This year, Writers Forum will reissue all four issues of Kroklok magazine. At present, the following are available
Houédard, Dom Sylvester and Cobbing, Bob (editors); Kroklok # 2; 32 pp; A4 portrait; duplicated; duplicated cover designed by Peter Mayer and Bob Cobbing. Reprints “Three Minimanifestoes” by Bob Cobbing and publishes poems by Raoul Hausmann, Kurt Schwitters, Antonin Artaud, Rabelais, Peter Mayer, Neil Mills, Charles Verey, Hugo Ball, Severini, Theo van Doesburg. Eugen Gomringer, Pierre Albert-Birot, Michel Seuphor, Henri Chopin and Man Ray. Notes by Bob Cobbing; ; September 1971, reissued January 2007; ISBN 978-0-86162-076-0; £3 + £1.00 p & p for UK
Sunday 14 January 2007
Ordering procedure
We are registered with Paypal, but are waiting for them to correct a problem which occurred before it had been fully set up. Paypal won’t admit this. Please be patient: it’s only been a year. (Last we heard it had been referred to their own Office of Executive Escalations, which rather says it all.
We do not accept payment by credit card.
Payments sent through the post should be accompanied by sterling cheque to “Writers Forum” (without the quote marks” drawn on a UK bank. Alternatively, we will accept foreign cheques if you add £9 for bank charges per transaction. Blame HSBC
NB P & P costs are for orders for single publications. Because our publications are variously sized, it is not possible to know accurately in advance the total cost of postage and packing where more than one publication is involved. Therefore, large orders may easily be overcharged.
This problem can be overcome by customers for multiple titles asking for a quotation in advance; or we shall credit you against future orders with the amount of the overcharge
Packing and postage quoted here is for UK only. Rates to other areas of the world will be provided as soon as possible. In the meantime, do ask for individual quotations
Please do not guess the amount unless you are very generous indeed!
Please do not send notes and coinage – risking it with sterling is daft, sending anything else is pointless, including euros and dollars (which is a bit like shouting in your language at people who do not speak it)
We do not accept payment by credit card.
Payments sent through the post should be accompanied by sterling cheque to “Writers Forum” (without the quote marks” drawn on a UK bank. Alternatively, we will accept foreign cheques if you add £9 for bank charges per transaction. Blame HSBC
NB P & P costs are for orders for single publications. Because our publications are variously sized, it is not possible to know accurately in advance the total cost of postage and packing where more than one publication is involved. Therefore, large orders may easily be overcharged.
This problem can be overcome by customers for multiple titles asking for a quotation in advance; or we shall credit you against future orders with the amount of the overcharge
Packing and postage quoted here is for UK only. Rates to other areas of the world will be provided as soon as possible. In the meantime, do ask for individual quotations
Please do not guess the amount unless you are very generous indeed!
Please do not send notes and coinage – risking it with sterling is daft, sending anything else is pointless, including euros and dollars (which is a bit like shouting in your language at people who do not speak it)
publications list
[First, please note that, as yet, this is not the full list. It doesn’t seem to be possible to transfer the formatting from existing lists to here; so it’ll be done in stages, starting from the two titles published yesterday; then moving back to recent previous meetings; and then further back as seems appropriate.Stock will be checked first.]
Cobbing, Bob; Lightsong 2; ISBN 978 0 86162 330 3; 6pp small format in an envelope; December 1983 reissued February 2007
£3.00 + £1 (p & p UK)
Edwards, Ken; My Half of the Conversation; 8pp; A6 portrait; chapbook based on A4 card; May 1980; reissued June 2005; ISBN 978-0-86162-263-4
£0.60 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Ely, Roger; Dreams, fantasies and recollections; 51 pp B5; February 1987
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherstone, Patrick; 18 Quadruple Readings; 20 pp single-sided; 8" x 6", duplicated; cover 9¼" x 7¼", silkscreened by Jennifer Pike from a design by Bob Cobbing; September 1965, reprinted March 1996; ISBN 978-0-86162-022-7
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Muses awaited; 40 pp; B5 portrait; November 1988; ISBN 978-0-86162-428-7
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Noons and afternoons; 36 pp; A5 portrait; November 1989; ISBN 978-0-86162-441-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Schools; 38 pp; A5 portrait; April 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-480-5
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Standing: a poem in thirty stanzas; 32 pp; A5 portrait; October 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-491-1
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; What it is to reflect; 40 pp; A5 portrait; October 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-467-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Finch, Peter; Antarktika; 22 pp; A5 portrait from A4 folded Japanese fashion, litho; cover by author; January 1973; reprinted November 1981; August 1984; June 1996; ISBN 978-0-86162-092-0
£3.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Finch, Peter; On criticism; 21pp quarto portrait; ISBN 978-0-86162-344-0
£2.50 +£1 (p & p for UK)
Griffiths, Bill; A text book of drama; 144 pp B5; June 1987; ISBN 0 86162 403
£5.00 +£1 (p & p for UK)
Griffiths, Bill; Book of the boat; 26 pp B5 Japanese fold February 1988; ISBN 0 86162 416 5
£5.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Halsey, Alan; The book of coming forth in official secrecy; ISBN 0 86162 278 1; May 1981 reprinted May 1997 and December 1999
£4.00 + £1.00 p & p for UK)
Hansel, Stanislaw; Children of Atlantis; June 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-459-1
