Alfred Starr Hamilton, 2: Bibliography in Progress

ASH 1914-2005

An introduction to this bibliography can be found here:

  

Alfred Starr Hamilton, 1: Biographical notes and reflections

  

I first put this online in November, 2001, updating it from time to time until 2004 or 2005.  This latest edition [2013] has a few additions and I hope readers will contribute as well.  

12 Dec 2016:  Updated with new Epoch references, Wake Up Heavy reference and images.

3 Nov 2022:  I recently came across the University of Chicago library's description of their ASH archives and was able to add about a dozen new citations for magazines, in effect doubling the bibliography's size.  I'm sure it's still incomplete.  Since I first put this up 20 years ago, the number of online articles about and referencing Hamilton has skyrocketed.

I.  Books & Chapbooks

Sphinx. Kumquat Press, Montclair, NJ 1968

Published by Geof Hewitt. 

Kumquat Press apparently still exists and you can reach them at: Kumquat Press, P.O. Box 51, Calais, VT 05648. Hewitt is himself a poet who leads workshops across the state of Vermont. Hewitt's been a juried member of the Vermont Arts Council since 1971.

The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton.  Introduction by Geof Hewitt. Drawings by Philip Van Aver. The Jargon Society, Penland, NC 1970

"Al Hamilton is the kind of poet everybody says they'd like to be.  He doesn't apply for grants and has probably never heard of the national Council on the Arts.  He doesn't teach in a college or write reviews or wash dishes in a diner and other odd jobs.  He writes poetry.  All he does is write poetry."

The Jargon Society

PO Box 15458

Winston-Salem, NC 27113

The Big Parade. The Best Cellar Press, Lincoln, Neb., 1982

 

"This book is published as a special issue of the poetry magazine PEBBLE. This is issue number 22."

Best Cellar Press

Greg Kuzma, Editor

Department of English

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Lincoln, NE 68588

(The next two books appeared after my ASH website ceased to exist)

Send This to the Immune Officer.  Commentary etc. by Lisa Borinsky.  Weird New Jersey, Inc., Bloomfield, NJ, 2010

Letters from ASH to the Montclair Police Dept. with commentary.  A fascinating and compelling read.

A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind:  The Poems of Alfred Star Hamilton.  Edited by Ben Estes and Alan Felsenthal.  Introduction by Geof Hewitt.  The Song Cave, 2013

A comprehensive collection of early poems published in various journals, to previously unpublished, hand-written poems written during his final years at an assisted-living facility.  It's well-designed, and the occasional use of black pages, the title, and the introduction by Hewitt all recall the Jargon book.  It's even got a photo by Simpson Kalisher on the cover, almost certainly taken during the same session as the photo used for the Jargon collection.  Unlike the Jargon book, "Dreambox" includes an autobiographical blurb by Hamilton, originally written for Quickly Aging Here (1969).

John Latta mentions the following two works as well, but I'm not sure if they're books, chapbooks, or broadsides....Any info out there?  I got the the following info from WorldCat.

An orange drink at Nedick's.  Crawlspace, Belvidere Ill., 1985

War and Peace: poems.  Blue Moon, Tuscon AZ [?], 1960 [?]

The references on WorldCat give no indication of the length of these books and the date of War and Peace is incorrect; Blue Moon was founded in 1975.  Both publishers do exist, however.

 

II.  Magazines / Journals

Epoch.  Fall 1962 Vol. XII, No. 3  Cornell University:  "Crabapples"

Epoch.  Fall 1963 Vol. XIII, No. 1  Cornell University:  6 poems 

 

Epoch.  Winter 1963 Vol. XII [XIII?], No. 3  Cornell University

Epoch.  Spring 1964 Vol. XIII, No. 3  Cornell University:  3 poems

Epoch. Winter 1965 Vol. XIV, No. 4  Cornell University:  5 poems

Epoch.  Winter 1967 Vol. XVII, No. 2  Cornell University   

Metanoia. Vol. 1, No. 1 December 1967

Metanoia. Vol 1 (?), No. 4 1968 (?)

