BOOKS READ 2025

1. One #20

2. The Philokalia: The Complete Text Volume One- Compiled by St. Nikodimus of the Holy Mountain and St. Makarios of Corinth, translated by G.E.H. Palmer, Philip Sherrard, Kallistos Ware

3. Colored Reading: The Graphic Art Of Francis Bacon- Francis Bacon

4. The Captain Poetry Poems Complete- bp Nichol

5. Henry The Fifth- William Shakespeare

6. What Is Gnosticism- Karen King

7. One #21

8. The Purgatorio- Dante Alighieri

9. Imperial Nostalgias- Joshua Edwards

10. The Road- Cormac McCarthy

11. Lamentations- NRSV

12. Ezekiel- NRSV

13. The New Poetics- Mathew Timmons

14. 010101: Art In Technological Times- SF MOMA

15. Entangled Bank- James Sherry

16. Telling The Truth As It Comes Up: Selected Talks And Essays 1991-2018- Alice Notley

17. Popular Music- Kelly Schirmann

18. Saint Francis- Nikos Kazantzakis

19. Daniel- NRSV

20. After Spicer: Critical Essays- edited by John Emil Vincent

21. From The Arapaho Songbook- Andrew Schelling

22. Hosea- NRSV

23. The Cave Of The Petralonian Archanthropinae- Aris N. Poulianos

24. Liquid Conspiracy 2: The CIA, M16 And Big Pharma's War On Psychedelics- Xaviant Haze

25. Joel- NRSV

26. Again: Poems 1989-2000- Joanne Kyger

27. Amos- NRSV

28. Athonite Fathers And Athonite Matters- Elder Paisios Of Mount Athos

29. Obadiah- NRSV

30. Flashbacks And Premonitions- Jon Longhi

31. Jonah- NRSV

32. Surviving Death- Leslie Kean

33. Outrider- Anne Waldman

34. Wonder Boys- Michael Chabon

35. Dragons And Chariots: An Explanation Of Extraterrestrial Spacecraft And Their Propulsion Systems- Wesley H. Bateman

36. Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales- The Brother's Grimm

37. Lost Christianities: The Battle For Scripture And The Faiths We Never Knew- Bart D. Erhman

38. Micah- NRSV

39. Against The Grain: Biotechnology And The Corporate Takeover Of Your Food- Mark Lappe, Britt Baily

40. Skipbootzine #1

41. Skipbootzine #4

42. The Green Fuse- Lita Hornick

43. The Day After Roswell- Col. Philip J. Corso, William J. Birnes

44. Paradise Lost And Other Poems- John Milton

45. Dark Night Of The Soul- St. John Of The Cross

46. O Powerful Western Star- Jack Foley

47. Too Easy #1

48. Fence #42

49. Nahum- NRSV

50. Habakkuk- NRSV

51. Zephaniah- NRSV

52. Haggai- NRSV

53. Zechariah- NRSV

54. Malachi- NRSV

55. Tobit- NRSV

56. Judith- NRSV

57. Esther (The Greek Version Containing Additional Chapters)- NRSV

58. The Wisdom Of Solomon- NRSV

59. Ecclesiasticus, Or The Wisdom Of Jesus, Son Of Sirach- NRSV

60. Baruch- NRSV

61. The Letter Of Jeremiah- NRSV

BOOKS READ 2024

1. Proverbs- NRSV

2. Ecclesiastes- NRSV

3. Wicked- The Life And Times Of The Wicked Witch Of The West- Gregory Maguire

4. The Lion Of Comaire And Against The Fall Of Night- Arthur C. Clarke

5. Meteora: History, Art, Monastic Presence

6. Selenography- Joshua Marie Wilkinson

7. Dreamland- Bob Lazar

8. Either Way I'm Celebrating- Sommer Browning

9. CHRON!C!RIOTS!PA!SM- Fly

10. Evguenie Sokolov- Serge Gainsbourg

11. Fantasies Of The Master Race- Ward Churchill

12. The Song OF Solomon- NRSV

13. A Mountain City Of Toad Splendor- Megan Mcshea

14. Seinlanguage- Jerry Seinfeld

15. Snow Sensitive Skin- Taylor Brady, Rob Halpern

16. One #27

17. New American Writing #23

18. Mount Athos: History, Monuments, Tradition- Th. M Prouatakis

19. Margaret And Dusty- Alice Notley

20. No Exit And Three Other Plays- Jean Paul Sartre

21. Skeleton Isle # JSF Film Festival

22. Twerk- Latasha N. Nevada Diggs

23. Forced Entries: The Downtown Diaries 1971-1973- Jim Carroll

24. Gigantic- Cody Sanders, Mick Casals

25. Isiah- NRSV

26. Philosophical Notes To My Friends- John Elias

27. When Snow Fell On The Lemon Tree Blossoms- Leonidas Petrakis, translated by Angelos Sakkis

28. The Origin Of Satan- Elaine Pagels

29. The Champ- Kenward Elmslie, Joe Brainard

30. Piccolo Mondo- George Bowering, Angela Bowering, Michael Matthews, David Bromige

31. FAQ- Ben Doller

32. Jesus The Magician- Morton Smith

33. Great Guns- Farnoosh Fathi

34. Five Doubts- Mary Caponegro

35. The Film: A Psychological Study- Hugo Munsterberg

36. Antony And Cleopatra- William Shakespeare

37. PQRS- Patrick Durgin

38. Astral Projection: The Out Of Body Experience- Melita Denning, Osburne Phillips

39. The Merchant Of Venice- William Shakespeare

40. A Dark Dreambox Of Another Kind: The Poems Of Alfred Starr Hamilton- Alfred Starr Hamilton

41. Jeremiah- NRSV

42. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed The Bible And Why- Bart D. Ehrman

