The No Mountains Poetry ProjectSullivan, James D. “On the Walls and in the Streets: American Poetry Broadsides from the 1960s.” University of Illinois Press, p. 188 was a unique and popular interdisciplinary program of workshops, live readings, recordings, and letterpress broadsides located in Evanston, Illinois during the 1970s. Its objectives were to bring poets and writers together with academic and non-academic audiences in non-traditional settings, to encourage poetry-as-performance, and to collaborate with the book and poster arts.
The project was the result of a collaboration between TriQuarterly magazine, Amazingrace Coffeehouse, The Whole Earth Center,”The Whole Earth Center,” American Libraries, Mar 1975, p.148 and the Ravine Press.
Participants The series featured leading practitioners in a wide variety of styles. Diane di Prima and Anne Waldman represented the Beat tradition.Waldman, Anne, edt. “The Beat Book,” Shambala Publications, Boston, MA 1996, pp. xx-xxivElkholy, Sharin, edt. “The Philosophy of the Beats.” The University Press of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 2012, pp. 19-29 Ed Dorn was a member of the Black Mountain poets. John Hawkes was a proponent of postmodern literature. Robert Coover and William H. Gass worked in the style that has come to be known as metafiction. And Charles Bukowski has been characterized as a rock star “pulp” writer.Kirsch, Adam. “Smashed,” The New Yorker, Mar 14, 2005 Poet essayist, and short-story writer Tess Gallagher and poet Laura Jensen provided strong voices from the Pacific Northwest.
Several of the No Mountains Poetry Project participants went on to achieve Poet Laureate status. Diane di Prima was appointed Poet Laureate of San Francisco,Raskin, Jonah. “Interview with poet Diane di Prima,” SFGate, Nov 7, 2014 Mark Strand was the fourth US Poet Laureate Library of Congress Information Bulletin, https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/strand/strand.pdf and Galway Kinnell was Poet Laureate for Vermont.
Locations The workshops took place on the campus of Northwestern University, primarily for the academic community. The performances for the larger community took place either at Amazingrace Coffeehouse (845 Main St., Evanston, IL) or the Whole Earth Center (530 Dempster St., Evanston, IL). The Charles Bukowski reading sold out all 400 seats available. The Whole Earth Center served as distributor for the authors’s books and the broadsides.
Broadsides The limited edition broadsides were printed by The Ravine Press on a No. 4 Vandercook proof press on Arches paper. The color illustrations were done by Amazingrace using the hand-pulled screen printing process. Print runs varied from 150-199. Advisors were The Art Institute of Chicago on paper and ink, and the Newberry Library on typography. Complete sets are available for viewing at the New York Public Library Special Collections and the Northwestern University Library Archives, Amazingrace Coffeehouse collection.
Performance & Publication History Date Poet/Writer Broadside Title Edition Notes Reading Location Oct 1975 Anne Waldman Dance Song 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Oct 1975 Mark Strand From Two Notebooks 10” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Nov 1975 Robert Coover The Fallguy’s Faith 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Nov 1975 Charles Bukowski winter 13” x 20”; 199 signed and numbered, with additional cartoon illustrations by the author Amazingrace Jan 1976 John Hawkes Travesty 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Feb 1976 Diane di Prima The Bell Tower 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Feb 1976Ed Dorn Hello, La Jolla 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Apr 1976 William H. Gass Mad Meg in the Maelstrom 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Apr 1976 Galway Kinnell Saint Francis and the Sow 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered AmazingraceMay 1976Tess Gallagher AmazingraceMay 1976Laura Jensen Amazingrace Sept 1976 Mark Strand My Son 13” x 20”; 150 signed and numbered Amazingrace Nov 1976 Peter Michelson Whole Earth CenterDec 1976 Eugene Wildman Whole Earth Center
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