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Hansel, Stanislaw; Forcefields in February 1985; 14 pp A4 portrait; June 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-461-4
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Houédard, Dom Sylvester and Cobbing, Bob (editors); Kroklok # 2; 32 pp; A4 portrait; duplicated; duplicated cover designed by Peter Mayer and Bob Cobbing. Reprints “Three Minimanifestoes” by Bob Cobbing and publishes poems by Raoul Hausmann, Kurt Schwitters, Antonin Artaud, Rabelais, Peter Mayer, Neil Mills, Charles Verey, Hugo Ball, Severini, Theo van Doesburg. Eugen Gomringer, Pierre Albert-Birot, Michel Seuphor, Henri Chopin and Man Ray. Notes by Bob Cobbing; ; September 1971, reissued January 2007; ISBN 978-0-86162-076-0
£3 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Houédard, Dom Sylvester with Cobbing, Bob & Mayer, Peter (editors); Kroklok # 3; 32pp, A4 portrait. Feature: Speech as Mime or Gesture (with examples) by Peter Mayer; poems by Christian Morgenstcrn, Ernst Jandl, Peter Finch, Jeremy Adler, Michael Chant, Peter Greenham, Brion Gysin, Ilya Zdanevich, Helmut Hcissenbuttel, Bob Cobbing, August Stramm (introduction to Stramm by Jeremy Adler). Notes by Bob Cobbing. ISBN 978-0-86162-076-0. December 1972, reissued February 2007
£3.00 + £1 (p & p UK)
Cobbing, Bob & Upton, Lawrence (editors); Word Score Utterance Choreography; ISBN 978-0-86162-750-9
£9 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Jackson, Tony & Grierson, Myra; Ryma's Throat; 14 pp A4 portrait; ISBN 0 86162 424 6; May 1988
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
James, Elizabeth; Recognition; 978-0-86162-969-5
£1.00 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Joris, Pierre; Translations from Arthur Rimbaud's Une Saisonen Enfer; 7 A4 sheets in folder; 15th December 1984 reprinted 3 August 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-342-6
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Johnson, Nicholas; Hassell; 16 pp (single sided); A3 landcsape; ISBN 978-0-86162-816-2
£5 + £2.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; Herein lie tales of two inner cities; 27 pp quarto; May 1986, second reprint October 1988; ISBN 97 8-0-86162-381-5
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; La Quinta del Sordo; 8pp; A4 October 1980; reprinted October 1994; ISBN 978-0-86162-265-8
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; Long Wake; cover design Robert Clark; 25pp; quarto w/ Pirate Press; July 1979; ISBN 978-0-86162-243-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Mottram, Eric; Towards design in poetry; London; 38pp A4 portrait; August 1977 (originally announced for December 1976) ; reprinted; reprinted 1984; reprinted 1988; reprinted 1995; reprinted January 2000; reprinted, in association with Veer Books, January 2004; second edition (OCR scanned from a copy of the first edition first printing) January 2005; ISBN 978-1-84254-618-5
£3 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Musgrove, Keith; Tests; 8pp; A6 chapbook based on A4 card; reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 248
£0.60 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Mad with music; with Pirate Press; February 1987; reprint July 1989 ISBN 0 86162 398 3
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Mr. Watkins got Drunk and had to be Carried Home; from an idea by William Burroughs; 48pp, 8" x 6½", litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall. 12 copies of first edition numbered and signed by the author. Edition of 500. First edition.September 1968; second edition June 1979; ISBN 0 86162 039 9
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception; 32pp, 8" x 6½”, litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall; September 1968; reprint (called “edition”) August 1970; reprint May 1997; August 1970 reprint reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 038
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Scenes and dubs; with Pirate Press; February 1987 reprint July 1989; ISBN 978-0-86162-400-3
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Supper moves unlight; March 2002; ISBN 978-1-84254-052-7
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Two nice legs; ISBN 1 84254 058
£4.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Viper; 26 pp; colour cover; March 2002; ISBN 1 84254 057 4
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception; 32pp, 8" x 6½”, litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall; September 1968; reprint (called “edition”) August 1970; reprint May 1997; August 1970 reprint reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 038
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
O’Rourke, P J; Nancy Adler Poems; 11 pp printed one side; 10" x 8", duplicated; cover design by author; December 1970; 978-0-86162-068-5
£10 + £1 (p & p for UK)
Sondheim, Alan; Orders of the real; 44 pp; A4 portrait; cover by author; 18 June 2005; reprinted January 2007; ISBN 1 84254 601 5
£4.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Stickney, Walt Christopher; To Night • Little David on Mouth Harp; 12 pp printed one side only; 10" x 8"; cover and illustrations by Brian McCollum; December 1970 ISBN 0 86162 067
