Burning Deck was a small press specializing in the publication of experimental poetry and prose. Burning Deck was founded by the writers
Keith Waldrop
Keith Waldrop (born December 11, 1932, in Emporia, Kansas) is an American poet, translator, and academic. He has authored numerous books of poetry and prose and translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabè ...
and
Rosmarie Waldrop in 1961 and closed in 2017.
Overview
Although the Waldrops initially promoted ''Burning Deck'' magazine as a "quinterly", after only four issues the periodical was transformed into a series of pamphlets. The transformation continued later until the press became a publisher of books of poetry and short fiction.
[Forty Years of Burning Deck Press 1961 - 2001]
at Brown University Library Web site in conjunction with an exhibit on the press, accessed January 28, 2007.
The magazine published poets from different styles and schools. The main split in poets of that time was said to be the one between the "academics" and the "beats", but Burning Deck ignored that split to the point where authors sometimes complained of being published in the company of others so different from themselves.
[
By 1985, the economics of publishing had changed and it became financially more feasible to print regular books on offset presses and use letterpress work for smaller chapbooks, something the Waldrops have noted in the history of the enterprise (Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop, ''Burning Deck: A History'') they wrote and published together. The Waldrops continued to design and print books that are made to last (using smyth-sewn, acid-free paper) but tried to keep the price affordable.][
]
Notable books
Although Burning Deck is a small, nonprofit press, it has published works of innovative writing, including (alphabetical by author):
*''99: The New Meaning,'' by Walter Abish
*''A Geometry'' by Anne-Marie Albiach
*''Why Write?'' by Paul Auster
*''The Heat Bird,'' by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge
Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (; born October 5, 1947, in Beijing, China) is a contemporary poet. Winner of two American Book Awards, her work is often associated with the Language School, the poetry of the New York School, phenomenology, and visual art ...
*''Utterances,'' by William Bronk
*''The Grand Hotels (of Joseph Cornell),'' by Robert Coover
*''Striking Resemblance'' by Tina Darragh
*''Species of Intoxication: Extracts from the Leaves of the Doctor Ordinaire'' by Michael Gizzi
*''Artificial Heart,'' by Peter Gizzi
*''The Countess from Minneapolis,'' by Barbara Guest
*''Innocence in extremis'' by John Hawkes
*''My Life,'' by Lyn Hejinian
*''A Test of Solitude'' by Emmanuel Hocquard
*''Some Other Kind of Mission'' by Lisa Jarnot
*''Trial Impressions'' by Harry Mathews
*''i.e.'' by Claude Royet-Journoud
Claude Royet-Journoud (born 8 September 1941 in Lyon, France) is a contemporary French poet and artist living in Paris .
Overview
Royet-Journoud's publications in French include his tetralogy, published between 1972 and 1997: ''Le Renversement' ...
*''Numen,'' by Cole Swensen
*''The Windows Flew Open,'' by Marjorie Welish
*''Turneresque,'' by Elizabeth Willis
Elizabeth Willis (born April 28, 1961, Bahrain) is an American poet and literary critic. She currently serves as Professor of Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Willis has won several awards for her poetry including the National Poetry Serie ...
Translation
Burning Deck publishes two series of translation: ''Serie d'ecriture'' presents a new book of contemporary French poetry each year; ''Dichten='' presents an annual volume of contemporary German writing.
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
The Burning Deck homepage
of Burning Deck materials at Brown University
{{Authority control
Book publishing companies of the United States
Small press publishing companies
Alternative press
Poetry organizations
Publishing companies established in 1961
American companies established in 1961