43. Henry IV Part 1- William Shakespeare

44. Underlight- Aaron McCollough

45. The UFO Phenomenon- Mysteries Of The Unknown

46. One #19

47. Lake Superior- Lorine Niedecker

48. Julius Caesar- Willian Shakespeare 

49. Spokes- David Sizemore

50. Othello- William Shakespeare

51. Paradise Besieged- Richard John Friedlander

52. O Bon- Brandon Shimoda

Books Read 2023

1. High Magic- Frater U.D.

2. New American Writing #25

3. The Householders- Tara Mcdowell

4. Macular Hole- Catherine Wagner

5. The Dark Half- Stephen King

6. Lost And Found: The CUNY Poetics Document Initiative Series 3, Spring 2012: 

Langston Hughes, Nancy Conard And Louise Thompson: Poetry, Politics and Friendship In The Spanish Civil War

Lorine Niedecker: Homemade Poems

John Wieners And Charles Olson: Selected Correspondence (Parts I and II)

Diane Di Prima: Charles Olson Memorial Lecture

Edward Dorn: The Olson Memorial Lectures

Michael Rumaker: Selected Letters

Joane Kyger: Letters To And From 

7. The Mummy Or Ramses The Damned- Anne Rice

8. How Jesus Became God: The Exaltation Of A Jewish Preacher From Galilee- Bart D. Ehrman 

9. The Life And Times Of Steve Orth- Steve Orth

10. Night Shift- Stephen King

11. The Complete Eightball: Issues 1-18- Daniel Clowes

12. Genesis- NRSV

13. Exodus- NRSV

14. Leviticus- NRSV

15. Numbers- NRSV

16. Deuteronomy- NRSV

17. Joshua- NRSV

18. Judges- NRSV

19. Ruth- NRSV

20. 1 Samuel- NRSV

21. 2 Samuel- NRSV

22. 1 Kings- NRSV

23. 2 Kings- NRSV

24. Vita Nuova- Dante, translated by Mark Musa

25. Five Fingers Review #22

26. Justine- Lawrence Durrell

27. 777 And Other Qabalistic Writings Of Aleister Crowley- Aleister Crowley

28. My New Job- Catherine Wager

29. Chronicles I- NRSV

30. Profiles Of The Future- Arthur C. Clarke

31. Chronicles II- NRSV

32. The Focus Of Life: The Mutterings OF Aaos- Austin Osman Spare

33. Ezra- NRSV

34. Writers Who Love Too Much: New Narrative 1977-1997- edited by Dodie Bellamy, Kevin Killian

35. Nehemiah- NRSV

36. Prime Chaos: Adventures In Chaos Magic- Phil Hine

37. Alph- Charles Eric Maine

38. The Invention Of Glass- Emmanuel Hocquard, translated Cole Swenson, Rod Smith

39. The Poetry Of Jack Spicer- Daniel Katz

40. The Tiny #2

41. Intersections: The Sycamore Hill Anthology- edited John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name, Richard Butner

42. Rant- Chuck Palahniuk

43. O One/ An Anthology- edited Leslie Scalapino

44. Man Vs. Sky- Corey Zeller

45. Get The Money: Collected Prose (1961-1983)- Ted Berrigan

46. Esther- NRSV

47. Job- NRSV

48. Revelation: St John Of The Divine's Prophecies For The Apocalypse And Beyond- Peter Lorbe

49. The Fountains Of Paradise- Arthur C. Clarke

50. American Cosmic: UFOs, Religions, Technology- D.W. Pasulka

51. Area Sneaks #1

52. New Weathers: Poetics From The Naropa Archives- edited Anne Waldman, Emma Gomis

53. Credences #1

54. Monica- Daniel Clowes

55. Introducing The Orthodox Church: Its Faith and Life- Anthony M. Coniaris

56. Psalms- NRSV

Tom Raworth

[this, what, reminiscence? originally appeared on Kent Johnson and Michael Boughn's Dispatches blog, published early 2017. I'm not 100% sure but I believe it was taken down shortly after being posted, I never found out why, if indeed it was]

Februray 23rd, 2004 was a Monday, a strange day for a reading, a strange night rather, on that night Tom  Raworth and Kelly Holt read at Brandon Brown’s apartment in the Tenderloin in San Francisco.  

I know that Tom was in town for another reading, a proper reading, I know that I attended that reading;  I think it was in Berkeley, perhaps it was a Holloway reading? Perhaps Jennifer Scappettone was  organizing? That feels right but can’t say for certain, what I can say for certain is that I took this photo of  Tom Raworth and Jean Day at that reading on February 19, 2004, (this photo cracks me up, I hadn’t  introduced myself to either of these people yet, I knew of them, through their books, they were  celebrities to me, I’m the paparazzi, I probably walked up, startled them out of their conversation,  blinded them with a flash photo, pivoted on my heels and bee-lined for the free wine table).

And here’s another photo from that same reading, I spot Leslie Scalapino, Lyn Hejinian, Duncan  Mcnaughton (?), Simone Fattal , Chris Stroffolino, Kate Pringle (?), who else? 

I’m adlibbing a bit here but I suspect Brandon Brown (full of complimentary wine) approached Tom and  invited him to read at his apartment, spur of the moment, I don’t think Brandon knew Tom before that  night, later on in the car on the way back to SF I remember Brandon going “holy shit, Tom Raworth is  going to read at my apartment…” and me going “holy shit…” 

Night of the reading at Brandon’s apartment, Tenderloin, San Francisco, I remember Brandon being  nervous that no one would show up, it was a last minute reading and Tom had just read. I remember Brandon being relieved when the first person arrived at the apartment, Kevin Killian.

