''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 David UU (pronounced David W.), or David W. Harris, (1948–1994) was an accomplished concrete and experimental poet and an important small press publisher. Along with Bill Bissett and bpNichol, he was a pioneer of the concrete poetry movement in ...

; co-editor for the first series (8 issues, 1967), and editor of most of the seventh series (5 of 8 issues, 1971)), and Rah Smith (i.e. Robert Hindley-Smith). After the primary 8 series of 8 issues each were published, it was Nichol's efforts that maintained the irregular periodical, with guest editors including (but not limited to) Nelson Ball, jwcurry, Steve McCaffery and R. Murray Schafer. An offshoot of Ganglia Press's ''Ganglia'' magazine (founded in

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 anch ...

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 C ...

, in 1965 by Aylward and Nichol), ''grOnk'' began with material gathered for Ganglia's sixth issue and became a monthly publication focusing on

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 me ...

and "the language revolution" underway in Canada at the time (principally in Toronto and Vancouver), publishing a wide variety of "extralinear" writing from an international cast of contributors anchored in a context of parallel developments in Canadian literature. "GrOnk brought together British, Czech, American, Canadian, French and Austrian concrete and experimental practitioners..." One of Canada's longest running independent little magazines, ''grOnk'' ran for 126 distinct issues in a wide range of book and magazine formats utilizing diverse print technologies such as letterpress, rubberstamp, mimeography, offset and, later, xerography and audiocassette, including many hand-wrought additions (for examples, John Riddell's "A hOle in the Head" included many handcoloured pages and scissor-cut windows, while jwcurry's "AS IS OR WITH" was drawn entirely by hand throughout the edition). 6 issues, the ''grOnk Piggyback Series'', ran as broadside sections in the Toronto literary tabloid ''Poetry Canada Review'' (1987–89). ''grOnk'' ceased publication in 1988 with the death of bpNichol, although some numbers have continued to be issued in the ''grOnk Inadmissible Series'' by Nicky Drumbolis's Letters and jwcurry's Room 302 Books.

References

External links

* grOnk picture bibliograp

MacOdrum Library of Carleton University: Ganglia & grOnk

* ttp://www.bpnichol.ca/ bpNichol Online Archive
David UU

grOnk magazine: Canadian Concrete Poetry 1967-1988 (Part 1)
1967 establishments in Ontario 1988 disestablishments in Ontario Defunct literary magazines published in Canada Magazines established in 1967 Magazines disestablished in 1988 Poetry magazines published in Canada Magazines published in Toronto {{Canada-lit-mag-stub

References

Further reading

External links