£1 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 1: exploring The Instability; cover image by author; editorial note by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 373 3; January 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 2: exploring inherence; cover image by Lawrence Upton; 24 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 374 1; 4 February 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 3: exploring Inherent Instability & Section 4: exploring The Instability Of Inherence; cover image by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 375 X; 25th February 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Shock of Shock: extremeness in writing and performance; cover by Lawrence Upton; ; edited by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; January 2006 ISBN 978 1 84254 602 3; £2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; Tonight, from Act 2; cover image by author; editorial note by Lawrence Upton; 20 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 378 4; £2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; LETTERS for dear AUGUSTINE - the semantic text i.e. excluding the graphic elements; A4 portrait; 41 pp; edited by Lawrence Upton; some copies comb bound; July 2004; third revised edition January 2007; ISBN 1 84254 526 4; £3.50 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence (editor); Alaric Sumner: Documentation of his writing, performances and other artistic activities (Version 3); 39 pp; A4 portrait; Writers Forum; ISBN 978 1 84254 397 X; January 2007; £7.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence; Easy kill; 11 pp (single sided); A3 landscape; ISBN 978-0-86162-815-5
£6.00 + £2.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence; Remembering Alaric Sumner; co-published with words worth books; 12 pp; A5 portrait; September 2004; ISBN 978-1-84254-549-2
£1.00 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Weller, M J; Beowulf Cartoon; introduction by Bill Griffiths; published in association with Visual Associations, London; September 2004; ISBN 978-1-84254-584
£15 + £2 (p & p for UK)
Whiting, John; Cage on cage; 6 pp in A4 plastic wallet; ISBN 0 86162 350 9; March 1985 2nd edition October 1998
£4 + £1 (p & p for UK)
Cobbing, Bob; Lightsong 2; ISBN 978 0 86162 330 3; 6pp small format in an envelope; December 1983 reissued February 2007
£3.00 + £1 (p & p UK)
Edwards, Ken; My Half of the Conversation; 8pp; A6 portrait; chapbook based on A4 card; May 1980; reissued June 2005; ISBN 978-0-86162-263-4
£0.60 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Ely, Roger; Dreams, fantasies and recollections; 51 pp B5; February 1987
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherstone, Patrick; 18 Quadruple Readings; 20 pp single-sided; 8" x 6", duplicated; cover 9¼" x 7¼", silkscreened by Jennifer Pike from a design by Bob Cobbing; September 1965, reprinted March 1996; ISBN 978-0-86162-022-7
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Muses awaited; 40 pp; B5 portrait; November 1988; ISBN 978-0-86162-428-7
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Noons and afternoons; 36 pp; A5 portrait; November 1989; ISBN 978-0-86162-441-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Schools; 38 pp; A5 portrait; April 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-480-5
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; Standing: a poem in thirty stanzas; 32 pp; A5 portrait; October 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-491-1
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Fetherston, Patrick; What it is to reflect; 40 pp; A5 portrait; October 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-467-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Finch, Peter; Antarktika; 22 pp; A5 portrait from A4 folded Japanese fashion, litho; cover by author; January 1973; reprinted November 1981; August 1984; June 1996; ISBN 978-0-86162-092-0
£3.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Finch, Peter; On criticism; 21pp quarto portrait; ISBN 978-0-86162-344-0
£2.50 +£1 (p & p for UK)
Griffiths, Bill; A text book of drama; 144 pp B5; June 1987; ISBN 0 86162 403
£5.00 +£1 (p & p for UK)
Griffiths, Bill; Book of the boat; 26 pp B5 Japanese fold February 1988; ISBN 0 86162 416 5
£5.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Halsey, Alan; The book of coming forth in official secrecy; ISBN 0 86162 278 1; May 1981 reprinted May 1997 and December 1999
£4.00 + £1.00 p & p for UK)
Hansel, Stanislaw; Children of Atlantis; June 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-459-1
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Hansel, Stanislaw; Forcefields in February 1985; 14 pp A4 portrait; June 1990; ISBN 978-0-86162-461-4
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Houédard, Dom Sylvester and Cobbing, Bob (editors); Kroklok # 2; 32 pp; A4 portrait; duplicated; duplicated cover designed by Peter Mayer and Bob Cobbing. Reprints “Three Minimanifestoes” by Bob Cobbing and publishes poems by Raoul Hausmann, Kurt Schwitters, Antonin Artaud, Rabelais, Peter Mayer, Neil Mills, Charles Verey, Hugo Ball, Severini, Theo van Doesburg. Eugen Gomringer, Pierre Albert-Birot, Michel Seuphor, Henri Chopin and Man Ray. Notes by Bob Cobbing; ; September 1971, reissued January 2007; ISBN 978-0-86162-076-0
£3 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Houédard, Dom Sylvester with Cobbing, Bob & Mayer, Peter (editors); Kroklok # 3; 32pp, A4 portrait. Feature: Speech as Mime or Gesture (with examples) by Peter Mayer; poems by Christian Morgenstcrn, Ernst Jandl, Peter Finch, Jeremy Adler, Michael Chant, Peter Greenham, Brion Gysin, Ilya Zdanevich, Helmut Hcissenbuttel, Bob Cobbing, August Stramm (introduction to Stramm by Jeremy Adler). Notes by Bob Cobbing. ISBN 978-0-86162-076-0. December 1972, reissued February 2007
£3.00 + £1 (p & p UK)
Cobbing, Bob & Upton, Lawrence (editors); Word Score Utterance Choreography; ISBN 978-0-86162-750-9
£9 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Jackson, Tony & Grierson, Myra; Ryma's Throat; 14 pp A4 portrait; ISBN 0 86162 424 6; May 1988
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
James, Elizabeth; Recognition; 978-0-86162-969-5
£1.00 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Joris, Pierre; Translations from Arthur Rimbaud's Une Saisonen Enfer; 7 A4 sheets in folder; 15th December 1984 reprinted 3 August 1991; ISBN 978-0-86162-342-6
£2.00 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Johnson, Nicholas; Hassell; 16 pp (single sided); A3 landcsape; ISBN 978-0-86162-816-2
£5 + £2.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; Herein lie tales of two inner cities; 27 pp quarto; May 1986, second reprint October 1988; ISBN 97 8-0-86162-381-5
