Oct. 18, 2011
Like many of us, from time to time I Google myself to see what's out there. The other night I Googled Unfinished Monument Press, the poetry chapbook press I founded in 1978. After browsing several pages I found the below list of books the press had published. It was embarrassing to realize I had forgotten many of the poets and their books I'd published thru the imprint several decades ago : )
I founded UMP in 1978 while working as a cook in the kitchens at the University of Toronto. The Canadian Liberation Movement (CLM) I'd been a member of had imploded several years earlier, like most of the other Maoist/Marxist/Leninist groups, thru a combination of sectarianism, social fascism and the general disinterest of the Canadian public. I returned to writing poetry, now with a social and politikal awareness.
Although I had managed to get some of my poems published in progressive mags like Alive, This Magazine, The Red Menace and Gut, I didn't have any connections for publishing a collection. I knew I'd have to publish myself, and came up with the name Unfinished Monument as a tribute to the marker to Sam Lount and Peter Matthews in the Toronto Necropolis Cemetery.
In 1978 I published the chapbook Dominion Day in Jail. UofT student Peter Treen, who worked as a breakfast runner, drew the cartoon illustrations.
After initially publishing with UMP, a cross-section of poets have gone on to leave their marks on Canadian poetry, including Robert Priest, Bruce Hunter, Lynne Kositsky, James Deahl, Wayne Ray, (Daniel) jones (RIP) and many others.
Around 1991 I gave the press to James Deahl and his wife, Gilda Mekler. I had moved to rural Ontario from Toronto, and had tired somewhat of the CanPo scene and the demands it makes on one's life. For over a decade I had little involvement with CanPo, working as a small town librarian in the villages of Marmora and Stirling.
James and Gilda expanded the UMP list of poets. James is the poet and publisher who has most promoted the legacy of Milton Acorn, "The People's Poet". James published some of Milt's final works with UMP. James also published a collaboration between himself and another seminal Canadian poet, Raymond Souster. James and Gilda also established a chapbook award which continued the tradition of publishing up-and-coming Canadian poets with UMP.
Even in my rural retreat, my poetic past eventually caught up with me, and after a decade I was viciously fired as the head librarian from my last job for 'putting sexual content online' (this is what the person who replaced me initially told people). The "sexual content" would have been my seminal English-language "hippie" haibun Eel Pie Dharma! Of course even out here in the boonies this wasn't grounds for dismissal, so the library board and the township lawyers trumped up various charges. I fought them with legal help, and received wrongful dismissal pay for 8 months. My evil past as a Canadian poet had finally caught up with me.
In my forced retirement I have since returned to writing poetry, publishing this blog, and organizing annual Purdy Country LitFests (PurdyFests). I have no plans to revive Unfinished Monument Press, altho I'm very proud of its legacy in Canadian poetry and literature.
*************************************************************************
Following is the interesting, altho somewhat garbled & incomplete UMP publication list, from the website I Googled which stimulated memories of the glory days of UMP : )
Unfinished Monument Press
Toronto, Ont., Canada
Books of this Publisher
<< >> 1 2
13 bohemian dreams
by Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1988.
ISBN: 0920976409 Edition: $2.00
Auschwitz
Wayne Ray
Publisher: [Toronto] : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976212 DDC: 811.54 Edition: $2.50
The dead leave holes
Ben Phillips
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1983.
ISBN: 0920976190 Edition: $2,00
Dear little old lady
Helen Costain
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976174 Edition: $3.00
Eel pie dharma
Eel pie dharma: a novella/haibun
Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1990.
ISBN: 0920976425 Edition: $20.00
Five minutes ago they dropped the bomb
Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, [1984]
ISBN: 0920976247 Edition: $0.99
A flock of blackbirds
A flock of blackbirds: haiku and senyru
by Margaret Saunders
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1979.
ISBN: 0920976042 Edition: $1.75
For Christ and Kropotkin
For Christ and Kropotkin: poetry
by Brian Burch
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1987.
ISBN: 0920976336
Into this dark earth
Raymond Souster & James Deahl
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 0920976271 DDC: 811.54 LCC: PR9199.3 Edition: (pbk.)
Jack and Jill in Toronto
Jones
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976204 Edition: $3.00
Last minute instructions
Last minute instructions: poems
by Mark McCawley
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1989.
ISBN: 0920976360 Edition: $3.00
Lount and Matthews
Lount and Matthews: a commemorative booklet
compiled by Peter Flosznik
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1982.
ISBN: 092097614X Edition: $1.00
Making waves
Dee September
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1979.
ISBN: 0920976034 Edition: pa. :$2.50
The Northern red oak
The Northern red oak: poems for and about Milton Acorn
edited with an introduction by James Deahl
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1987.
ISBN: 0920976352 Edition: $10.00
On the road for poetry
On the road for poetry: a tour journal
by Mona Fertig
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, [1985]
ISBN: 0920976263 Edition: $4.00
Original innocence
Leslie Webb
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1988.
ISBN: 0920976379 Edition: $4.00
PCB jam
by Lynne Kositsky
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1981.
ISBN: 0920976115 Edition: $1.50
Poems 1980
Marglamb Wilson
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1981.
