David UU (pronounced David W.), or David W. Harris, (1948–1994) was an accomplished concrete and experimental poet and an important

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

publisher. Along with Bill Bissett and

bpNichol Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944 – 25 September 1988), known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet, editor, Creative Writing teacher at York University in Toronto and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work enc ...

, he was a pioneer of the

concrete poetry Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...

movement in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and perhaps the first Canadian poet to explore visual

collage Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...

embodying literary, philosophical and language references. He also composed sound works (both musical & textual), made 8mm short films, was a master collagist/montagist and performed in numerous

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

exhibitions.

"And I should mention to you that my last name is...just UU, the original form of the English letter W, which is also how it's pronounced." - David UU (from a letter to M.A.C. Farrant, Oct 19, 1989)

Life

David W. Harris was born on June 13, 1948, in

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The family moved to Collingwood in 1958, where he lived until setting out for

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in 1966. He left Toronto for

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

in 1968 and over the next decade relocated between Ontario and the west coast several times. In 1980 he settled in North Vancouver where he lived until finally moving to a farmhouse near

Delhi, Ontario Delhi (; ) refers to both a former township and unincorporated community located off of the junction of Ontario Highways 59 and 3. Delhi is known as the "Heart of Tobacco Country." Prior to 1880, this community was known for its lumber indus ...

in 1992 where he died in May 1994.

Career

On arriving in Toronto in 1966, Harris began working closely with

on various text and sound projects.New, William H. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: U of T Press, 2002. He participated in the founding of the concrete poetry magazine ''

grOnk ''grOnk'', or GRoNK, was a Canadian literary magazine begun in 1967 by bpNichol and others (for example, David Aylward, David W. Harris (later David UU; co-editor for the first series (8 issues, 1967), and editor of most of the seventh series ( ...

'' with David Aylward, bpNichol and Rah Smith. At this time he began exhibiting his visual poetry and collage worldwide, achieving some acclaim. Harris adopted the pseudonym David UU around 1970. In Vancouver in 1973 he helped organize ''Brasilia 73'', an international

show. He was a prolific

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and encouraged the talents of many Canadian writers early in their careers. He founded and operated Fleye Press (1966–70), Divine Order of the Lodge (1971–1975), Derwyddon Press (1976–81), Silver Birch Press (1987–94; later MindWare) as well as several magazines (Spanish Fleye and Luv for Poemz from Fleye Press in the mid 1960s and Lodgistiks from Derwyddon Press in the 1970s) and numerous imprints for

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...

lets,

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

s, broadsides,

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

s and other

ephemera Ephemera are transitory creations which are not meant to be retained or preserved. Its etymological origins extends to Ancient Greece, with the common definition of the word being: "the minor transient documents of everyday life". Ambiguous in ...

Works

Due to the nature of his work, which included broadsides, pamphlets and postcards, the bulk of David's UU's work was

self-publish Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

ed. Two major editions are ''Chopped Liver'' (Toronto:

Coach House Press Coach House Books is an independent book publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Coach House publishes experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundar ...

, 1981) and ''High C – Collected Sound and Visual Poems 1965-1983'' (Toronto: Underwhich Editions, 1991). ''Very Sound'', an audiocassette of his sound poetry, was published by Underwhich Audiographics in 1984. Other publications include: POEMS NUMBERED ONE THRU SIX (Toronto, Ganglia Press, 1966) GIDEON MUSIC (Vancouver, Blewointmentpress, 1967) TOUCH (Toronto, Ganglia Press, 1967) MOTION/PICTURES (Toronto, Ganglia Press, 1969) PAMPLEMOUSSE (Vancouver, Blewointmentpress, 1969) GNOSTIC INVENTORY (Toronto, Ganglia Press, 197o) AURORA HYPERBOREALIS (Toronto, Divine Order Of The Lodge, 1971) BEFORE THE GOLDEN DAWN (Toronto, Weed/Flower Press, 1971) VIOLET PILOT LIGHTS (Vancouver, Blewointmentpress, 1974) METROPOLIS (Toronto, Curvd H&z, 1981) CLOSE ENCOUNTER (Toronto, Curvd H&z, 1983) SOUND CYCLE (Toronto, Underwhich Editions, 1986) STRAWBERRY TRIGGER (Toronto, Wendysstomack, 1988) INGRID OF THE THOUSAND EYES (Willowdale, Pangen Subway Ritual, 199o)

References

Sources

David UU, ''Correspondence with M.A.C. Farrant'', February 15, 1988 - May 17, 1994.

* ttp://www.ditchpoetry.com/daviduufeature.htm Gregg Simpson, May, 2010; ''Meeting David UU, a memoir''.
Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, List of Fonds and Collections, HARRIS, DAVID, 1948-1994 LMS-0217
* William H. New. Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada. Toronto: U of T Press, 2002.

External links

* The archives of Davis Harris, known as David U
(David Harris fonds, R11747)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...