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; La Quinta del Sordo; 8pp; A4 October 1980; reprinted October 1994; ISBN 978-0-86162-265-8
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Monk, Geraldine; Long Wake; cover design Robert Clark; 25pp; quarto w/ Pirate Press; July 1979; ISBN 978-0-86162-243-6
£3.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Mottram, Eric; Towards design in poetry; London; 38pp A4 portrait; August 1977 (originally announced for December 1976) ; reprinted; reprinted 1984; reprinted 1988; reprinted 1995; reprinted January 2000; reprinted, in association with Veer Books, January 2004; second edition (OCR scanned from a copy of the first edition first printing) January 2005; ISBN 978-1-84254-618-5
£3 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Musgrove, Keith; Tests; 8pp; A6 chapbook based on A4 card; reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 248
£0.60 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Mad with music; with Pirate Press; February 1987; reprint July 1989 ISBN 0 86162 398 3
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Mr. Watkins got Drunk and had to be Carried Home; from an idea by William Burroughs; 48pp, 8" x 6½", litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall. 12 copies of first edition numbered and signed by the author. Edition of 500. First edition.September 1968; second edition June 1979; ISBN 0 86162 039 9
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception; 32pp, 8" x 6½”, litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall; September 1968; reprint (called “edition”) August 1970; reprint May 1997; August 1970 reprint reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 038
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Scenes and dubs; with Pirate Press; February 1987 reprint July 1989; ISBN 978-0-86162-400-3
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Supper moves unlight; March 2002; ISBN 978-1-84254-052-7
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Two nice legs; ISBN 1 84254 058
£4.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Viper; 26 pp; colour cover; March 2002; ISBN 1 84254 057 4
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Nuttall, Jeff; Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception; 32pp, 8" x 6½”, litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall; September 1968; reprint (called “edition”) August 1970; reprint May 1997; August 1970 reprint reissued November 2006; ISBN 0 86162 038
£3.00.+ £1.00 (p & p for UK)
O’Rourke, P J; Nancy Adler Poems; 11 pp printed one side; 10" x 8", duplicated; cover design by author; December 1970; 978-0-86162-068-5
£10 + £1 (p & p for UK)
Sondheim, Alan; Orders of the real; 44 pp; A4 portrait; cover by author; 18 June 2005; reprinted January 2007; ISBN 1 84254 601 5
£4.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Stickney, Walt Christopher; To Night • Little David on Mouth Harp; 12 pp printed one side only; 10" x 8"; cover and illustrations by Brian McCollum; December 1970 ISBN 0 86162 067
£1 + £1.00 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 1: exploring The Instability; cover image by author; editorial note by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 373 3; January 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 2: exploring inherence; cover image by Lawrence Upton; 24 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 374 1; 4 February 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Instability of Inherence Section 3: exploring Inherent Instability & Section 4: exploring The Instability Of Inherence; cover image by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 375 X; 25th February 2006
£2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; The Shock of Shock: extremeness in writing and performance; cover by Lawrence Upton; ; edited by Lawrence Upton; 28 pp A5 portrait; January 2006 ISBN 978 1 84254 602 3; £2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; Tonight, from Act 2; cover image by author; editorial note by Lawrence Upton; 20 pp A5 portrait; ISBN 978 1 84254 378 4; £2.50 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Sumner, Alaric; LETTERS for dear AUGUSTINE - the semantic text i.e. excluding the graphic elements; A4 portrait; 41 pp; edited by Lawrence Upton; some copies comb bound; July 2004; third revised edition January 2007; ISBN 1 84254 526 4; £3.50 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence (editor); Alaric Sumner: Documentation of his writing, performances and other artistic activities (Version 3); 39 pp; A4 portrait; Writers Forum; ISBN 978 1 84254 397 X; January 2007; £7.00 + £1.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence; Easy kill; 11 pp (single sided); A3 landscape; ISBN 978-0-86162-815-5
£6.00 + £2.50 (p & p for UK)
Upton, Lawrence; Remembering Alaric Sumner; co-published with words worth books; 12 pp; A5 portrait; September 2004; ISBN 978-1-84254-549-2
£1.00 + £0.60 (p & p for UK)
Weller, M J; Beowulf Cartoon; introduction by Bill Griffiths; published in association with Visual Associations, London; September 2004; ISBN 978-1-84254-584
£15 + £2 (p & p for UK)
Whiting, John; Cage on cage; 6 pp in A4 plastic wallet; ISBN 0 86162 350 9; March 1985 2nd edition October 1998
£4 + £1 (p & p for UK)
launch of “LETTERS for dear AUGUSTINE” second edition by Alaric Sumner
Letters for dear Augustine was one of the works with which, apparently, Sumner was engaged at the time he died early in 2000.
Even while he was writing, he was – as he often did – thinking of the final published appearance.
At one point, Sumner had been considering publishing the text in his own hand-writing; but, within a year, he was also thinking of using the text for web-specific writing.
He began to treat pages of typescript as graphical images and enhanced them by the superimposition of constructions based on letters of the alphabet, a kind of illuminated text. This treatment dates from June 1999 and possibly continued into early 2000. It was not completed.
