''Ole magazine was one of the first small literary magazines produced by mimeograph to reach a nationwide audience. Published by Sacramento poet and editor Douglas Blazek, ''Ole was at the heart of the

Mimeo Revolution The Mimeo Revolution (or Mimeograph Revolution) of the 1960s and 1970s was an active period of small-scale, non-commercial, literary publishing facilitated by the accessibility of the mimeograph. It is distinguished from the traditional private pre ...

which saw underground presses publish non-establishment poets who could not get published in mainstream literary magazines such as ''

Poetry Magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundat ...

''.

History and profile

''Ole'' was founded in 1964. The first edition of the magazine, published by The Mimeo Press of

Bensenville, Illinois Bensenville is a village located near O'Hare International Airport in DuPage County, Illinois, with a portion of the town in Cook County. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 18,813. First known as Tioga, it was formally establishe ...

, was edited by Douglas Blazek. It was "Dedicated to the Cause of Making Poetry Dangerous", and featured three poems by

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

("Watchdog", "Freedom" and "Age"). Bukowski's work would be featured in all eight editions; other contributors were

Harold Norse Harold Norse (July 6, 1916, New York City – June 8, 2009, San Francisco) was an American writer who created a body of work using the American idiom of everyday language and images. One of the expatriate artists of the Beat generation, Norse w ...

(whose work would be featured in a special issue, ''Ole #5 in 1966),

Al Purdy Alfred Wellington Purdy (December 30, 1918 – April 21, 2000) was a 20th-century Canadian free verse poet. Purdy's writing career spanned fifty-six years. His works include thirty-nine books of poetry; a novel; two volumes of memoirs and four b ...

Steve Richmond Steven L. Richmond (born December 11, 1959) is an American former professional ice hockey player. He played 159 games in the National Hockey League with four teams between 1984 and 1989. Amateur career Richmond grew up playing hockey in Chicago ...

and

William Wantling William Wantling (November 23, 1933 – May 2, 1974) was an American poet, novelist, ex- Marine, ex-convict, and college instructor born in East Peoria, Illinois. After graduating high school he joined the Marine Corps until 1955. He served ...

. The print runs of each issue were limited to 400 copies, which were individually numbered. Beginning with Issue #5, the publisher became Blazek's own Open Skull Press (some/all printed by Charles Plymell in San Francisco, California, who is featured in many issues), also of Bensenville. Other contributors to ''Ole included Bukowski acolyte Neeli Cheery, as well as

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell (February 11, 1903 – January 14, 1977; , ) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

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

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

, all of whom contributed work to the "Harold Norse Special Issue" (#5). The last issue was #7, which was published by Open Skull Press in San Francisco in May 1967.

References

Poetry magazines published in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1964 Magazines disestablished in 1967 Magazines published in Illinois Magazines published in San Francisco {{US-poetry-mag-stub

History and profile

See also

References