 

Monk's Pond. No. 1 Spring 1968.  Trappist, KY:  "Poems from Salvation Army"

Judging from Hamilton's correspondence with Merton, 6 poems were included.

Poems of the People.  No. 3 1970: 3 poems [Thanks to Eric Torgersen for sending these scans from PotP].

"This was a mimeographed publication sent free to underground papers....who were free to publish any of the poems etc. in the issue. Published by me [Eric Torgersen] with Michael Lally and Paula Novotnak. 

It was a publication in its own right, with some individual subscribers, but the service to the papers was the point. I can't name individual publications....but besides the three who produced it we had stuff from Robert Bly, from small-c communist poet Walter Lowenfels, Tuli Kupferberg of the Fugs, Vincent Ferrini (who plays a role Olson's Maximus Poems), plus many of the most political poets out there in little-mag world."

The Archive. Vol. 83, No.3 Spring 1971: 8 poems

The Archive. Vol. 83, No.2 Winter 1971: 19 poems

Note: the volume info for The Archive comes from the Guide to the Alfred Starr Hamilton Papers 1963-2015 at the University of Chicago Library; I'm not sure why No. 2 is Winter and No. 3 is Spring; I suspect an error with the numbering or the dates, and will try to clarify this with UC.

New Letters: A Continuation of the University Review. Vol. 39, No. 1 Fall 1972:  short biography and 4 poems

The Wormwood Review. Vol. 16, No. 1 (Issue No. 61) 1975: “Double Daring" (10 pages of poems dated 9/12/75)

Workshop 25. Fall, 1975. Bob Arnold, Ed.

I don't know what poems are included.

American Poetry Review. March/April, 1976:  "Color Lines," "Moon," "To Father Coughlin," "Pink Ponds;" p.13

"I am immune."

Poetry Now. Volume III. Numbers 3-6 (Issues 15-18), 1976:  "Our Flag," "The Pool," "Wilkes Barre, Pa.," "Broom Factory," "Visitations," "War;" p. 60-61

waves [sic], No. 1 1978: "Walden House," "Baloney," "Boy Meets Girl"

New Letters: A Magazine of Fine Writing. Winter 1981/82:  4 poems

The UC archives list “Apples” and “Crawlspace” as "Published Poetry" in 1985 but I'm not quite sure what that refers to, as no journal is mentioned.  Perhaps they were broadsides?  I think Crawlspace is a journal. They published "An orange drink at Nedick's" either as a broadside or in their magazine.

Cat's Eye, Winter 1980: "The War," "Ferlinghuysen Avenue," "Arena," "King Solomon" (I haven't verified this)

Cat's Eye, No. 3, Summer 1981: "With contributions from the reclusive outsider poet, Alfred Starr Hamilton...."

Exquisite Corpse. Vol. 5, Nos. 9-12 September-December 1987

Lips. No. 11 1985

Lips. No. 14 1988:  “A Drifting Cloud” and “The Month of Maine”

The Wormwood Review. Vol. 28, No. 1 (Issue 109) 1988:  “Yes” and “Poetry”

Journal of New Jersey Poets. Volume XVII. Number 2, 1995:  "Mirrorland," "Beautiful," "A Town without a Soul;" p. 1-3

Wake Up Heavy, No.3, 2000 

Chicago Review. No. 58 Summer 2013:. "Woodcut," "A Disciple of Red Christ," "Indomitably Bystanders," "City Wide," "Officers Shoes" 

(Hewitt apparently did a hand-printed broadside of a poem with this name in the late-60s.  WorldCat;  "Set and printed by hand, the Kumquat Press, Montclair, N.J., [196-?])  Hewitt writes:

I don't recall "Officer's Shoes," and cannot recall whether I issued a Hamilton broadside. I think there were 8, all on a nice white toothy paper with deckle edge, as I recall, each only as big as the poem plus margins, so there was Elliott Coleman"s "A Summer Sky" (18" x 14"+/-) and probably a Hamilton poem (10" x 6"). It's all getting a little foggy, but the broadsides are probably 1968 Iowa City, same letterpress shop as Sphinx.