Sumner wrote “In part, Letters for dear Augustine are ‘readings through’ or ‘plunderings’ and distortions of other texts; and he listed many sources.
The book of LETTERS for dear AUGUSTINE was produced in the rush before the 2004 Alaric Sumner Festival. Textual errors were noticed almost immediately – they were glaring – and corrected with an errata sheet
This second edition by Writers Forum incorporates those typographical errors in the first edition . It does not include the illuminated pages: a special edition for that purpose will follow
Lawrence Upton © January 2007
Saturday 13 January 2007
Reissue of Kroklok #2 Saturday 16th December 2006
Kroklok was an enterprise, if that’s not too strong a word, of Cobbing and Houédard (dsh) – Houédard making available his collection of visual poetry and his often arcane learning, with Cobbing the printer publisher and practitioner.
Of course, both were fine practitioners and both knew a lot of out of the way things.
Kroklok #1 names dsh as editor, with Henri Chopin, Stefan Themerson & Bob Cobbing advisers
Kroklok #2 names dsh as editor and Cobbing as executive editor of Writers Forum; but the syntax is ambiguous and might be naming Cobbing as executive editor of the magazine; and later writers forum publications lists show dsh and Cobbing as joint editors
Kroklok #3 “is edited by dom Sylvester Houédard with Bob Cobbing as Executive Editor and Peter Mayer as Associate Editor”; whereas writers forum lists after the event have it “edited by Dom Sylvester Houédard with Bob Cobbing and Peter Mayer
Kroklok #4 repeats the formula of #3
while writers forum listings after 1976 say #4 was “edited by Dom Sylvester Houédard and Bob Cobbing”
Certainly I am sure that some materials in #4 were included ad hoc by Bob’s fiat, with Sylvester finding out later. I do not offer that as a criticism. In all his editing and publishing work, if Bob had an idea that he liked consistently for any length of time, then he tended to act on it. And, in this context, presumably that is what is meant by “executive editor”.
So… it always was Sylvester’s magazine; and it always was something of a double act between Sylvester and Bob, with others being involved at particular times.
Originally, they hoped Kroklok would be a quarterly magazine.
The first issue appeared in February 1971; followed in September 1971 by #2; but #3 appeared in December 1972, and the final issue, #4, in May 1976. And that was the last issue. A little over five years in all.
Quite how it was that there wasn’t a fifth issue, I do not know. It doesn’t seem to have been the result of a decision as such.
In 2001 or 2002, a decade after Sylvester had died, Bob spoke to me of the possibility of republishing Kroklok. He may have raised the idea with others. I don’t know.
When he asked me, I said yes, I thought it was a good idea. We discussed the idea of actually reviving the magazine and publishing a Kroklok #5; but Bob felt that was inappropriate. That’s a feeling with which I concur now.
In so far as a decision was taken, it was to republish issues 1 - 4.
It was a decision which Bob did not live to implement; but Writers Forum is now in a position to do so. It would be pleasant to reissue all four in one go; but the work involved is considerable and a little painstaking. Rather than hold up what is available, we are starting with issue two.
Here it is. It is entirely printed by Bob Cobbing. My work has been to locate the remains, a few here and a few there; to sort them, weeding out the pages that were too damaged; to fold them; to collate them; and to staple them.
From the first the magazine was to be, in the words of its editor, dsh, in the introduction to Kroklok # 1. the writers forum anthology of sound poetry
That is, poetry on the page which is identified as sound poetry.
And this is differentiated from “visual poetry”.
To me, now, these seem odd separations, not least in the light of the work of Bob Cobbing himself. Nevertheless, it might be remembered that during what we might call the Kroklok period, the writers forum workshop met according to a schedule concentrating by turns on sound poetry, visual poetry and performance of poetry. Or so I remember. Others may correct me; but it was something like that.
I am not going to worry too much about it; and I point these things out because it may help you read these magazines.
In the introduction to #1, dsh expresses the hope that it will be possible to publish recordings along with the texts. That never happened, but how much more ambitious one would have to be now to include the wide variety of soundwork, not least the material made possible by new media.
Retrospectively, it all seems very ambitious; but it indicates something of the mood of the times.
Copyright © Lawrence Upton 16 December 2006
Of course, both were fine practitioners and both knew a lot of out of the way things.
Kroklok #1 names dsh as editor, with Henri Chopin, Stefan Themerson & Bob Cobbing advisers
Kroklok #2 names dsh as editor and Cobbing as executive editor of Writers Forum; but the syntax is ambiguous and might be naming Cobbing as executive editor of the magazine; and later writers forum publications lists show dsh and Cobbing as joint editors
Kroklok #3 “is edited by dom Sylvester Houédard with Bob Cobbing as Executive Editor and Peter Mayer as Associate Editor”; whereas writers forum lists after the event have it “edited by Dom Sylvester Houédard with Bob Cobbing and Peter Mayer
Kroklok #4 repeats the formula of #3
while writers forum listings after 1976 say #4 was “edited by Dom Sylvester Houédard and Bob Cobbing”
Certainly I am sure that some materials in #4 were included ad hoc by Bob’s fiat, with Sylvester finding out later. I do not offer that as a criticism. In all his editing and publishing work, if Bob had an idea that he liked consistently for any length of time, then he tended to act on it. And, in this context, presumably that is what is meant by “executive editor”.