It was an intimate reading for sure, but it didn’t feel  small to me. Here’s a photo of partial audience, I spot (from bottom L to R)  

Kevin Killian, Larry Kearney, Elise Ficarra, Megan Pruitt and Tom reading 

I remember being struck by how fast Tom read, I would learn later that he was infamous for this reading  style, it blew me away that night, casual but intense, hard to understand at times but pleasurable all the  same. I liked his approach; different than anything I had experienced up to that point. It was obvious Tom hadn’t planned a reading, he was skipping around his book (I think a Collected) frenetically, randomly, stopping to read a poem at the back then flipping to the front to read another.  

Kelly Holt also read that night, she read from her just released Tolling Elves pamphlet/ chapbook Syntax  For J.C., and now that I think about it, was that the connection? Thomas Evans, who published Tolling  Elves, was still in England back then, perhaps Kelly knew Tom Raworth through Thomas Evans? Did Tom Raworth recommend to Brandon Brown that he read with Kelly Holt? I don’t know, it was a good pairing though, I do remember that. (Kelly was the first  poet I was friends with who was around my age who had something published, her Tolling Elves “book” was actually a pamphlet, but to me it was a book, I remember asking Kelly  before the reading about her “publisher” Thomas Evans, I remember Kelly laughing at the idea of Thomas being “her publisher,” I remember being a little embarrassed).  

Here is a photo of Kelly reading from her “book”

And here are a couple photos of Tom reading 

After the reading Larry Kearney and Tom Raworth, old buds (notice the framed W.B. Yeats photo on the  wall next to the magnetic dart board)  

Brandon Brown and Tom after the reading 

And one more photo with Kelly, Tom, Larry and Kevin chatting in Brandon’s room after the reading

  

It was a great reading, intimate and warm; Tom reading among friends old and new. 

BOOKS READ 2022

1. Caterpillar #12
2. Ibsen: Four Major Plays Volume II- Henrik Ibsen
3. Sonnets To The Humans- Zachary Colter
4. One #26
5. Modern French Theater: The Avant-garde, DADA, And Surrealism- edited and translated by Michael Benedikt, George E Wellwarth
6. If I Should Say I Have Hope- Lynn Mellnick
7. Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel Of Thomas- Elaine Pagels
8. Darwin's Century: Evolution And The Men Who Discovered It- Loren Eiseley
9. Snow-Flake/ Different Streets- Eileen Myles
10. Imperial Earth- Arthur C. Clarke
11. Paul: The Apostle Of The Gentiles: Journey's In Greece- Maria Mavromataki
12. The Selected Poems Of Steve Carey- Steve Carey
13. Skeleton Isle #1
14. Report On Planet Three- Arthur C. Clarke
15. Ethics Of Sleep- Bernadette Mayer
16. Fourteen Hills- Vol 18 No. 2
17. The Exploration Of Space- Arthur C. Clarke
18. Prayer Book And Hymnology Of The Holy Eastern Orthodox Church- Rev. Dr. Harry P Hatzopoulos
19. The Colossus Of Maroussi- Henry Miller
20. Borderless Bodies- Linh Dinh
21. The Gnostics: Myth, Ritual, And Diversity In Early Christianity- David Braake
22. Five Stars: Selected Amazon Reviews Volume 4- Kevin Killian
23. Credences 4
24. The Dispossessed- Ursula K. Le Guin
25. And If You Don't Go Crazy I'll Meet You Here Tomorrow- Filip Marinovih
26. Slaying The Dragon: A Secret History Of Dungeons And Dragons- Ben Riggs
27. Killing And Dying- Adrian Tomine
28. WHET- Erick Garcia
29. Main Street- Sinclair Lewis
30. Soft Targets #1
31. Introduction To Magic: Rituals And Practical Techniques For The Magus Vol 1- Julius Evola And The UR Group
32. Correct Animal- Rebecca Farivar
33. Macaroni Necklace #2
34. Painters And Poets: Tibor De Nagy Gallery- Douglas Crase, Jenni Quilter
35. The Heathens: Primitive Man And His Religions- William Howells
36. The Man Suit- Zachery Schomburg
37. Fantastic Voyage- Isaac Asimov
38. Balloon Pop Outlaw Black- Patricia Lockwood

