If anybody had said to me that the shaggy “mimeo revolution” of little magazines begun in the 1960s would be the subject of an exhibition as elegant as this one, and in as venerable a setting, I wouldn’t have believed it. During that period I played a small part in what was happening as an editor of a little mag myself. I thought we were participants in a rebellion more than a revolution. But the breadth and depth of it — as captured these many years later by After Words: Visual and Experimental Poetry in Little Magazines and Small Presses, Post-1960 — is more than persuasive. It’s revelatory.
“Poetry underwent a profound re-conception post-World War II, as poets experimented not only with techniques such as projective verse, but also with the verbal and visual qualities of poetic language. Known variously as visual, concrete, and sound poetry, these practices reached new heights of innovation in the 1960s and beyond sustained by the mimeograph revolution and the proliferation of small independent presses. [The exhibition] curated by Steve Clay and Grolier Club member M.C. Kinniburgh explores the decentering and re-imagining of language from the perspective of visual poetics, and the varieties of ways these ideas took published form. The exhibition presents a wide range of international works with approximately 150 publications.” — Granary Books
The exhibition is on view through July 26, 2025. Admission is free. Several free events are scheduled between now and then.
- On May 22, Thursday, from 6 pm to 7:30 pm, there will be a “Roundtable on Visual Poetry,” co-sponsored by NYU Special Collections and the Bibliographical Society of America, featuring Lisa Pearson (Siglio Press), Charlotte Priddle (Special Collections, New York University), Amelia Grounds (The Bancroft Library at University of Berkeley), Antonio Sergio Bessa (emeritus, The Bronx Museum of the Arts), and Alison Fraser (The Poetry Collection, University at Buffalo), moderated by M.C. Kinniburgh and Conley Lowrance.
- On June 12, at 1 pm, there will be a tour of the exhibition with the curators Steve Clay and M.C. Kinniburgh.
- On June 26, from 6 to 7:30 pm, there will be a live taping of a discussion featuring Clay and Kinniburgh for the podcast Person, Place Thing, hosted by Randy Cohen. RSVP HERE.
Congratulations, Jan. For years I had a copy of VDRSVP but haven’t seen it for a long time. I do have a collection of little press books in an acid-free box, top shelf of a closet–should take a look. Hope you are well & still swimming!
swimming. yes. that’s the ticket.
Not quite the manner that I once hoped to aid in storming the citadels.
What species of Papillon would Nabokov have identified as a Jan Hermanus en vitrine?
The struggle continues, whatever the tools employed.
Those seconds in minutes to go are enunciated slowly but by my reckoning there remain fewer than 23 seconds as of today before the great and awesome skidoo.
Love from your Kansas family.
yes, and I saw plenty of omissions. like your “am here” publications. well, I couldn’t actually “see” the omissions. but you know what I mean. don’t hafta visualize them for you. a kiss for you in kansas, with fewer than 23 second to go.
Your role is always larger than you presume it to be. I am thankful for all the space you have yielded to me. Again you talked as if the space you allowed was modest. To me it was substantial. What made it inspired was what you wrote. I do appreciate the memory and meeting you.
Yes, bravo! That is just so fucking cool. VDRSVP… Klacto… Cut Up or Shut Up… Masterworks!
(P.S. It’s not by Jan but that’s the second issue of Insect Trust Gazette there. Impossible to find and wild to see it in the flesh.)