So… it always was Sylvester’s magazine; and it always was something of a double act between Sylvester and Bob, with others being involved at particular times.
Originally, they hoped Kroklok would be a quarterly magazine.
The first issue appeared in February 1971; followed in September 1971 by #2; but #3 appeared in December 1972, and the final issue, #4, in May 1976. And that was the last issue. A little over five years in all.
Quite how it was that there wasn’t a fifth issue, I do not know. It doesn’t seem to have been the result of a decision as such.
In 2001 or 2002, a decade after Sylvester had died, Bob spoke to me of the possibility of republishing Kroklok. He may have raised the idea with others. I don’t know.
When he asked me, I said yes, I thought it was a good idea. We discussed the idea of actually reviving the magazine and publishing a Kroklok #5; but Bob felt that was inappropriate. That’s a feeling with which I concur now.
In so far as a decision was taken, it was to republish issues 1 - 4.
It was a decision which Bob did not live to implement; but Writers Forum is now in a position to do so. It would be pleasant to reissue all four in one go; but the work involved is considerable and a little painstaking. Rather than hold up what is available, we are starting with issue two.
Here it is. It is entirely printed by Bob Cobbing. My work has been to locate the remains, a few here and a few there; to sort them, weeding out the pages that were too damaged; to fold them; to collate them; and to staple them.
From the first the magazine was to be, in the words of its editor, dsh, in the introduction to Kroklok # 1. the writers forum anthology of sound poetry
That is, poetry on the page which is identified as sound poetry.
And this is differentiated from “visual poetry”.
To me, now, these seem odd separations, not least in the light of the work of Bob Cobbing himself. Nevertheless, it might be remembered that during what we might call the Kroklok period, the writers forum workshop met according to a schedule concentrating by turns on sound poetry, visual poetry and performance of poetry. Or so I remember. Others may correct me; but it was something like that.
I am not going to worry too much about it; and I point these things out because it may help you read these magazines.
In the introduction to #1, dsh expresses the hope that it will be possible to publish recordings along with the texts. That never happened, but how much more ambitious one would have to be now to include the wide variety of soundwork, not least the material made possible by new media.
Retrospectively, it all seems very ambitious; but it indicates something of the mood of the times.
Copyright © Lawrence Upton 16 December 2006
Relaunch of "Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception", Saturday, 04 November 2006
Today we relaunch a book by Jeff Nuttall, artist, poet, jazz musician, critic, social commentator, novelist, theatrical innovator, actor and teacher.
The book is Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception, first published by Writers Forum in September 1968, when the title of the book did have considerable power to shock.
For those who don't know about Jeff, I quote Tim Emlyn Jones from THE INDEPENDENT, January 2004:
"His contribution to contemporary culture will come to be seen to be far greater than many may have suspected up to now. In an earlier time. his boisterous passion for truth and love of outrage would not have disallowed the recognition of his deep seriousness. It is in the difficulties as well as in the pleasures of this man's art that its worth may be found".
There are difficulties: there are for me. They lie not so much in understanding what he is saying, which is clear though often unexpected, but in the manner of it: what, in other artists, I might call sexism.I am not saying it isn't sexist, just that I hesitate to say it; and for a reason. I don't want to go near dismissing the work because of its many fine qualities. Jeff's understanding of the processes running in us and in our society was so acute that I do not want to reject quickly what upsets me.
Upsetting people was part of what he was about sometimes - for instance, his unannounced theatrical events.
Latterly, he frequently upset me, one to one, with some of his forcefully-expressed opinions on modern art practice. But, even there, there is more to be said, there was always more in what he was saying that was perceptive and useful to oneself in among the condemnations of that which I really don't think needed condemning.
I would point to Eric Mottram and Bob Cobbing as examples of perceptive, intelligent and, to the end, mentally-flexible people who after years of being in the van sometimes didn't see the quality in new approaches beyond their immediate praxis and theoretical environment.
I think, in the case of Bob, of some of the discussions he and I had as we drew up the lists of invitees for On Word and debated the names that we did not have in common.
What I retain from that engagement is that Bob did learn and also did teach me, just as surely as he taught many of us here.
People have latched on to Mottram's difficulties, late in his life, with some contemporary formal innovations. But what is important to me is not any failure to see immediately what his poetic peers were up to: it is that he questioned himself over why it was that others, whose judgements had informed his were now at variance with him, and that he worked at it and debated and learned.
So someone like Jeff, in his output, experiences and presents difficulties.
Mottram called him a genius, but that has limited use. It needs to be noted though. We need to think what he meant by that; and I have had a go - you can find that on the Nuttall website http://www.jeff-nuttall.co.uk/html/lawrence_upton.html
I believe any understanding of it, and any judgement we make of our own, needs to remember that genius, whatever the term means, does not mean perfect innovation on tap. The acronym of perfect innovation on tap is PIT and that's where such thinking gets us. What Eric was describing was the result of Jeff's hard work. It takes us all hard work if one would keep working through a long life.Charges of sexism in his hard work hurt Jeff deeply, or so it seemed from the way he told me of it. He asked me if I found his work sexist and I had to say yes; but I'm listening: let's keep talking, as it were; and I kept inviting him to read at Sub Voicive Poetry.