BOOKS READ 2021

1. Death Under Construction- Ava Koohbor
2. Daily Bread Vol 10 #6
3. The Occult- Colin Wilson
4. Resolution Of The West- Nicholas James Wittington
5. Manchestuhhh- Owen Peters
6. Skeleton Isle #1
7. Promethea Book Five- Alan Moore, JH Williams III
8. Armies Of Compassion- Eleni Stecopoulos
9. A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms- George R.R. Martin
10. Transfer Fat- Aase Berg
11. Thank You For The Window Office- Maged Zaher
12. Daily Bread Vol 10 #7
13. Isa The Truck Named Isadore- Amanda Nadelberg
14. The Familiar: One Rainy Day In May: Volume 1- Mark Z. Danielewski
15. Pleasure- Brian Teare
16. Privado- Daniel Tiffany
17. The Perennial Philosophy- Aldous Huxley
18. Night Mail "Open In The Dark"- Julien Poirier
19. Sister Spit: Writing, Rants and Reminiscence From The Road- ed. Michelle Tea
20. The Books To Come- Alan Loney
21. The Parables Of Jesus: A Commentary- Arland J. Hultgren
22. Westward Haut- Edward Dorn
23. The Temple Of High Magic: Hermetic Initiations In The Western Mystery Tradition- Ina Costers-Van Bergen
24. The Scarlet Gospels- Clive Barker
25. Tulips- John Brian King
26. Vein- John Brian King
27. The Gnostic Gospels- Elaine Pagels
28. Homage To Homage To Homage To Creeley- Joshua Ware
29. Daily Bread Vol 10 #8
30. The Invisibles: Book Three- Grant Morrison
31. One #18
32. Hughson's Tavern- Fred Moten
33. The Rise And Fall Of Alexandria: Birthplace Of The Modern Mind- Justin Pollard, Howard Reid
34. The Kybalion: A Study Of The Hermetic Philosophy Of Ancient Egypt And Greece- Three Initiates 
35. Parthenon West Review Issue Five
36. The Perfumed Garden- Shaykh Nefzawi, translated by Sir Richard Burton
37. Aphoria- Jackie Clark
38. Skipbootzine #3
39. The Three Magical Books Of Solomon: The Testament Of Solomon And His Greater And Lesser Keys In One Volume- translated by Aleister Crowley, S.L., Macgregor Mathers, F.C. Conybear
40. The Disinformation Phase- Chris Toll
41. The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne
42. Austin Osman Spare: The Occult Life Of London's Legendary Artist- Phil Baker
43. Homage To Etel Adnan- ed. Lindsey Boldt, Steve Dickison, Samantha Giles
44. Media, Hippolytus, Alkestis, The Bacchae- Euripides
45. Earth Inferno- Austin Osman Spare
46. Anarch- Frances Richard
47. Seconds- Mike Torres
48. The Invisibles: Book Four- Grant Morrison
49. Radius Media #2
50. A Blue Nocturne Notebook- Andrew K. Peterson
51. Lord Jim- Joseph Conrad
52. The Canary #7
53. Tess Of The D'urbervilles- Thomas Hardy
54. The Book Of Pleasure: The Psychology Of Ecstasy- Austin Osmon Spare
55. The Explosions- Mathias Svalina
56. Pudd'nhead Wilson- Mark Twain
57. Ceci N'est Pas Keith Ceci N'est Pas Rosmarie- Keith Waldrop, Rosmarie Waldrop
58. The Pastures Of Heaven- John Steinbeck
59. A Monthly Account Of The Year Leading Up To The End Of The World, By Agonistes, Prophet And Fulfiller Or The Exhausted Dream- Joshua Edwards
60. Them Journal Vol One
61. A Private Correspondence- Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller
62. Science- Emily Toder
63. The Easiest Way To Learn Tarot Ever!- Dusty White
64. Bee Reaved- Dodie Bellamy 

Books Read 2020

1.  Galvanized Iron On The Citizens' Band- Joseph Mosconi
2.  Open Space #0: A Prospectus
3.  Studio One Reading Series: 10 Years 54 Poets An Anthology
4.  Bastion- Eric Unger
5.  The Sequel- Michael Slosek
6.  Vats- Luke Daly
7.  Open Space #1
8.  Lost Girls- Alan Moore, Melinda Gebbie
9.  Ellos- Christian Delfino, Mike McMullen
10.  My Emily Dickinson- Susan Howe
11.  A Confession And Other Religious Writings- Leo Tolstoy
12.  Varieties Of Fascism- Eugen Weber
13.  The Treatise Of The Three Imposters- Anonymous
14.  Open Space #2
15.  Open Space #3
16.  Skitch #6
17.  Selected Prose (2008-2019)- Micah Ballard
18.  Open Space: Taurus Issue #4
19.  One #25
20.  Open Space #4 "White Hope"
21.  Sulfur #41
22.  New Sounds: A Listener's Guide To New Music- John Schaefer
23.  Hellboy: Seed Of Destruction Omnibus Vol 1- Mike Mignola, John Byrne
24.  Open Space #5
25.  Riviera: Photographs Of Palm Springs- John Brian King
26.  Open Space #6
27.  Open Space #7
28.  Character And Opinion In The United States- George Santayana
29.  Open Space #8
30.  Mare Island- Brooks Roddan
31.  G.I. Gurdjief: The War Against Sleep- Colin Wilson
32.  Open Space #9
33.  Nemo: River Of Ghosts- Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neil
34.  Open Space # "Valentine"
35.  Open Space #10
36.  Open Space #11
37.  Sulfur #43
38.  Box #3
39.  The Fire: Collected Essays Of Robin Blaser- Robin Blaser, edited by Miriam Nichols
40.  Box #6
41.  Box #7
42.  Daily Bread #1
43.  Good Game- Andrew K. Peterson
44.  Tarot Psychology- Robert Wang
45.  The Invisibles: Book Two- Grant Morrison
46.  Daily Bread #4
47.  Daily Bread #8
48.  Daily Bread #10
49.  The California Poem- Eleni Sikelianos
50.  Daily Bread #11
51.  Humans And Horses- Logan Ryan Smith
52.  The God Of Salt And Light- Logan Ryan Smith
53.  Daily Bread #12
54.  Compeche- Joshua Edwards
55.  Daily Bread #13
56.  Men And Apes- Ramona Morris, Desmond Morris
57.  Memoir And Essay- Michael Gottlieb
58.  Daily Bread #14
59.  Daily Bread #15
60.  Daily Bread Vol. 9 #8
61.  Promethea: Book Three- Alan Moore, J.H. Williams, Mick Gray
62.  Daily Bread Vol. 10 #1
63.  New Testament: New Living Translation
64.  The Tommyknockers- Stephen King
65.  I Dreamed I Was A Very Clean Tramp- Richard Hell
66.  The Way Of Hermes: New Translations Of The Corpus Hermeticum And The Definitions Of Hermes Trismegistus To Asclepius- translated by Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oyen, William D Wharton, Jean-Pierre Mahe
67.  Daily Bread #50
68.  Skip Boot Zine #2
69.  Five Fingers Review #21
70.  The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe- Douglas Adams
71.  Condensed Chaos: An Introduction To Chaos Magic- Phil Hine
72.  Daily Bread Vol. 10 #3
73.  The Book Of Results- Ray Sherwin
74.  Daily Bread Vol. 10 #4
75.  The Recovery Of The Public World: Essays On Poetics In Honour Of Robin Blaser- edited by Charles Watts, Edward Byrne
76.  YesThing NoThing- Edwin Torres
77.  A Plate Of Chicken- Matthew Rohrer
78.  Killing Kanoko- Hiromi Ito
79.  Art Fraud- Jeffrey Schrader
80.  The Greek Experience- C.M. Bowra
81.  Made-Up Interviews With Imaginary Artists- Alex Stein
82.  Promethea: Book Four- Alan Moore, J.H. Williams, Mick Gray
83.  Jesus- Humphrey Carpenter
84.  Lord Of The Flies- William Golding
85.  Adam Robison And Other Poems- Adam Robinson
86.  Rise Up- Matthew Rohrer
87.  The Fast- Hannah Weiner
88.  The Cow- Ariana Reines
89.  The Life And Opinions Of DJ Spinoza- Eugene Ostashevsky
90.  Muzzle/ Mushroom Blading zine
91.  Sketch Of The Artist- Patrick James Dunagan
92.  Mostly Clearing- Michael Gottlieb

