Sports” [signed “Jay Oh”]
(Butterick C83)

46. THE NATION, No. 199
New York, September 1964
“Mythology” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C84)

47. ISLAND, No. 2, edited by Victor Coleman
Toronto: Island, December 1964
“The Recipe” [collected in A9], “The Cop-Out” [collected in A9], “Found Art” [collected in A9], “Sunday Morning” [collected in A9], “A Note” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C85-C89)

48. DAMASCUS ROAD No. 1, edited by Charles Hanna
Allentown: Damascus Road, 1965
“Nature Boy”, “Terror Coddler” [collected in A11], “A Five Act Play”
(Butterick C90-C92)

49. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 10, No. 39, edited by Barney Rosset
New York: Evergreen Review, June 1967
“Poem for the One-Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C93)

50. THE PARIS REVIEW, No. 36, edited by George A. Plimpton
Paris: The Paris Review, Winter 1966
“The New Nightgown” [collected in A11]
(Butterick C94)

51. CUCHULAIN, No. 1, edited by M. G. Stephens
New York: Cuchulain, 1967
“The Morning After” [collected in A11]
(Butterick C95)

52. GUERRILLA
Detroit, January 1967
“The Perfect Detonator: Scene 3”
(Butterick C96)

53. NEW MEASURE, No. 6
Oxford, Summer 1967
“The Travellers” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C97)

54. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 11, No. 47, edited by Barney Rosset
New York: Evergreen Review, June 1967
“The Three and a Half Minute Mile”
(Butterick C79)

55. THE GENRE OF SILENCE: A ONE-SHOT REVIEW
New York, June 1967
“Life Poem” [collected in A9], “Poem in Defense of Children” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C98-C99)

56. THE WORLD, No. 7
New York, October 1967
“Wrong Again” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C100)

57. INTREPID, No. 9, edited by Allen De Loach
New York: Intrepid, December 1967
“Fragment from the Works of Anacreon Recently Discovered in a Caern by the river Meander”
(Butterick C101)

58. CULTURAL AFFAIRS, No. 2
“A Magazine” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C102)

59. THE WORLD, No. 10
New York, February 1968
“A Valentine” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C103)

60. NOOSE, No. 2
New York, March 1968
“A Foreword for an As Yet Unwritten Novel”, “A Postscript to the Same Novel”
(Butterick C104-C105)

61. THE WORLD, No. 11
New York, April 1968
[untitled] “it is a long time / since we have talked…” [collected as “Poem for LeRoi” in A9]
(Butterick C106)

62. THE WORLD, No. 12
New York, June 1968
“In the Beginning” [collected in A9], “The Clash” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C107-C108)

63. FRIENDLY LOCAL PRESS, Vol. 1, No. 2-3
New York, June 1968
“Old Story” [collected in A9], “Hah-Hah” [collected in A9], “Pat  & Mike” [collected in A9], “The Great American Novel” [collected in A9]
(Butterick C109-112)

64. NOOSE, No. 17
New York, 12 July 1969
“A Poem for Children” [collected in A11] (Butterick C118)

65. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 13, No. 70
New York, September 1969
“Six-day and ball-bearing” [collected in A9] (Butterick C119)

66. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 13, No. 73
New York, December 1969
“A quiet Sunday at home” [story] [collected in A13] (Butterick C122)

 

Michael McClure: Contributions to Periodicals

>> return to MICHAEL MCCLURE main page >>

Section C:
This index includes contributions to periodicals, and focuses primarily on the entries found in the Clements bibliography.


1. POETRY, Vol. 87, No. 4, edited by Henry Rago
mags_poetry8704Chicago: Poetry, January 1956

McClure contribution: “2 for Theodore Roetheke: Premonition”
(Clements C1)

Note: This is McClure’s first appearance in print.

