ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa

Scope and Contents

This book deals with aspects of concrete poetry paying debt to Cobbing and other pioneers. Chris Jones' essay provides several definitions of concrete poetry, stating that "it is helpful to think of concrete poetry as being an umbrella term for those processes...who share a concern with text (words, letters, phonemes, signs) as their material." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

This book was given to the Sackners by Guy Brett and his friend who are handling the estate of the artist, Li Yuan Chia. Li owned the gallery that published this book (L Y C museum & gallery). The Sackners were told that the book did not sell well and that most of the copies were destroyed. Stefan Themerson wrote the intoductory essay and Houedard the foreward. The cover was designed by Alex Selenitsch. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents This text of this book that was first published in Kontextsound in 1977 consists of an interview of Cobbing by Mottram. Cobbing discusses how he switched from composing conventional poems to sound poems circa 1963. He also makes mention of music as it relates to sound poems and his belief that avant garde musicians appropriated material from poets not vice-versa. Bob Cobbing died at age 82 years in 2002. Robert Shepard wrote the obituary in The Guardian October 7, 2002. "Bob Cobbing, who has died aged 82, was the major exponent of concrete, visual and sound poetry in Britain. Long after its international heyday in the 1960s, he continued to produce visual texts that were also scores for performance, many of them published as booklets by his Writers' Forum press, and launched at its associated workshop, which has been meeting in private houses and rooms above pubs since 1954. His work appears in many anthologies. Born in Enfield, Cobbing was brought up within that close religious...

Scope and Contents

This letter is addressed to John Sharkey in which Houedard mentions well known poets of the '60s. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

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dsh mentions henri chopin and mlke weaver (whom he does not know). He writes about his first meeting with charles cameron. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

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This letter to Charles Cameron includes several names and details for poetry readings that DSH suggests are to be contacted including Bob Cobbing, John Furnival, Ernst Jandl and Aram Soroyan. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

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The recipient of this letter is probably David Medalla.The first page contains a red typed phrase "ubi eater" created with lowercase u's and lower case r's. The meaning of 'ubi eater' is unclear. The red typed signature of silvester formed with typed dashes is on the third page. The third page is typed on a different typewriter than the first two pages. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

In this letter to Charles Cameron DSH writes to check up on various poetry projects and asks Cameron "WHAT ABT THIS ARTICLE ON ME IN THE OLIVETTI THING do let me know i ache to see it with it i can approach olivetti himself & get CASH which is so useful." Also, dsh noted that Konrad Bayer died this week. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Scope and Contents

This is a letter to John Sharkey suggesting contact information of several writers. In a handwritten additon Houedard suggests contacting "bob cobbing 262 Randolph Avenue (near Themersons) who sent this fine 'WRITERS FORUM POETS 7' of his sound poems." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.