Reading Oscar Christ these last few days, it has struck me that it has dated. References to Vera Lynne may no longer have the same connotation as they did in 1978. The silly German voices, phonetically spelled "vun foot on see taple, vun foot nailed town to see upright of se Iron Cross" irritate me. This particular line goes on. Here it is in full without the cod accent, which is faded out in Nuttall's text anyway: "Oscar, pulling the rubber truncheon on the front row, one foot on the table, one foot nailed down to the upright of the Iron Cross with a halo of our legs their cheap black-market nylons that his triumph trickled down, unless we caught it first, like tears, on stolen Red Cross cottonwool"
I do have difficulty with ejaculate as "a triumph"; but let us beware of attributing everything to the author personally, of saying he says "I" so it must be him; let us attend to the metaphorical grammar. And let us attend to what else is going on here. The repression and suppression and fetishism sluicing through these pages is not in the past, except in the context of the Second World War; and our society is screwing itself up in lots of new ways; so we might hesitate to act adversely on perhaps inevitable judgements. The collage of pre-existing print, of drawings, cut up text and written text bears study. It is risky writing, adventurous writing.
It looks, superficially, like many other things I have seen. It may be that similarity points to the influence Jeff had on us - like the remark that Shakespeare is full of quotes - just as he always acknowledged the influence of Burroughs on him. The influence of The People Show has been enormous - this book is only one aspect of a varied and hard-to-classify output that has to be read as one thing as much as possible if we are to receive it clearly. His work was no way a simple copy of Burroughs and there is a lot more than Burroughs in these books, way beyond what one might call Jeff's own style. He took what was useful to him and it became his. He modified his style as he went along. His repeated acknowledgement of Burroughs is a sign of Jeff's honesty and generosity.
A man who writes "Our man woke in the small hours with poltergeist speeches rattling automatically from under his shamed forelock" is not just writing a sexist text.Sexism is relative given that so many of us are carriers. Whatever of it remains useful, and I think that much does, the text is also of its time and place, as with the author.
This book is worth reading NOW.
The effort to restore this to print has been gladly made.
Finally, for the record, a brief bibliographical note. Cobbing used the word "edition" to mean both "edition" and "impression", that is reprint. One set of Oscar that he called the second edition, that is the second impression, is dated May 1997. So far so good. This reissue is assembled from a box of printed pages found in Bob's workroom. It may well be the last discovery of that kind. And on the cover of that printing it says "2nd edition August 1970". Initially, I thought that Bob had printed the impression and never issued it; so that by 1997, over a quarter of a century later, he had forgotten it. But that didn't add up. It wasn't his way to print and not distribute. And when I went back to Bob's own listing of the publication, I found the 1970 print clearly acknowledged, so it had hardly been forgotten
"38. Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception, by Jeff Nuttall. (WFP 23, September 1968) 32pp, 8" x 6 1/2", litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall. 2nd edition August 1970".
I found that there were far fewer covers than sets of pages, which suggests a degree of sorting, given that all the remaining covers were good, unheard of in tabletop printing 35 years ago. The shortfall suggests bad prints were discarded.
Therefore, I assume that the 1970 edition / impression was issued, but with a lot of pages and covers put into storage without being collated. He did that quite a lot.
And then he forgot it! Presumably there are people with copies of it, to confirm my assumption, but I doubt this matters enough to make it sensible to check. Thus, this is the second impression, the distribution of which was interrupted and then forgotten as Bob hurried on to the next and subsequent wf publications; and that which claims to be the second impression is in fact the third.
Lawrence Upton © Saturday, 04 November 2006
The book is Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception, first published by Writers Forum in September 1968, when the title of the book did have considerable power to shock.
For those who don't know about Jeff, I quote Tim Emlyn Jones from THE INDEPENDENT, January 2004:
"His contribution to contemporary culture will come to be seen to be far greater than many may have suspected up to now. In an earlier time. his boisterous passion for truth and love of outrage would not have disallowed the recognition of his deep seriousness. It is in the difficulties as well as in the pleasures of this man's art that its worth may be found".
There are difficulties: there are for me. They lie not so much in understanding what he is saying, which is clear though often unexpected, but in the manner of it: what, in other artists, I might call sexism.I am not saying it isn't sexist, just that I hesitate to say it; and for a reason. I don't want to go near dismissing the work because of its many fine qualities. Jeff's understanding of the processes running in us and in our society was so acute that I do not want to reject quickly what upsets me.
Upsetting people was part of what he was about sometimes - for instance, his unannounced theatrical events.
Latterly, he frequently upset me, one to one, with some of his forcefully-expressed opinions on modern art practice. But, even there, there is more to be said, there was always more in what he was saying that was perceptive and useful to oneself in among the condemnations of that which I really don't think needed condemning.
I would point to Eric Mottram and Bob Cobbing as examples of perceptive, intelligent and, to the end, mentally-flexible people who after years of being in the van sometimes didn't see the quality in new approaches beyond their immediate praxis and theoretical environment.
I think, in the case of Bob, of some of the discussions he and I had as we drew up the lists of invitees for On Word and debated the names that we did not have in common.
What I retain from that engagement is that Bob did learn and also did teach me, just as surely as he taught many of us here.
People have latched on to Mottram's difficulties, late in his life, with some contemporary formal innovations. But what is important to me is not any failure to see immediately what his poetic peers were up to: it is that he questioned himself over why it was that others, whose judgements had informed his were now at variance with him, and that he worked at it and debated and learned.