2. SEMINA, No. 2, edited by Wallace Berman
Los Angeles: Wallace Berman, December 1957

McClure contribution: “I Wanted to Turn to Electricity”
(Clements C2)


3. ARK II / MOBY I, edited by Michael McClure and James Harmon
mags_ark2San Francisco: Ark, 1956-57

McClure contribution: “Canoe: Explication”, “Logos: Knout”
(Clements C3)


4. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 1, No. 2, edited by Barney Rosset and Donald Allen
mags_evergreen0102New York: Grove Press, 1957

McClure contribution: “Night Words: The Ravishing”, “Cat’s Air”, “The Rug”, “The”, “Note”, “The Robe”
(Clements C5)

5. BLACK MOUNTAIN REVIEW, No. 7, edited by Robert Creeley
mags_blackmtn7Black Mountain: Black Mountain College, Autumn 1957

McClure contribution: “Poem”
(Clements C6)


6. MEASURE, No. 2, edited by John Wieners
mags_measure2San Francisco: Measure, Winter 1958

McClure contribution: “The Magazine Cover”, “One & Two”
(Clements C7)


7. CHICAGO REVIEW, Vol. 12, No. 1, edited by Irving Rosenthal
mags_chicagoreview1201Chicago: University of Chicago Press, Spring 1958

McClure contribution: “The Mess”, “7/26/57”, “Less Than Vanity”, “The Breech”
(Clements C8)


8. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 2, No. 6, edited by Barney Rosset and Donald Allen *
New York: Grove Press, Autumn 1958

McClure contribution: “Ode to Jackson Pollock”
(Clements C9)



9. YUGEN, No. 4, edited by LeRoi Jones and Hettie Cohen 
mags_yugen4New York: Yugen, 1959

McClure contribution: “The Chamber”
(Clements C11)



10. JABBERWOCK, American Issue, edited by Alex Neish
mags_jabberwockEdinburgh: University Renaissance Society, 1959

McClure contribution: “For Artaud”, “A Fantasy and Courtly Poem”, “Ode for Soft Voice, for Jo Ann”
(Clements C12)


11. YUGEN, No. 5, edited by LeRoi Jones and Hettie Cohen 
mags_yugen5New York: Yugen, 1959

McClure contribution: “Rant Block”
(Clements C13)



12. SEMINA, No. 4, edited by Wallace Berman
San Francisco: Wallace Berman, 1959

McClure contribution: “We’re in the Middle of a Deep Cloud”
(Clements C14)


13. BEATITUDE, No. 5, edited by John Kelly
San Francisco: John Kelly, June 1959

McClure contribution: “Lines from a Peyote Depression”
(not in Clements)


14. SEMINA, No. 5, edited by Wallace Berman
Larkspur: Wallace Berman, 1959

McClure contribution: “We are Impervious as the Skin of our Dreams”
(Clements C17)


15. THE GALLEY SAIL REVIEW, Vol. 2, No. 1, Issue No. 5, edited by David Rafael Wang
mags_galleysail5San Francisco: Galley Sail Publications, Winter 1959-1960

McClure contribution: “L’Etoile”
(Clements C15)


16. SIDEWALK, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Alex Neish
Edinburgh: Sidewalk, 1960

McClure contribution: “The Flower of Politics”
(Clements C16)



17. BIG TABLE, Vol. 1, No. 4, edited by Paul Carroll
mags_bigtable14Chicago: Big Table, Spring 1960

McClure contribution: “Two Poems from A Small Secret Book”
(Clements C18)


18. YUGEN, No. 6, edited by LeRoi Jones and Hettie Cohen 
mags_yugen6New York: Yugen, 1960

McClure contribution: “The Column”
(Clements C19)



19. BEATITUDE, No. 17, edited by Bob Kaufman
mags_beatitude17San Francisco: City Lights, Oct-Nov 1960

McClure contribution: “Oh Why Oh Why The Blasted Love The Huge Shape Change?” (from Dark Brown)
(Clements C20)

20. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 1, edited by Diane Di Prima and LeRoi Jones *
New York: The Floating Bear, February 1961

McClure contribution: “The Smile shall not be More Mutable than the Final Extinction of Meat”
(Clements C21)

21. NOMAD, No. 9, edited by Donald Factor and Anthony Linick
mags_nomad9Culver City: Nomad, Summer 1961

McClure contribution: “High”, “From a Notebook”
(Clements C22)



22. THE FLOATING BEAR, No. 14, edited by Diane Di Prima and LeRoi Jones
New York: The Floating Bear, October 1961

McClure contribution: “!The Feast!”
(Clements C24)



23. THE OUTSIDER, No. 1, edited by Gypsy Lou and Jon Webb 
mags_outsider01New Orleans: Loujon Press, Fall 1961

McClure contribution: “Spontaneous Hymn to Kundalini”
(Clements C25)


24. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 5, No. 20, edited by Barney Rosset *
New York: Evergreen Review, Sep-Oct 1961

McClure contribution: “On Seeing Through Shelley’s Eyes The Medusa”
(Clements C26)


25. JOURNAL FOR THE PROTECTION OF ALL BEINGS, No. 1,  edited by Michael McClure, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and David Meltzer
San Francisco: City Lights Books, 1961

McClure contribution: “Revolt”
(Clements C27)



26. KULCHUR, Vol. 2, No. 8, edited by Lita Hornick
mags_kulchur8New York: Kulchur Press, Winter 1962

McClure contribution: “Phi Upsilon Kappa”
(Clements C28)



27. FOOT, No. 2, edited by Richard Duerden and William Brown
mags_foot2San Francisco: Foot, 1962

McClure contribution: “The Surge”
(Clements C29)



28. PA’LANTE, No. 1, edited by Howard Schulman
New York: The League of Militant Poets, May 1962

McClure contribution: “Fidelio”, “Twigs”
(Clements C30)


29. EL CORNO EMPLUMADO, No. 3, edited by Sergio Mondragón and Margaret Randall
Mexico City: El Corno Emplumado, July 1962

McClure contribution: “Dear Jane”, “Drunk Writing”
(Clements C31)


30. ORIGIN, Second Series, No. 6, edited by Cid Corman
mags_origin26Kyoto: Cid Corman, July 1962

McClure contribution: “The Held Back Pain”
(Clements C32)



31. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 6, No. 25, edited by Barney Rosset
New York: Evergreen Review, Jul-Aug 1962

McClure contribution: “Drug Notes”
(Clements C33)



32. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 4, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, August 1962

McClure contribution: “The Mind Pain Comes Over Me and I Am Blunked”
(Clements C34)


33. TISH, No. 12, edited by Frank Davey
Vancouver: TISH, August 1962

McClure contribution: “Mad Sonnet”
(not in Clements)



34. THE NATION, Vol. 196, No. 3, edited by Carey McWilliams *
New York: The Nation, Jan 1963

McClure contribution: “The Human Face”
(Clements C35)

35. SEMINA, No. 8, edited by Wallace Berman
Los Angeles: Wallace Berman, 1963

McClure contribution: “Ghost Tantra (No. 14)”
(Clements C36)



36. THE OUTSIDER, No. 3, edited by Gypsy Lou and Jon Webb 
mags_outsider03New Orleans: Loujon Press, Spring 1963

McClure contribution: “Three Mad Sonnets”
(Clements C37)



37. POETRY, Vol. 102, No. 3,  edited by Henry Rago
Chicago: Poetry, June 1963

McClure contribution: “The Child”, “Mad Sonnet”, “Mad Sonnet”
(Clements C38)


38. ARTFORUM, Vol II, No. 1, edited by John Irwin *
San Francisco: John Irwin, July 1963

McClure contribution: “Dog Star Man” [prose]
(Clements C39)


39. CITY LIGHTS JOURNAL, No. 1, edited by Lawrence Ferlinghetti *
San Francisco:  City Lights Books, 1963

McClure contribution: “Notes on a Miniature Drama”
(Clements C40)