Books Read 2019

1.  One #8
2.  One #9
3.  Sulfur #18
4.  One #11
5.  Beastie Boys Book- Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz
6.  Anna Karenina- Leo Tolstoy, translated by The Maude Translation
7.  One #13
8.  New American Writing #22
9.  Aerodrome Orion And Starry Messenger- Susan Gevirtz
10.  Sulfur #19
11.  The X-Files Season 10 Vol 3- Joe Harris, Dave Smith
12.  A Tonalist- Laura Moriarty
13.  Nakedness Is My End: Poems From The Greek Anthology- translated by Edmund Keeley
14.  INTI- Brian Bina
15.  In Love With Art: Francoise Mouly's Adventures In Comics With Art Spielgelman- Jeet Heer
16.  Museum Of Thrown Objects- Andrew K. Peterson
17.  One #15
18.  30 Days Of Night: Eben And Stella- Steve Niles, Sue Deconnick, Justin Randall
19.  30 Days Of Night: Three Tales- Steve Niles, Nat James, Ben Templesmith, Milx
20.  Kick-Ass- Mark Millar, John Tomita Jr. 
21.  Western Palaces- Logan Ryan Smith
22.  Sulfur #23
23.  Habibi- Craig Thompson
24.  Promethea: Book Two- Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III
25.  ... (Ellipsis)- Alaistar Johnston
26.  The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy- Douglas Adams
27.  One #16
28.  Coeur De Lion- Ariana Reines
29.  Denny Smith- Robert Gluck
30.  The Punisher Max Vol One- Garth Ennis, Derick Robertson, Lewis LaRosa, Leandro Fernandez
31.  Iovis- Anne Waldman
32.  Reciprocal Distillations- Clayton Eshleman
33.  Mercury- Ariana Reines
34.  The X-Files: Ruins- Kevin J. Anderson
35. Discourse 20.1 and 2
36.  Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History Of The Disc Jockey- Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton
37.  Looking Up Harryette Mullen: Interviews On Sleeping With The Dictionary And Other Works- Barbara Henning, Harryette Mullen
38.  One #10
39.  The Book Of The Law- Aleister Crowley
40.  Nemo: Heart Of Ice- Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill
41.  On The Shining Screen Of The Eyelids- Josely Vianna Baptista, Francisco Faria, translated by Chris Daniels
42.  The Mayor Of Casterbridge- Thomas Hardy
43.  Old Growth: Selected Poems And Notebooks 1986-1994- Andrew Schelling
44.  Nemo: The Roses Of Berlin- Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill
45.  Toy Fables- Cass McCombs
46.  Sulfur #31
47.  Bloomsbury Pie: The Making Of The Bloomsbury Boom- Regina Marler
48.  Loverboys- Gilbert Hernandez
49.  and now, a vineyard- Andrew K. Peterson
50.  Mum Halo- John Coletti
51.  Liber Null And Psychonaut- Peter J. Carroll
52.  Moving Day- Ish Klein
53.  Testamentality, Transcryption: An Emotional Memoir Of Jack Spicer- Larry Kearney
54.  Aleister Crowley: The Nature Of The Beast- Colin Wilson
55.  American Mischief- Alan Lelchuk
56.  Skitch #5
57.  Holy Daimon- Frater Archer
58.  Rob The Plagerist- Robert Fitterman

hello, I have a new book out on Roof called Mirror Magic, 

if you're so inclined you can order a copy from SPD or Amazon

if you'd like to REVIEW the book please email me at john.sakkis@gmail.com and I'll get you a copy,

John Sakkis’ Mirror Magic offers us the riotous in the fullest sense of the word: rife with quick-wit and biting humor, these pages also riot against an ever-crumbling present as it dissolves a future teetering on the cusp of fantastical and apocalyptic; “I tic toc my minutes / NIMBY pansies get butterflies / ‘shadow pollution’ kills birds / so rents go up and over /you laugh at the needles /that stick to your meddling.”\” Bounding through space in Nike shoes, the tragi-comedy of the neoliberal state escalates as “ambition gets complicated” and muddies our horizons. Through Sakkis’ verses we live in a dynamic zone “floating and falling / and floating” in the overlapping absurdity and truth where still he leisurely and militantly demands more. From Vegas, to Californian ecosystems, to UFOs, the moon and beyond, the blossoming of childhood magic collides with adulthood’s brutal realism, daring to hone our critical apparatus and dream harder.

