Various (Stettner, Irving (Editor); Brown, Tom; Ingles, Dungan G.; Levy, Howard S.; Morgan, Alan; Stobbs, Bill; Trantino, Tommy et al.)

Stroker No. 56 (1995)

Shavertown, PA: Stroker Magazine, 1995. First Edition. Stapled Wrappers. “Dear Irving Stettner: / Do you think there is a good reason, perhaps even a better on these days, for artists to flee to Europe in order to do what they feel they must? Why is it that North America seems more and more repressive upon the spirit, turning us into the equivalent of waste-packaging, to be either tossed by the roadside or recycled into something supposedly more functional? The Republicans want to do away with education and the arts, and a growing number of people appear to be supporting this. What culture that is left is hidden from us in museums, as if it were an embarrassment, or worse, denounced. / Europe, by comparison, is inside out as you well know. Culture is worn on the sleeve, almost a public spectacle, to be seen and felt at the pace of one’s own desire. The modern mixes with the old. The old must teach the new. The spirit of the past cannot be forgotten. / The artist, I believe, still comes here for this. As North America sinks under its fetishism for gadgetry and the shiny, brand-new surface of things, Europeans continue on their bumbling way, clutching at the spirit, the wine bottle, the hot coffee on the terrace, the sounds of frenzied children and the memories of grandparents. There is something more and they know it. / I could write for you the thoughts of an expatriate (how quaint that word rings now!) concerning what drove him away from North America. Style would be a bewildered prose-poetic rant. / I hope to hear from you soon, and that Stroker is continuing in fine form.”--Duncan G. Inglis, “An Open Letter to Stroker!,” pg. 3. Stroker was a magazine of literature and arts that ran from 1974 to 1994. It was published from New York – and later from Nagano, Japan – by American artist and author Irving Stettner (1922-2004). Stettner, a friend of Henry Miller’s (1891-1980), lived many years as an ex-pat in France, Morocco, Japan and other countries. With little money, he cultivated a devoted following of readers who were also “Stroker” contributors -- including Henry Miller in the last two years of his life, as well as Paul Bowles (1910-1999), Mohammed Mrabet (b. 1936) and Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), among others. One lesser-known writer from Detroit named Ron Papandrea (b. 1948) became one of Stettner's closest allies, his "Western scout," acting as a collector, archivist, distributor and publisher of Stettner's works. Stettner’s vision for Stroker was largely to present an amalgamation of art, literary essays, correspondences, poetry, and a seemingly Walt Whitman (1819-1892)-esque enthusiasm for life and poetry. The topic of today’s curation, Stroker 56, was published in 1995. It contains the following contributions: “Blue Flame Furgerson and the Dread Greenhouse Effect,” a short fiction piece by Tom Brown; “An Open Letter to Stroker” by Duncan G. Inglis (quoted above); “Letting Nature in on Things,” and 8 poems by Saigyo (1118-1190) translated from the Japanese by Howard S. Levy; “An Open Letter to Stroker,” and 2 ink drawings; “From the House by the River,” a prose piece, and the poems “Early Morning Moscow Moment,” and “October Solitude” by Bill Stobbs (1914-2000); an ink drawing and statement on the illustration by Sojiro Suganuma; and 2 poem-drawings as well as a brief statement about his painting by Tommy Trantino (b. 1938), among many other great contributions! Stapled wrappers. First & presumably only printing. In very fine condition with minor wear to fine edges, light smudging/staining to front and back covers, and very minor rusting at staples. Very Fine. [Item #8741]

Price: $50.00