40. NORTHWEST REVIEW, Vol. 6, No. 4, , edited by Edward Van Aelstyn
Eugene: University of Oregon, Fall 1963

McClure contribution: “Artaud: Peace Chief”
(Clements C41)



41. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 4, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, c.1963

McClure contribution: “Fuck Essay”
(Clements C42)



42. NOW, No. 1, edited by Charles Plymell
mags_nowSan Francisco: Now, 1963

McClure contribution: “I, Michael McClure”, “Black and Yellow: Pansy”
(Clements C43)


43. EVERGREEN REVIEW, Vol. 8, No. 32, edited by Barney Rosset *
New York: Grove Press, Apr-May 1964

McClure contribution: “The Growl”
(Clements C44)



44. JOGLARS, Vol. 1, No. 1, edited by Clark Coolidge and George Palmer
mags_joglars11Providence: Joglars, Spring 1964

McClure contribution: “Sanza 13” from Love Lion Book
(Clements C46)


45. FILM CULTURE, No. 32, edited by Jonas Mekas
New York: Film Culture, Spring 1964

McClure contribution: “Defense of Jayne Mansfield”
(Clements C47)


46. GNAOUA, No. 1, edited by Ira Cohen
mags_gnaoua1Tangier: Gnaoua, Spring 1964

McClure contribution: “The Beast Sound: Nine Poems”
(Clements C48)


47. CLEFT, Vol. 1, No. 2, edited by Bill McArthur
mags_cleft12Edinburgh: Cleft, May 1964

McClure contribution: “Ghost Tantra 50”
(Clements C49)



48. KULCHUR, Vol. 4, No. 14, edited by Lita Hornick
New York: Kulchur Press, Summer 1964

McClure contribution: “Reason”
(Clements C50)



49. IMAGO, No. 1, edited by George Bowering
Alberta: Imago, 1964

McClure contribution: “Three Poems from The Beast Sound”
(Clements C51)


50. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 7, edited by Ed Sanders 
New York: Fuck You Press, Sep 1964

McClure contribution: “Airs from a Forgotten Book”
(Clements C52)


51. NOW NOW, [Now, No. 2], edited by Charles Plymell
San Francisco: Ari Publications, 1965

McClure contribution: “Love Lion, Lioness”
(Clements C53)



52. DIMAS, No. 3,  edited by Alan Jay Arikian
Elmhurst: Dimas, Feb 1965

McClure contribution: “For Me”, “For a Drawing by Bruce Conner”, “Only Simplicity”, “The Convertible”
(Clements C54)

53. THE SAN FRANCISCO KEEPER’S VOICE, Vol. 1, No. 2, edited by Alexander Weiss
San Francisco: Alexander Weiss, Feb 1965

McClure contribution: “Ghost Tantra 15”
(Clements C55)



54. MY OWN MAG, No. 11, edited by Jeff Nuttall
Barnet: Jeff Nuttall, Feb 1965

McClure contribution: “Dream Tables, No. 1 & 2”
(Clements C56)



55. C, A JOURNAL OF POETRY, Vol. 1, No. 10, edited by Ted Berrigan
New York, Feb 1965

McClure contribution: “Ghost Tantra #9”
(Clements C57)



56. FUCK YOU / A MAGAZINE OF THE ARTS, No. 5, Vol. 8, edited by Ed Sanders
New York: Fuck You Press, March 1965

McClure contribution: “Poem Cards”
(Clements C58)



57. FUX!, No. 1, edited by Robert Branaman
San Francisco: Ari Publications, Spring 1965

McClure contribution: “Wondersmitten! Trancelike! Profound!”
(Clements C60)


58. SIGMA PORTFOLIO, No. 21, edited by Alexander Trocchi
London, 1965

McClure contribution: “Revolt”
(Clements C61)

 

[* not in archive]