and from the backcover of the book:

"Irresistible and ebullient as your Saturday plans look midweek, John Sakkis’ Mirror Magic is a reflective and necromantic gathering that gives back what it asks of a day lived both online and off the wall: “please leave/this sweet light/and render me/phosphorescent tubeway splatter genome.” Sakkis’ spunky challenge to the popular poetics of our time (stuffed armor or ardor) make me wonder what Cocteau might be up to in the 21st Century; maybe directing straight-to-VHS skater videos, scanning the Bay’s convex parking bumpers for the myth of the perfect ollie. “’The millennium’ is a confusing term/and you are a headless oracle mumbling/‘this generation shall not pass/directly or indirectly/into the abyss’.” With grime and pop and savvy, these poems’ tricks grind along the silver internet’s omnipresences, a gleaming cube of instruction and wise-assed possibility. Enter here, into Sakkis’ “kinky time warp,” a humid mirror where humor and found magic are the blades for the body to open through.

–Andrew Peterson

Mirror Magic’s poems live simultaneously in uncomfortable realities and joy, gathering snippets of experience as if they were wildflower bouquets for detonating in language like miniature fireworks. Violence and violence collide. Violence and exaltation collide. Sometimes you get burned. Sometimes you get to take a bath. This bad boy is full of life.
–Eleni Sikelianos"
 

Books Read 2018

1. The Front- K. Silem Mohammad
2. Port Trakl- Jamie Luis Huenun, translated Daniel Borzutsky
3. Swamp Thing: The Curse- Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben
4. Foreign Policy- Julien Poirier
5. Swamp Thing: A Murder Of Crows- Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Totleben
6. Uncle Tom's Cabin- Harriet Beacher Stowe
7. Anonymous Bouquet- Andrew K. Peterson
8. Providence: Act 2- Alan Moore, Jacen Burrows
9. Swamp Thing: Earth To Earth- Alan Moore, Rick Veitch
10. Beats At Naropa- edited Anne Waldman, Laura Wright
11. Felonies Of Illusion- Mark Wallace
12. The Collages Of Helen Adam- edited Alison Fraser
13. Fast Speaking Woman- Anne Waldman 
14. Haitian #2
15. Lust For Life- Steve Orth
16. Benching With Virgil- Gad Hollander
17. Haitian #3
18. Providence: Act 3- Alan Moore, Jaceyn Burrows
19. Terminal Humming- K. Lorainne Graham
20. Haitian #4
21. Bay Poetics- edited Stephanie Young
22. Swamp Thing: Reunion- Alan Moore, Rich Veitch
23. The Four Seasons- Brandon Brown
24. Notes On Conceptualisms- Vanessa Place, Robert Fitterman
25. Bed. The Naropa Summer Writing Program Magazine 2004
26. The Idiot- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
27. A Book Of Prophecies- John Wieners
28. California II- Julien Poirier
29. The Wasp- Jack Spicer
30. What's Going On- Sunnylyn Thibodeaux
31. Eclipse Babel- Brian Lucas
32. From Our Hearts To Yours: New Narrative As Contemporary Practice- editied Rob Halpern, Robin Tremblay-Mcgaw
33. Secrets Of My Prison House-Geoffrey Gatza
34. The Book Of Frank- CA Conrad
35. Seven Gothic Tales- Isak Dinesen
36. Nothing Happened And Besides I wasn't There- Mark Wallace
37. The Tiger And The Butterfly- Geoffrey Gatza
38. This Isa Nice Neighborhood- Farid Matuk
39. Satellite- Matthew Rohrer
40. Formosa- Dominik Wagner
41. Haecceities- Michael Cross
42. Smear Jelly Dreaming A Goo Daughter Time Travel And Friendship- Oki Sogumi 
43. Composition Book (an edit)- Matvei Yankelevich
44. Big Bell #9
45. Peregrine- Caroline Goodwin
46. Tropic Of Cancer- Henry Miller
47. Life Is A Rip Off Part II- John "Inzane" Olson
48. Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings Of Daniil Kharms- translated/ edited Matvei Yankelevich
49. One #24
50. Them newsprint zine
51. The Winner- Karl Stevens
52. Answer Me!- Jim and Debbie Goad
53. Ten Walks/ Two Talks- Jon Cotner, Andy Fitch
54. One Vol 2 #4
55. Neighbor- Rachel Levitsy
56. Our Friends Will Pass Among You Silently- Bill Berkson
57. One Vol 2 #2
58. Skitch #4
59. Lyrical Interference: Essays On Poetics- Norman Finkelstein

