[Item #4896] Beat Scene No. 102 (Winter 2021). Kevin Ring, Richard Brautigan, William S. Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Tom Clark, Gregory Corso, Robert Creeley, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Kerouac, Janine Pommy Vega.
Beat Scene No. 102 (Winter 2021)
Beat Scene No. 102 (Winter 2021)

Beat Scene No. 102 (Winter 2021)

Coventry, England: The Beat Scene Press, 2021. First Printing. Stapled Wrappers. The Winter 2021 issue of Beat Scene Magazine--the magazine-format literary journal edited & published by Kevin Ring in the UK--is the "Beats in Britain Part 2" issue. As the title intimates, it focuses entirely on The Beat Generation's impact on, relations to, & travels-'n'-dealings within the UK. This scholarly angle unearths some hitherto overlooked Beat-fossilized delights, beginning with a 1973 interview of Allen Ginsberg conducted in Scotland. Continuing in this vein is a laudably well-researched article by Brian Dalton, titled "Two Beat Poets in London in 1970." It focuses on visits to the great British metropolis by Black Mountain-&-Beyond Poet Robert Creeley, and by the doomed West Coast Beat Poet-Novelist, Richard Brautigan. Editor-Publisher Kevin Ring contributes two excellent articles: "Robert Creeley and Calder & Boyars" -- an essay on Creeley's working relationship with his English publishers -- & "Kenneth Rexroth: An American in Britain," chronicling & commentating on Rexroth's most notable tour of the UK. We're happy to report that Our Fellow Burroughsians will be delighted with the 3 Burroughs-focused (or adjacent) contributions to the issue. In the realm of Deep Cuts, we have a 1972 Tony Rayns Interview of/Feature on filmmaker and friend of WSB, Antony Balch. An essay by Joseph Darlington, titled "William Burroughs and Anthony Burgess" follows. In it, the Literary Kinship & sense of Mutual Respect between the two Mid-Century Giants (despite Burroughs' notorious hesitance to use the word) is brought into further focus. The piece of course contains reference to Burgess' support of WSB when Naked Lunch was accosted by censorship battles, making for another refreshing plunge into well-charted but ever-intriguing territory. For the (visual) Art Crowd, we see the scholarly microscope turned toward Burroughs' relationship with Francis Bacon--the Irish-born, British master of figurative painting & repeat-offending 'enfant terrible.' The piece comes from one Eric Jacobs, and it centers around one particular meeting between Bacon & Burroughs in November, 1982. Completing the dark trinity of Burroughsiana in this issue is a genuine scholarly delight: a letter from WSB somewhat informally-addressed to The Brothers Pennington: our friend-&-colleague at the European Beat Studies Network (ebsn.eu), Jim Pennington of Aloes Books fame & his brother, Roy Pennington (who published the "Mayfair Academy Series More or Less" (1973) & the Urgency Press Rip-Off of "Time" (1972). Be sure to view the attached scan of the contents page to see the impressive contributor list in full. Magazine in fine-as issued condition with only minor shelf-wear & a few bumps to fine-edges & corners of front, back covers; one slightly more pronounced bump-crease at top right-hand corner of back cover; one minor bump (& accompanying lone instance of closed chipping) to spine-edge near top left-hand corner of front cover. Fine-As Issued. [Item #4896]

Price: $30.00