The Untide Press, founded in 1943, attempted to bring poetry to the public in an inexpensive but attractive format. It was founded by writer

William Everson William Everson may refer to: * William Everson (poet) (1912–1994), American poet of the San Francisco Renaissance * William K. Everson (1929–1996), English-American film preservationist, historian and academic * William G. Everson (1879–1954 ...

, architect and printer

Kemper Nomland Kemper Nomland Jr. (May 8, 1919 - December 25, 2009) was a modernist architect in Los Angeles, California and part of a father-son architectural team with his father Kemper Nomland, Sr. He was also a painter and printer of poetry and arts publica ...

, actor

Kermit Sheets Louis Kermit Sheets (14 August 1915 – 6 April 2006) was an actor, director, playwright and an artistic partner with poet James Broughton. World War II During World War II, Sheets served as a conscientious objector for four years, first in Civili ...

and editor / librarian William Eshelman, in a camp of conscientious objectors in Waldport, Oregon in 1943. The name was a challenge to the official camp magazine the ''Tide Press''.

Camp Angel Camp Angel was Civilian Public Service (CPS) camp number 56, located from 1942 to 1945 near Waldport and the coast in the Siuslaw National Forest and Lincoln County, in western Oregon. It was one of many CPS camps across the United States where c ...

was a

Civilian Public Service The Civilian Public Service (CPS) was a program of the United States government that provided conscientious objectors with an alternative to military service during World War II. From 1941 to 1947, nearly 12,000 draftees, willing to serve their ...

(CPS) camp, one of many camps across the United States where conscientious objectors were given unpaid jobs of "national importance" as a substitute for World War II military service. Camp Angel was unique as the only Fine Arts Program camp in the entire CPS system. The Untide Press developed a reputation for high-quality writing and innovative design. Writers included William Everson,

Glen Coffield Glenn Stemmons Coffield (June 5, 1917 – June 16, 1981) was an American poet and conscientious objector. He was born in Prescott, Arizona, and received a B.S. degree in education from Central Missouri State Teachers College in 1940. During World ...

, Jacob Sloan,

George Woodcock George Woodcock (; May 8, 1912 – January 28, 1995) was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel wri ...

, John Walker, and

Kenneth Patchen Kenneth Patchen (December 13, 1911January 8, 1972) was an American poet and novelist. He experimented with different forms of writing and incorporated painting, drawing, and jazz music into his works, which have been compared with those of Will ...

. William Everson said that "those of us of Untide rank among our biggest moments in CPS the completion of a book, and the very real sense of achievement it occasions." The press produced the ''Illiterati'' magazine on an erratic schedule, and published several small books of poems. All work was set by hand. Many of the poets and writers later formed the nucleus of the San Francisco literary renaissance. The last book produced at the Untide Press in Waldport was

's ''An Astonished Eye Looks Out Of the Air'', printed via letterpress in 1945 as the war was ending.

References

External links

OAC.org: Guide to the Untide Press Records, 1943-1954
— ''

The Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library in the center of the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, is the university's primary special-collections library. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retai ...

collection''. {{Authority control Poetry magazines published in the United States Civilian Public Service Lincoln County, Oregon Magazines published in Oregon Magazines established in 1943 Magazines disestablished in 1954 1943 establishments in Oregon 1954 disestablishments in Oregon