Books Read 2017

1. Your Wilderness Or Mine- David Highsmith
2. Everything As Expected- James Herndon
3. Sin City: Hell And Back- Frank Miller
4. Enjoy Me- Logan Ryan Smith
5. Sulfur #16
6. Suicide Of A Superpower- Patrick J. Buchannan
7. Big Agenda: President Trump's Plan To Save America- David Horowitz
8. In Trump We Trust- Ann Coulter
9. To After That (Toaf)- Renee Gladman
10. The Letters Of Carla, the letter b. A Mystery In Poetry With A Foreword By The Future Guardian Of The Letters And An Afterword By Benjamin Hollander- Benjamin Hollander
11. Alternative Set Of Procedures- Carlos Soto Romain
12. Complete Minimal Poems- Aram Saroyan
13. The Grapes Of Wrath- John Steinbeck
14. The Palm Trees Of San Quentin- Julien Poirier
15. The Road To Ocosingo- Andrew Schelling
16. A Perfect Day For Scottie Pippen- Steve Orth
17. A Semblance: Selected And New Poems 1975-2007- Laura Moriarty
18. Letters: Poems 1953-1956- Robert Duncan
19. Irresponsibility- Chris Vitiello
20. The Age Of McCarthyism: A Brief History With Documents- Ellen Schrecker
21. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century (Volume 3)- Alan Moore, Kevin O'neill
22. An Anthology Of New (American) Poets- edited Lisa Jarnot, Leonard Schwartz, Chris Stroffolino
23. Lowest Common Denominator- Jacob Kahn
24. Mucus In My Pineal Gland- Juliana Huxtable
25. Crisis In The Humanities- edited J.H. Plumb
26. The Consequence Of Innovation: 21st Century Poetics- edited Craig Dworkin
27. The Girl Next Door- Jack Ketchum
28. Skitch Vol. 3
29. Growing Up- Russell Baker
30. Dear Kathleen: On The Occasion Of Kathleen Fraser's 80th Birthday- edited Susan Gevirtz, Stephen Motika
31. Bomb The Suburbs- William Upski Wimsatt
32. Wild Form, Savage Grammar: Poetry, Ecology, Asia- Andrew Schelling
33. Duties Of An English Foreign Secretary- Macregor Card
34. Promethea- Alan Moore, J.H. Williams, Mick Gray
35. Behind The Barbed Wire: History Of Naval Weapons Station Concord- John A. Keibel
36. The Misanthrope And Other Plays- Moliere
37. Where You're At: Poetics And Visual Art- Kevin Power
38. Parallel Realism- Paul Ebenkamp
39. Leaving The Atocha Station- Ben Lerner
40. View Askew: Postmodern Investigation- Steve Abbott
41. Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip- Lisa Robertson
42. The Tragedy Of King Richard II- Shakespeare
43. The Hound Of The Baskervilles- Arthur Conan Doyle
44. Dear Sandy, Hello: Letters From Ted To Sandy Berrigan- Ted Berrigan, edited Ron Padgett, Sandy Berrigan
45. Long Live You And Me- Jackson Meazle
46. Two Books- CJ Martin
47. The Difficult Farm- Heather Christle
48. The Bigness Of Things: New Narrative And Visual Culture- Daniel Benjamin And Eric Sneathen
49. Takes- Jason Morris
50. Colony Of Whores- Matthew Stokoe
51. Sulfur #17
52. A Humument- Tom Phillips
53. A Mouth In California- Graham Foust
54. The Astral Projection Guidebook: Mastering The Art Of Astral Travel- Erin Pavlina
55. Picture Palace- Stephanie Young
56. Hey, Cowboy, Wanna Get Lucky- Baxter Black
57. Crackpot- Jeremy Sigler
58. The Redcoats- Ryan Murphy
59. Cunt-Ups- Dodie Bellamy

Books Read 2016

1.    William Blake: His Life- James King
2.    The Velveteen Rabbit- Margery Williams, William Nicholson
3.    Names Of People- Robert Duncan, Jess
4.    Saga Volume Four- Brian K. Vaughn, Fiona Staples
5.    We3- Grant Morrison, Frank Quietly
6.    Don’t Know Much About History: Everything You Need To Know About American History But Never Learned- Kenneth C. Davis
7.    Magic Words: The Extraordinary Life Of Alan Moore- Lance Parkin
8.    Paying for It: A Comic Strip Memoir About Being A John- Chester Brown
9.    Ronin- Frank Miller
10.    Boxers- Gene Luen Yang
11.    Robert Duncan: The Ambassador From Venus- Lisa Jarnot
12.    30 Days Of Night- Steve Niles, Ben Temple Smith
13.    30 Days Of Night: Dark Days- Steve Niles, Ben Temple Smith
14.    30 Days Of Night: Return To Barrow- Steve Niles, Ben Temple Smith
15.    Saints- Gene Luen Yang
16.    I Never Liked You- Chester Brown
17.    Bumperhead- Gilbert Hernandez
18.    An Opening Of The Field: Jess, Robert Duncan, And Their Circle- Michael Duncan, Christopher Wagstagg
19.    Sixty Morning Talks- Andy Fitch
20.    Imperial San Francisco: Urban Power, Earthly Ruin- Gray Brechin
21.    Sin City: The Big Fat Kill- Frank Miller
22.    Squat- Sarah Menefee
23.    Vow To Poetry- Anne Waldman
24.    Props Of Rain/ Drops Of Wine- Patrick James Dunagan
25.    The Roots Of Coincidence: An Excursion Into Parapsychology- Arthur Koestler
26.    Lazio- Brandon Downing
27.    Crossing Paths- Diana Achegma, Hugo Garcia Marriquez, Nicole Trigg
28.    Discrete Series- George Oppen
29.    Acts #10: In Relation
30.    A Secret Location On The Lower East Side: Adventures In Writing 1960-1980- Steven Clay, Rodney Phillips
31.    Sin City: That Yellow Bastard- Frank Miller
32.    At Passages- Michael Palmer
33.    Old Father, Old Artificer: Charles Olson Memorial Lecture- Diane Di Prima
34.    Further Confessions Of A Small Press Racketeer- Stuart Ross
35.    Helen In Egypt- H.D.
36.    Charles Olson Memorial Lectures- Edward Dorn
37.    Unfinished Business- Michelangelo Antonioni
38.    Out Of Print- Julien Poirier
39.    Digging Up Mother: A Love Story- Doug Stanhope
40.    Hermeticities And Others- Derek Fenner
41.    SFAQ VOL. 2 #5
42.    Lost And Found: The Selected Correspondence Of John Wieners And Charles Olson Part I and II
43.    A Question Mark Above The Sun- Kent Johnson
44.    Slats- Nicole Trigg
45.    Portrait Of A Lesser Subject- E. Tracy Grinnell
46.    Pain: The Board Game- Sampson Startweather
47.    The Truth Is We Are Perfect- Janaka Stucky
48.    From Bughouse Square To The Beat Generation: Selected Ravings Of Slim Brundage Founder And Janitor Of The College Of Complexes- edited by Franklin Rosemont
49.    The Book Of Jon- Eleni Sikelianos
50.    Sin City: Family Values- Frank Miller
51.    Beggars Of Life- Andrew Maxwell, N Gelund
52.    Asterios Polyp- David Mazzucchelli
53.    Tea Shack Interior: New And Selected Poetry- Andrew Schelling
54.    Annoying Diabetic Bitch- Sharon Mesmer
55.    Black Mountain Days- Michael Rumaker
56.    The Sandman: Overture- Neil Gaiman, J.H. Williams III, Dave Steward
57.    Saga Volume 5- Brian K. Vaughn, Fiona Staples
58.    What We Do- Michael Gottlieb
59.    Sex Criminals Volume Three- Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky
60.    A Yellow Leaf- Julien Poirier
61.    You (And What Army)- Julien Poirier
62.    Witch Dialogue- Monica Redden
63.    V For Vendetta- Alan Moore, David Lloyd
64.    7213- Sue Sod
65.    Temblor #10
66.    Bladezine #1
67.    Lipstick Eleven #1
68.    Stirrings In The Jug: Black Politics In The Post Segregation Era- Adolph Reed Jr.
69.    The World Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos From Bookworms Worldwide- Eva Talmadge, Justin Taylor
70.    Cosmetology: A Manifesto- Micah Ballard
71.    Among The Thugs- Bill Buford
72.    A Poet’s Mind: Collected Interviews With Robert Duncan, 1960-1985- edited Christopher Wagstagg
73.    The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier- Alan Moore, Kevin O’neill
74.    More Important Than The Object- Dodie Bellamy
75.    The Return Of Quetzalcoatl- Julien Poirier
76.    Sin City: Booze, Broads, And Bullets- Frank Miller
77.    Info Ration- Stan Apps
78.    Patience- Daniel Clowes
79.    Cross-Section: An Anthology Of Contemporary Greek Poetry- edited Jack Hirschman, Dinos Siotis
80.    Hotel ABC- Susan Gevirtz
81.    Dick Of The Dead- Rachel Loden
82.    Providence- Alan moore, Jacen  Burrows
83.    I, afterlife: Essay In Mourning Time- Kristin Prevallet

