{{Unreferenced, date=September 2012 Founded by printer-poet Dave Haselwood in 1958, the Auerhahn Press published many key poets of the

San Francisco Renaissance The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco, which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetry avant-garde in the 1950s. However, others (e.g., Alan Watt ...

. Stated in advertisements appearing in '' Evergreen Review'', ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'', ''City Lights Journal'' and ''Big Table'' magazines, the press’s goal was “to re-marry good printing and writing,” and to this end the Auerhahn published 28 letterpress-printed titles between 1958 and 1964. Most were chapbooks handset by Haselwood, later with Andrew Hoyem, in a creative and subtle variety of fonts. Its first title was ''The Hotel Wentley Poems'' by

John Wieners John Joseph Wieners (January 6, 1934 – March 1, 2002) was an American poet. Early life Born in Milton, Massachusetts, Wieners attended St. Gregory Elementary School in Dorchester, Massachusetts and Boston College High School. From 1950 to 195 ...

. The press was based in San Francisco and published the first books of many emerging and soon-to-be influential poets, including Wieners and

Lew Welch Lewis Barrett Welch Jr. (August 16, 1926 – May 1971?) was an American poet associated with the Beat generation literary movement. Welch published and performed widely during the 1960s. He taught a poetry workshop as part of the University of C ...

. Its catalogue, uniformly out of print, includes works by

Jack Spicer Jack Spicer (January 30, 1925 – August 17, 1965) was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, ''My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer'' won the American Book Award for poetry. ...

; Diane DiPrima;

Philip Lamantia Philip Lamantia (October 23, 1927 – March 7, 2005) was an American poet and lecturer. His poems were often visionary, ecstatic, terror-filled, and erotic, exploring the subconscious world of dreams and linking it to daily experiences, while s ...

;

Michael McClure Michael McClure (October 20, 1932 – May 4, 2020) was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets (including Allen Ginsberg) who read at the famous ...

;

Philip Whalen Philip Glenn Whalen (October 20, 1923 – June 26, 2002) was an American poet, Zen Buddhist, and a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance and close to the Beat generation. Biography Born in Portland, Oregon, Whalen grew up in The Dalles fr ...

; David Meltzer; William Everson (Brother Antoninus);

Charles Olson Charles Olson (27 December 1910 – 10 January 1970) was a second generation modern American poet who was a link between earlier figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams and the New American poets, which includes the New York ...

; and the first edition of Exterminator, an early collaboration using the cut-up technique by

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and Brion Gysin. These among others were the “insurgent American writers” that the press detected in its search for the “bold, free and courageous in modern writing”. Thanks to the printer’s touch as much as to the collaborative energies of artists like

Bruce Conner Bruce Conner (November 18, 1933 – July 7, 2008) was an American artist who worked with assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography. Biography Bruce Conner was born November 18, 1933 in McPherson, Kansas.His well- ...

Ray Johnson Raymond Edward "Ray" Johnson (October 16, 1927 – January 13, 1995) was an American artist. Known primarily as a collagist and correspondence artist, he was a seminal figure in the history of Neo-Dada and early Pop art and was described as

, Robert LaVigne, Robert Ronnie Branaman and

Wallace Berman Wallace "Wally" Berman (February 18, 1926 – February 18, 1976) was an American experimental filmmaker, assemblage, and collage artist and a crucial figure in the history of post-war California art. Personal life and education Wallace Berman ...

, the Auerhahn’s books—and its ephemera—seem to float in the shadows between high art and faded handbill. “The first & final consideration in printing poetry is the poetry itself,” Haselwood wrote in 1960. “If the poems are great they create their own space; the publisher is just a midwife during the final operation & if he has to do a lot of dirty work that’s the way it should be. Contrary to what a lot of people including publishers think, publishing is not a gentleman’s profession, it is the profession of a crook or a madman.” As the press grew influential, if not solvent, artistic conflict followed, most notably with DiPrima, Robert Duncan (who canceled his book in mid-production), early collaborator Jonathan Williams, and Spicer, who in an occasional poem dated October 1, 1962, wrote: “This is an ode to John Wieners and the Auerhahn Press / Who have driven me away from poetry like a fast car.” In 1964, Haselwood turned production and last rites of the Auerhahn Press over to his partner Andrew Hoyem and started Dave Haselwood Books.

Publications

, ''The Hotel Wentley Poems'', 1958. *

William Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...

and Brion Gysin, ''The Exterminator'', 1959. *

, ''Ekstasis'', 1959. *

, ''Self-Portrait, From Another Direction'', 1959. *

, ''Hymns to St. Geryon and Other Poems'', 1959 *

, ''Wobbly Rock'', 1960. *

, ''Memoirs of an Interglacial Age'', 1960. * Edward Marshall, ''Hellan, Hellan'', 1960. * David Page, ''Babywhipland'', 1961. *

, ''Dark Brown'', 1961. *

, ''Maximus, From Dogtown I'', 1961. *

Paul Reps Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, ''Gold/Fish Signatures'', 1962. *

, ''Destroyed Works'', 1962. * David Meltzer, ''We All Have Something To Say To Each Other'', 1962. * Jonathan Williams, ''In England's Green & (A Garland and a Clyster)'', 1962. * Andrew Hoyem, ''The Wake'', 1963. *

Robin Blaser Robin Francis Blaser (May 18, 1925 – May 7, 2009) was an author and poet in both the United States and Canada. Personal background Born in Denver, Colorado, Blaser grew up in Idaho, and came to Berkeley, California, in 1944. There he met Jack ...

, ''Apparitors'', 1963. * Roxie Powell, ''Dreams of Straw'', 1963. * Bill Deemer, ''Poems'', 1964 * Jonathan Williams, ''Lines About Hills Above Lakes'', 1964. * David Meltzer, ''The Blackest Rose'', 1964. *

, ''Goddess'', 1964. *

Robert Creeley Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. He was close with Char ...

, ''Two Poems (Broadside)'', 1964. *

, ''Two for Bruce Connor'', 1964. *

Josephine Miles Josephine Louise Miles (June 11, 1911 – May 12, 1985) was an American poet and literary critic; the first woman tenured in the English department at the University of California, Berkeley. She wrote over a dozen books of poetry and several wor ...

, ''In Identity'', 1964. *

Brother Antoninus William "Bill" Everson, also known as Brother Antoninus (September 10, 1912 – June 3, 1994), was an American poet, literary critic, teacher and small press printer. He was a member of the San Francisco Renaissance. Beginnings Everson was bor ...

, ''The Poet Is Dead'', 1964. *

, ''Human Universe and Other Essays'', 1965.

References

Book publishing companies based in San Francisco, Auerhahn Publishing companies established in 1958 1958 establishments in California