So someone like Jeff, in his output, experiences and presents difficulties.
Mottram called him a genius, but that has limited use. It needs to be noted though. We need to think what he meant by that; and I have had a go - you can find that on the Nuttall website http://www.jeff-nuttall.co.uk/html/lawrence_upton.html
I believe any understanding of it, and any judgement we make of our own, needs to remember that genius, whatever the term means, does not mean perfect innovation on tap. The acronym of perfect innovation on tap is PIT and that's where such thinking gets us. What Eric was describing was the result of Jeff's hard work. It takes us all hard work if one would keep working through a long life.Charges of sexism in his hard work hurt Jeff deeply, or so it seemed from the way he told me of it. He asked me if I found his work sexist and I had to say yes; but I'm listening: let's keep talking, as it were; and I kept inviting him to read at Sub Voicive Poetry.
Reading Oscar Christ these last few days, it has struck me that it has dated. References to Vera Lynne may no longer have the same connotation as they did in 1978. The silly German voices, phonetically spelled "vun foot on see taple, vun foot nailed town to see upright of se Iron Cross" irritate me. This particular line goes on. Here it is in full without the cod accent, which is faded out in Nuttall's text anyway: "Oscar, pulling the rubber truncheon on the front row, one foot on the table, one foot nailed down to the upright of the Iron Cross with a halo of our legs their cheap black-market nylons that his triumph trickled down, unless we caught it first, like tears, on stolen Red Cross cottonwool"
I do have difficulty with ejaculate as "a triumph"; but let us beware of attributing everything to the author personally, of saying he says "I" so it must be him; let us attend to the metaphorical grammar. And let us attend to what else is going on here. The repression and suppression and fetishism sluicing through these pages is not in the past, except in the context of the Second World War; and our society is screwing itself up in lots of new ways; so we might hesitate to act adversely on perhaps inevitable judgements. The collage of pre-existing print, of drawings, cut up text and written text bears study. It is risky writing, adventurous writing.
It looks, superficially, like many other things I have seen. It may be that similarity points to the influence Jeff had on us - like the remark that Shakespeare is full of quotes - just as he always acknowledged the influence of Burroughs on him. The influence of The People Show has been enormous - this book is only one aspect of a varied and hard-to-classify output that has to be read as one thing as much as possible if we are to receive it clearly. His work was no way a simple copy of Burroughs and there is a lot more than Burroughs in these books, way beyond what one might call Jeff's own style. He took what was useful to him and it became his. He modified his style as he went along. His repeated acknowledgement of Burroughs is a sign of Jeff's honesty and generosity.
A man who writes "Our man woke in the small hours with poltergeist speeches rattling automatically from under his shamed forelock" is not just writing a sexist text.Sexism is relative given that so many of us are carriers. Whatever of it remains useful, and I think that much does, the text is also of its time and place, as with the author.
This book is worth reading NOW.
The effort to restore this to print has been gladly made.
Finally, for the record, a brief bibliographical note. Cobbing used the word "edition" to mean both "edition" and "impression", that is reprint. One set of Oscar that he called the second edition, that is the second impression, is dated May 1997. So far so good. This reissue is assembled from a box of printed pages found in Bob's workroom. It may well be the last discovery of that kind. And on the cover of that printing it says "2nd edition August 1970". Initially, I thought that Bob had printed the impression and never issued it; so that by 1997, over a quarter of a century later, he had forgotten it. But that didn't add up. It wasn't his way to print and not distribute. And when I went back to Bob's own listing of the publication, I found the 1970 print clearly acknowledged, so it had hardly been forgotten
"38. Oscar Christ and the Immaculate Conception, by Jeff Nuttall. (WFP 23, September 1968) 32pp, 8" x 6 1/2", litho, cover design by Jeff Nuttall. 2nd edition August 1970".
I found that there were far fewer covers than sets of pages, which suggests a degree of sorting, given that all the remaining covers were good, unheard of in tabletop printing 35 years ago. The shortfall suggests bad prints were discarded.
Therefore, I assume that the 1970 edition / impression was issued, but with a lot of pages and covers put into storage without being collated. He did that quite a lot.
And then he forgot it! Presumably there are people with copies of it, to confirm my assumption, but I doubt this matters enough to make it sensible to check. Thus, this is the second impression, the distribution of which was interrupted and then forgotten as Bob hurried on to the next and subsequent wf publications; and that which claims to be the second impression is in fact the third.
Lawrence Upton © Saturday, 04 November 2006
Publication Launch
Today at our workshop we shall be launching some reprints -
of Alan Sondheim's Orders of the Real and of Kroklok 2 edited by dsh and Bob Cobbing
Full details will be posted here later
of Alan Sondheim's Orders of the Real and of Kroklok 2 edited by dsh and Bob Cobbing
Full details will be posted here later
Welcome
This is just a holding post...
The writers forum website has become untenable with problems with the ISP and a company called Ipswitch which supplies the FTP software, or rather doesn't supply it
This blog is being opened for the time being and perhaps for ever in order to communicate what we are doing
In due course this message will be modified; and further messages will be added
The writers forum website has become untenable with problems with the ISP and a company called Ipswitch which supplies the FTP software, or rather doesn't supply it
This blog is being opened for the time being and perhaps for ever in order to communicate what we are doing
In due course this message will be modified; and further messages will be added
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