Various (Dame, Enid (Editor); Lev, Donald (Editor); Bukowski, Charles; Fisher, Barbara; Inman, Will; Knight, Arthur; Knight, Kit; Locklin, Gerald; Riggins, Roger et al.)

Home Planet News Vol.3 No. 4 (Issue No. 14, Winter 1982-1983)

New York, NY, USA: Home Planet Publications, 1982. First Edition. Newspaper. Home Planet News was the brain-child of Donald Lev (1936-2018) and Enid Dame (1943-2003) who met at the New York Poets Cooperative in 1976 and became life partners in 1978. Their magazine was born out of necessity in 1979 following the collapse of Poets, a small literary tabloid that Lev had been working on with Michael Devlin. The name of the magazine came from one of Lev’s own poems, “Fragment of a Letter from One’s Home Planet,” which also inspired the name of his bookshop that he opened in New York City’s Lower East Side. This fourteenth issue of the publication was printed in 1982, and it highlights the great Beat scholars and poets Arthur & Kit Knight (The Beat Road (1980); Marriage of Poets (1984); The Beat Vision: A Primary Sourcebook (1986); Kerouac and The Beats (1988)). Also featured is a letter written by Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), the great American author and canonical Beat-adjacent poet described by some as “the poet laureate of American Lowlife," to Gerald Locklin as a pseudo-autobiographical contribution: “Bukowski and I sometimes have occasion to correspond, usually over someone wanting to get in touch with him, and his letters are always good, so I got the idea of getting him to pour himself a drink and write me a longer letter than usual, sort of a self-interview. I explained to him that I was trying to cook up some things on West Coast writing for you, described Home Planet to him, suggested a few topics to him, but left it open for him to go on about anything that was on his mind,” (Locklin, pg. 9). Bukowski’s poem “The Poets and the Foreman” is included opposite this letter, and a review of Bukowski’s Shakespeare Never Did This (City Lights, 1979) by Roger Riggins is part of the review section (pg. 7/21). (Debritto, B1171, pg. 312) Developments in the world of small-press publishing is dissected on the front page by Lev, Damel and Barbara Fisher as the New York Quarterly was acquired by Harry Smith, the women-centric magazine Ikon was reborn after “a multi-racial, multi-ethnic group of women writers read to a large, enthusiastic, mostly-female audience,” and questions are raised in regard to the election of a panel that will be able to determine the distribution of recent grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. The largest poetry spread in this issue is by Will Inman (1923-2009) mimeograph revolutionary of the 1960s and publisher of the poetry newsletter Kauri. Five poems, a photo, and a brief biography are included in the two-page spread, and his photo is included on the outer front cover when folded (see photos). Newspaper: presumed first edition, first-&-only printing, as was usual for small-press journals and magazines. In relatively good-to-near fine condition with a brittleness that must be handled gently to avoid tearing; several small closed tears present along edges; significant age-toning throughout with minor-to-moderate spotting/staining in some places including a ring visible on outer front cover when folded; further age-toning present at interior of fold; interior and text are intact and fully legible. Good-Near Fine. [Item #7608]

Price: $30.00