In a tribute to the late German author Carl Weissner, who wrote experimental fiction in both English and German in addition to translating more than 100 books by dissident American and British authors, the literary scholar Tomasz Stompor delivered a paper on Weissner's novel, Death in Paris, at a recent meeting of the European Beat Studies Network. Here it is: Thoughts on Death in Paris – fiction, translation, violence, and locale by Tomasz Stompor Placed within the thematic focus of this year’s conference “collaboration, publication, … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2017
Created Image = Moment in Time
Speaking of maps (per William Burroughs), Malcolm Mc Neill has something to say: MAPS from Malcolm Mc Neill on Vimeo. Music from "Elements" by Ludovico Einaudi. A CREATED IMAGE is the map of a moment in TIME, embedded within it are all the energies that occurred during its making: the sounds, the feelings, the people, the places, even the weather are locked inside it. When combined with others, images constitute a unique form of landscape. MAPS is an attempt to see the big picture, the sum of the parts, and to understand the nature … [Read more...]
Are You a Facebook Lemming?
I disliked Facebook from the very beginning. Resisted it at first. Refused to open an account. But everybody was using it, so I figured I had to see what it is. To do that required an account. As soon as I opened one, I decided Facebook wasn't for me. I tried to close the account but couldn't figure out how. So I let it sit unused. That was years ago. Then my staff of thousands told me I should exploit it for blog traffic. I gave in and began posting there. Not often, but often enough to become a Facebook lemming. I won't be posting on Facebook … [Read more...]
A Book With Extra Thrust
This is the way to promote a book, especially when it won't be available on Amazon or Barnes & Noble websites and won't be readily distributed to brick-and-mortar bookstores: Click to view Rocket 88's webpage for In the Sixties: Illustrated. … [Read more...]
Beat Conference: ‘Paris Interzone’ 2017
I wish I could be there when the European Beat Studies Network meets in Paris on Wednesday. Douglas Field (University of Manchester) will give a presentation about Harold Norse's "Cosmographs." I remember seeing them on the wall of Norse's room at the Beat Hotel more than 50 years ago. As I've written in My Adventures in Fugitive Literature and in a new edition of The Z Collection, to be published by Blue Wind Press, Norse was very proud of them. They had been exhibited with a commentary by William Burroughs, which was not only "effusive," as … [Read more...]
A Dimension Not Visible
“ALL DRAWING FROM THE IMAGINATION I'D CONSIDER A FORM OF AUTOMATIC DRAWING; IF IT EXISTS, IT WILL EXIST ONLY FOR THE FIRST TIME.” -- Gerard Bellaart Profile of an Artist by Gabriel Solomons (first published in Decode Magazine, INTELLECT: Publishers of Original Thinking) GS: Where do your images come from? GB: I think they arise from an instinctive tendency to not look for semblances or analogies. Meaning, to find all that which tries to happen in spite of me; the inevitable association or metaphor of a form, rather than … [Read more...]
Paraphilia: Requiescat in Pace
Paraphilia Magazine officially ceased to be an active publication on September 1, 2017. It was an uninhibited online publication that featured a variety of content "likely not found in the average publication," according to its publisher, Dire McCain. Her primary motive was to enable writers and artists to escape "the grip" of the art and design industries. Between March 2009 and December 2012, the magazine appeared in the form of a journal, with 16 issues produced. The issue format was then retired, and in March 2013, the magazine morphed … [Read more...]
Fantagraphics Has the Frontier Spirit
Last time we looked Paul Buhle and Noah Van Sciver's comic art biography of John Chapman, otherwise known as Johnny Appleseed, was published in a paperback edition by Alternative Comics. That was a year ago. It is now being re-issued in hardcover and digital editions by Fantagraphics Books. The production, typical of Fantagraphics, is gorgeous. Of course the hardcover is printed in China, a frontier of affordable book printing for publishers the world over. Everything we reported about the content of the Alternative Comics edition is still … [Read more...]