Boston Review, 38, 2013: "Cinderella"

III.  Anthologies

Quickly Aging Here: Some of the Poets of the 1970's. Geof Hewitt, Ed. New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1969.

Alfred Starr Hamilton’s “Anything Remembered,’’ “April Lights,’’ “Guardian,’’ 
“Liquid’ll,’’ “Town,” “White Chimes,” from Epoch, © 1963, 1964, 1967 
by Cornell University; “Bronze,” “Didn’t You Ever Search for Another 
Star?” “Psyche,” from Sphinx, © 1968 by The Kumquat Press.

Bleb Twelve. Gardner, Geoffrey, Ed. New York, NY: Bleb, 1977.

Thus Spake the Corpse : An Exquisite Corpse Reader 1988-1998 : Volume 2. Andrei Codrescu & Laura Rosenthals, Eds: "God," "February," & "New York City Public Library Lions."

 

Bluestones and Salt Hay. An Anthology of Contemporary New Jersey Poets. Joel Lewis, ed. Rutgers University Press, 1990. Foreword by Anne Waldman. 

IV.  About Alfred Starr Hamilton

HAMILTON, Alfred Starr  1914-[2005]

PERSONAL:  Borne June 14, 1914, in Montclair, N.J.; son of Alfred Starr and Virginia (Gildersleeve) Hamilton. Education:  Attended high school in Montclair, N.J. Politics:  Socialist.  Religion:  "Immune."  Home and office:   41 South Willow St., Montclair, N.J. 07042.

CAREER:  Poet.  Military service:  U.S. Army, 1942-43.

WRITINGS:  Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton, Jargon Press, 1970.  Contributor to Epoch, New Directions, Foxfire, New Letters, Archive, and Greenfield Review.

SIDELIGHTS:  Hamilton has hitchhiked through forty-three states.

source:  Contemporary Authors:  A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Volumes 53-56. 1975: p.264

 

New: American and Canadian Poetry. Number 9, 1969; p. 40-41

A review of Sphinx by Eric Torgerson.

"Notes towards extinction: American poetry wipe-out." New: American and Canadian Poetry. Number 15, 1971; p. 39-44

 

This essay is a "state of poetry today" kind of thing.  Hewitt doesn't say anything about Hamilton that couldn't be applied to any number of other poets, but he does praise his unique voice, apparent lack of concern for literary "fashion" and ability to maintain a strong "presence" in the poetry without being its sole object.

[I've always felt my description here sounds a bit flip, so I should reiterate my respect for Hewitt as a long-time champion of ASH and a stand-up guy.  I've had exchanges with a few Hamiltonians and to a number they're good people].

Three poems are given in full:  "Liquid'll," "April Lights," and "Hark"

The New York Times.  April 13 and May 25, 1975

On April 13 Jonathan Williams has "The Guest Word" in the New York Times Book Review.  He berates James Dickey for high reading fees and praises Hamilton.  The article repeats the Hamilton story told by Hewitt and makes a plea on his behalf for money, adding that for 1975 he only needs about $2,000.  A Spartan existence is outlined.  The details differ, but it is essentially the same story given by Geof Hewitt in his intro to The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton.

"I'm not immune.  I'm just out in the open.  There aren't as many bees as there used to be."

On May 25 Williams writes in to report that Hamilton donations have come to the tune of $5,600 dollars.

Blackbird Dust. Jonathan Williams. Turtle Point Press, 2000.

 

Includes his NYT article from May 25, 1975.

The New York Times.  "His Poetry Was Odd, but His Letters to the Police Were Odder." Peter Aplebome. 23 Aug 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/nyregion/23towns.html?_r=0. Accessed 06/11/13.

“Dear Police; Is anything of this kind surreptitious?” reads one letter dated Jan. 10, 1983. “I don’t know. Make sure everything is alright. Send this to the immune officer. I am immune. Alfred Starr Hamilton.”

Not so much a review as a description of Borinsky's magazine and the paradoxes in ASH's life.

