This is primarily a print bibliography, oriented to books rather than magazines and other publications, and publication of poetry rather than essays and related prose. The books listed are simply those that seem important to me at this time. The list contains links to work which appears on the web, and to autobiographical notes on the books and on concerns and practices of which they form a part. Links are highlighted and indented. Some titles include brief annotations on this page. More extensive links to work published on-line may be found in the other indecies on my home page.Letters, Homebrew, 1968.
Membranes, Membrane press, 1970.
Prayer Through Saturn's Rings, Monday Morning Press, 1973.
- At the time of publication of this book, my game plan was to rename the press after each new book it published. I wish I'd stuck to that. The poems from these first two entries that seem worth reading found their way into a few short lines or became part of visual poem sequences. I feel some fondness for these books in addition to the poems that seem to work. Examples of mimeo and make-shift letterpress of the times.
First Book of Omens (from Middle American Dialogues), Membrane Press,1976.
- Part one of a projected four part work, The Elements. Some of the fourth part found its way into meditations on the Word. One of the things that makes me like it well enough to list is the way it pulls together diversity into a unified book. As part of The Elements, it also foreshadows a long list of unfinished projects.
Cried and Measured, Tree Books, 1977.
- A Middle American Water Table
To Dream Kalapuya, Truck Press, 1977.
- On-line excerpts
Introduction
The Valence of Fragments
Questions and Goddesses (from Middle American Dialogues), Salthouse, 1978.
- On-line text
Vocabularies, Fractals, and Semiconductors
Should Sun Forever Shine, Underwhich Editions, 1980.
- A Middle American Water Table
- The Valence of Fragments
A Book of Openings and Closings (from Middle American Dialogues), Membrane Press, 1984.
Five Kwaidan in Sleeve Pages, Chax Press, 1986.
- A Middle American Water Table
Milestones, Set 1, Landlocked Press, 1987.
- Ghosts and Sleeve Pages
Days and Years, Membrane Press, 1987.
- Beginning Milestones
Books Printed by Walter Tisdale
Seafarer, with carpet pages by Nancy Leavitt, Tatlin Books, 1990.
- On-line book
Just Plain Poems
Orange Gold, Light and Dust, 1992.
- Books Printed by Walter Tisdale
a few short lines with Sherry Reniker, co-published by Word Press, Japan, and Light and Dust, U.S., 1993.
- Vocabularies, Fractals, and Semiconductors
Solar Dreams, Tatlin Books, 1997.
- Minimalism's Expansions
- Books Printed by Walter Tisdale
UNPUBLISHED OR UNFINISHEDClouds Over Fortjade
Tlalocan (from Middle American Dialogues)
- Selections on-line
Chinese Couplets and Dialogues
meditations on the Word
- A Middle American Water table
- Minimalism's Expansions
Only As Painted Images In Your Books Have We Come To Be Alive In This Place from Chax Press. This book was originally scheduled for publication in 1992. The title is from the Cantares Mexicanos, Aztec oral poems transcribed in Nahuatal using the Roman alphabet shortly after the conquest of Mexico -- to me this body of songs is the water table of American poetry. The book includes a study of poetry, including manufacture and production of books, and how they were read from ancient times through the new books being created electronically on the world wide web. Essays on individual poets appear in this historical context. This is essentially a consideration of book art as an ongoing process.Renewable ResourcesThis collects several books of poetry, includes reprints of To Dream Kalapuya and Cried and Measured and first complete printings of A Book of Fractals, Echoes from the Wine Dark Sea and The middle Kingdom and A Book of Hymns
ONE OF A KIND BOOK ART WORKS: I began experimenting with bookforms in the early 1970s, and have continued in one way and another since then. Many of these I thought of as "proposals" rather than finished books. The most important that go beyond this have been books made so that they can be used as musical instruments. A photo of a simple book, that produces sounds by clapping pages together, may be seen in "Notation and the Art of Reading." Some include strings, resonating chambers, etc. For many years I made these for use in my own performances or for use by other performance artists. My favorite of these books is Make A Joyful Noise, in the collection of Ruth and Marvin Sackner. Photos of this book with commentator appear on the web at this site.
Visual Lit Crit, edited by Richard Kostelanetz, Co-published by Precisely Magazine and West Coast Poetry Review, 1977
A Big Jewish Book, edited by Jerome Rothenberg, Doubleday, 1978
Text Sound Text, edited by Richard Kostelanetz, William Morrow, 1980
An Americas Anthology, edited by D. Clinton, C.W. Truesdale, and Tom Montag, New Rivers, 1983
Death: An Anthology of Ancient Texts, Songs, Prayers, And Stories, edited by David Meltzer, North Point Press, 1984.
Technicians of the Sacred, (Second Edition) edited by Jerome Rothenberg, University of California Press, 1985
Poems for the Milenium, Vol 2, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Pierre Joris, University of California Press, 1998
Poesia Sonora Hoie, edited by Philadelpho Menezes, Sao Paulo, 1999
A Book of the Book, edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Steven Clay, Granary Book, 2000.
Go To Light and Dust Anthology of Poetry
Go To Karl Young Home Page