Wed 2 Dec 2009
Book Launch for Tiresias: The Collected Poems of Leland Hickman
Posted by bstefans under Announcement , Los Angeles Poetry[3] Comments
You’re invited to a publication party for
Tiresias: The Collected Poems of Leland Hickman
published by Nightboat Books & Otis Books/Seismicity Editions
with brief readings by Bill Mohr, Stephen Motika & Martha Ronk
Saturday, December 12, 5-7pm
Arundel Books
8380 Beverly Blvd, 3 blocks east of La Cienega Bl.
Phone: 323-852-9852
Los Angeles poet and editor LELAND HICKMAN (1934-1991) was the author of two collections of poetry: Great Slave Lake Suite (1980), which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and Lee Sr. Falls to the Floor (1991). He was the editor of the poetry journal Temblor, which ran for 10 issues during the 1980s. This new volume collects all of the poems published during Hickman’s life as well as previously unpublished pieces. The volume, edited by Stephen Motika, features a preface by Dennis Phillips and an afterword by Bill Mohr.
December 2nd, 2009 at 9:57 am
just started reading Temblor #3 this morning over coffee. scored an almost complete set from green apple (SF) a few years ago but am just getting around to reading them. looked at the copyright page this morning to find who edited the mag. saw Leland Hickman. thought, i need to ask Laura Moriarty about Leland Hickman. Leland Hickman’s been on my brain all morning. and then doing the blog rounds this morning. i get to free space comix. and then a post about Leland Hickman. thanks Brian. and great seeing you again in LA.
xoxo
December 2nd, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I actually really want this book, but I feel calling it “Tiresias” is really not a good thing. Saddling a book with a title like that seems to imply some unresolved animosity toward the poet on the part of the editors, like “Now we’ll show him: we’ll call his collected poems ‘Tiresias'”
I presume there are more positive motives for the title, and yet it disturbs me, almost as much as when they put a massive blowup of the author’s face across the jacket, with their nose as big as life right on the spine (as in the hideous looking collected Merrill or the recent collected stories of Ballard).
December 2nd, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I agree, I’m not crazy about the title. But it was the name of his unfinished long poem, of which a chunk was published under the title “The Great Slave Lake Suite.” From what I understand, he didn’t work on the poem for the duration of the time he published Temblor, which was basically until his death. I have no idea if there is more available from the long poem in the collection. I’m really interested in seeing what his earlier poetry looked like since I really like his poem “Lee Sr Falls to the Floor.”