ISBN: 0920976085
Poets who don't dance
Shaunt Basmajian
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 092097628X Edition: $3.00
Qaani lore
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 0920976255 Edition: $2.00
Like many of us, from time to time I Google myself to see what's out there. The other night I Googled Unfinished Monument Press, the poetry chapbook press I founded in 1978. After browsing several pages I found the below list of books the press had published. It was embarrassing to realize I had forgotten many of the poets and their books I'd published thru the imprint several decades ago : )
I founded UMP in 1978 while working as a cook in the kitchens at the University of Toronto. The Canadian Liberation Movement (CLM) I'd been a member of had imploded several years earlier, like most of the other Maoist/Marxist/Leninist groups, thru a combination of sectarianism, social fascism and the general disinterest of the Canadian public. I returned to writing poetry, now with a social and politikal awareness.
Although I had managed to get some of my poems published in progressive mags like Alive, This Magazine, The Red Menace and Gut, I didn't have any connections for publishing a collection. I knew I'd have to publish myself, and came up with the name Unfinished Monument as a tribute to the marker to Sam Lount and Peter Matthews in the Toronto Necropolis Cemetery.
In 1978 I published the chapbook Dominion Day in Jail. UofT student Peter Treen, who worked as a breakfast runner, drew the cartoon illustrations.
After initially publishing with UMP, a cross-section of poets have gone on to leave their marks on Canadian poetry, including Robert Priest, Bruce Hunter, Lynne Kositsky, James Deahl, Wayne Ray, (Daniel) jones (RIP) and many others.
Around 1991 I gave the press to James Deahl and his wife, Gilda Mekler. I had moved to rural Ontario from Toronto, and had tired somewhat of the CanPo scene and the demands it makes on one's life. For over a decade I had little involvement with CanPo, working as a small town librarian in the villages of Marmora and Stirling.
James and Gilda expanded the UMP list of poets. James is the poet and publisher who has most promoted the legacy of Milton Acorn, "The People's Poet". James published some of Milt's final works with UMP. James also published a collaboration between himself and another seminal Canadian poet, Raymond Souster. James and Gilda also established a chapbook award which continued the tradition of publishing up-and-coming Canadian poets with UMP.
Even in my rural retreat, my poetic past eventually caught up with me, and after a decade I was viciously fired as the head librarian from my last job for 'putting sexual content online' (this is what the person who replaced me initially told people). The "sexual content" would have been my seminal English-language "hippie" haibun Eel Pie Dharma! Of course even out here in the boonies this wasn't grounds for dismissal, so the library board and the township lawyers trumped up various charges. I fought them with legal help, and received wrongful dismissal pay for 8 months. My evil past as a Canadian poet had finally caught up with me.
In my forced retirement I have since returned to writing poetry, publishing this blog, and organizing annual Purdy Country LitFests (PurdyFests). I have no plans to revive Unfinished Monument Press, altho I'm very proud of its legacy in Canadian poetry and literature.
*************************************************************************
Following is the interesting, altho somewhat garbled & incomplete UMP publication list, from the website I Googled which stimulated memories of the glory days of UMP : )
Unfinished Monument Press
Toronto, Ont., Canada
Books of this Publisher
<< >> 1 2
13 bohemian dreams
by Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1988.
ISBN: 0920976409 Edition: $2.00
Auschwitz
Wayne Ray
Publisher: [Toronto] : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976212 DDC: 811.54 Edition: $2.50
The dead leave holes
Ben Phillips
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1983.
ISBN: 0920976190 Edition: $2,00
Dear little old lady
Helen Costain
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976174 Edition: $3.00
Eel pie dharma
Eel pie dharma: a novella/haibun
Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1990.
ISBN: 0920976425 Edition: $20.00
Five minutes ago they dropped the bomb
Chris Faiers
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, [1984]
ISBN: 0920976247 Edition: $0.99
A flock of blackbirds
A flock of blackbirds: haiku and senyru
by Margaret Saunders
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1979.
ISBN: 0920976042 Edition: $1.75
For Christ and Kropotkin
For Christ and Kropotkin: poetry
by Brian Burch
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1987.
ISBN: 0920976336
Into this dark earth
Raymond Souster & James Deahl
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 0920976271 DDC: 811.54 LCC: PR9199.3 Edition: (pbk.)
Jack and Jill in Toronto
Jones
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1983.
ISBN: 0920976204 Edition: $3.00
Last minute instructions
Last minute instructions: poems
by Mark McCawley
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1989.
ISBN: 0920976360 Edition: $3.00
Lount and Matthews
Lount and Matthews: a commemorative booklet
compiled by Peter Flosznik
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1982.
ISBN: 092097614X Edition: $1.00
Making waves
Dee September
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1979.
ISBN: 0920976034 Edition: pa. :$2.50
The Northern red oak
The Northern red oak: poems for and about Milton Acorn
edited with an introduction by James Deahl
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1987.
ISBN: 0920976352 Edition: $10.00
On the road for poetry
On the road for poetry: a tour journal
by Mona Fertig
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, [1985]
ISBN: 0920976263 Edition: $4.00
Original innocence
Leslie Webb
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1988.
ISBN: 0920976379 Edition: $4.00
PCB jam
by Lynne Kositsky
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, c1981.
ISBN: 0920976115 Edition: $1.50
Poems 1980
Marglamb Wilson
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1981.
ISBN: 0920976085
Poets who don't dance
Shaunt Basmajian
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 092097628X Edition: $3.00
Qaani lore
Publisher: Toronto : Unfinished Monument Press, 1985.
ISBN: 0920976255 Edition: $2.00
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