THE WOUNDED ALPHABET : COLLECTED POEMS

Portland, OR: Tavern Books, 2014. STATED FIRST PRINTING. Hardcover. Fine / Very Good. 1984. Octavo, pp. 437, [7]. Silver cloth boards. Lovely and wild collection of poems composed over five decades by the former editor of Kayak, a poetry journal which "enjoyed an illustrious twenty-year run (1964-1984)." A couple small closed tears and a crease on the top-edge of dustjacket. Protected in mylar. George Hitchcock, whose poetry magazine, Kayak, born in the cultural ferment of the 1960s, was one of the most distinctive, eagerly read literary journals of its time. He published the magazine from 1964-1984. He was, as he liked to say, Kayak's dictator. "A kayak is not a galleon, ark, coracle or speedboat," read the motto printed with each issue. "It is a small watertight vessel operated by a single oarsman. It is submersible, has sharply pointed ends, and is constructed of light poles and the skins of furry animals. It has never yet been successfully employed as a means of mass transport."

Although he leaned toward surrealism and the dreamlike style of the deep imagist school, Mr. Hitchcock included a wide variety of poets, publishing the early work of Philip Levine, Raymond Carver, James Tate and Charles Simic. "He was the pre-eminent maverick independent magazine publisher," said Howard Junker, the editor of Zyzzyva: The Journal of West Coast Writers and Artists. "He was open in his tastes, unflagging in his energies, knew everyone and kept the thing going against all odds." (from NY Times Obituaries, 2010).