CounterText, Vol. 7, Iss. 1 2021: Moreover: Reading Alfred Starr Hamilton. John Wilkinson.

Honest question. Is this a satire of academia?  I'm not saying it to take a dig at anyone, but this reads like a satire of academic jargon.

This article addresses the challenge to professionalised practices of reading represented by the oeuvre of Alfred Starr Hamilton (1914–2005), with broader implications for the contested category of Outsider Writing. Drawing on the author's experience, three types of early life encounter with poetry are specified, guided to its objects by cultural and parental authority and later reaction against them: a fetish of the book and representations of the poet, oral pleasure, and the magic of the word as an illimitably productive and plastic material. These are linked to encounter with Hamilton's poetry, at once unrelentingly repetitive, and sponsored and structured by a small seedbank of magic words, occasioning the sudden florescence of beauty. To read Hamilton requires a feline practice of submitting to reverie while registering disturbance and aesthetic shock precisely.

V.  Music  (Eventually, if such a thing were to happen, I'd add theater or cinematic works about or  

                     inspired by Hamilton)

A.  The Bye Bye Blackbirds have a song called "Alfred Starr Hamilton" on their 2016 album Take Out the Poison.  I wrote them and asked why, or if an ASH line is used as a lyric.  Singer/songwriter Bradly Skaught replied:

[The song] doesn't incorporate any of his lines (or even approximate his style) but it was inspired by him. It's not so much about his work, but him as a person and an artist, living and working so marginally and isolated, yet still creating this rich artistic life. I found myself thinking about artists at the margins, some of whom we never even hear of and vanish without a trace, but who lived an artistic life and navigated the world with a spirit of creative investigation and expression regardless of their relationship to anything like the art world, publishing, etc. I guess I was trying to capture something of the feeling of that spirit, and maybe relating to it as well -- to that core drive to be creative and create art in whatever little sphere of life we find ourselves in.

Here's that song:

B.  Composer Nathan Hall has set 5 ASH poems to music and put them on SoundCloud: here. 2019.

VI.  Archives

The University of Chicago has some archival material related to Hamilton (3 boxes / 1.5 meters of shelf space) which are open to researchers.

https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.HAMILTONAS

The collection contains biographical information, personal belongings, correspondence, drafted prose inspired by Hamilton written by family members, book reviews, newspaper clippings with interviews and biographies, poetry journals and magazines, books, and Hamilton’s unpublished poetry manuscripts.

There is a more detailed inventory at the UC Library website.  It appears as though there are some appearances in print of which I was earlier unaware, and I've updated the bibliography accordingly.  If anyone has an opportunity to see those archives and would like to share with us, we'd be grateful.

My own collection of ASH book (not including photocopies from his appearances in poetry journals).  I started with the Jargon book in 2001 and got a copy of Sphinx in 2020.

***********************************************************************************

If you know of any other appearances I've missed, please 

let me know and I'll add it to the bibliography.

Years ago I bought The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton for 30 dollars and The Big Parade for 10 or 15.  Booksellers have cottoned to his enduring popularity and the increasing scarcity of these small print runs; both now sell for about 90 dollars.  I don't see Sphinx for sale anywhere; when it was available it was - even then - beyond my means.  You might try asking Geof Hewitt directly if he still has copies.  

If you are interested in the work, and not a collector, I'd recommend the Dreambox collection.  It's affordable, comprehensive, and a nice little book, easy to read (an important consideration for fogies like me) and not too big or heavy to bring to a picnic and read to your companions à la Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe....

Here are some links, if you're looking (I get no remuneration for this):

• Sphinx

• The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton

• The Big Parade

• Weird NJ Presents: Send This to the Immune Officer--Found Letters of Alfred Starr Hamilton (out of stock, try the publisher)

• A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind: The Poems of Alfred Starr Hamilton (look around and you can find it cheaper than this link)

Many thanks to those who've helped me and agreed to be quoted.  I hope to annotate this bibliography further with anecdotes about the circumstances of these publications.  One day....