I have work here

RAVE ON!

at SPD

Books Read 2015

1. A Band Of Misfits: Tales Of The 2010 San Francisco Giants- Andrew Baggarly
2. Sin City: A Dame To Kill- Frank Miller
3. All This Everyday- Joanne Kyger
4. Necro Files: Two Decades Of Extreme Horror- edited by Cheryl Mullenax
5. Locke And Key Volume 1: Welcome To Lovecraft- Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez
6. Etruscan Reader VI- Robin Blaser, Barbara Guest, Lee Harwood
7. Locke And Key Volume 2: Head Games- Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez
8. The Habits Of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin And Lies In Mainstream Media- Norman Soloman
9. Demo To Ink- Ron Silliman
10. Where Eagles Dare- Polly Duff Bresnick, Evan Kennedy, Kevin Killian, Janey Smith
11. The X-Files Season 10 Volume 1- Joe Harris, Chris Carter, Michael Walsh
12. Where Eagles Dare- The East Bay Poetry Summit Lavender Issue 2013
13. Values Chauffeur You- Andrew Levy
14. After-Cave- Michelle Detorie
15. Civil Disobediences: Poetics And Politics In Action- edited by Anne Waldman and Lisa Birman
16. Post-Avant- Daniel Zimmerman
17. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume 1- Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neil
18. Locke And Key Volume 3: Crown Of Shadows- Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez
19. Locke And Key Volume 4: Keys To The Kingdom- Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez
20. Collected Works- Lorine Niedecker, edited by Jenny Penberthy
21. San Francisco's Burning: A Ballad Opera- Helen Adam
22. To The Secret- Franck Andre Jamme, translated by Norma Cole
23. The Louder The Room The Darker The Screen- Paul Ebenkamp
24. Under That Silky Roof- Elizabeth Robinson
25. Journal Of A Novel: The East Of Eden Letters- John Steinbeck
26. Locke And Key Volume 5: Clockworks- Joe Hill, Gabriel Rodriguez
27. Temblor #9
28. Das Gedichtete (or un theme et variations poetique)- Patrick James Dunagan
29. The San Francisco Renaissance: Poetics And Community At Mid-century- Michael Davidson
30. Elderly #2
31. Sea Ranch- Winter 2012- Elaine Kahn, Elizabeth Robinson
32. In The House Un-American- Benjamin Hollander
33. The House By The Sea: A Portrait Of The Holocaust In Greece- Rebecca Camhi Fromer
34. Absurd Good News- Julien Poirier
35. I Am A Furious Little Bee- Aida Merini, translated by Carla Billitteri
36. The Invisibles Book One- Grant Morrison
37. Under The Sun- Rachel Levitsky
38. Local News- Jason Morris
39. Your Thoughts Are Real- Tinker Green
40. Demon Miso Fashion In Child- Joseph Mosconi
41. Abraham Lincoln #8
42. Dreamboat #7
43. Houdini- Joseph Mosconi
44. The X-Files Season 10 Volume 2- Joe Harris
45. What Surrealism Means To Me- Garrett Caples
46. The Straithes Of Nonvermont- Michael Slosek
47. Gates Of Fire- Steven Pressfield
48. The Invisibles: Apocalipstick- Grant Morrison
49. Way Too West- Julien Poirier
50. The Phare Of Gravelines- Eric Unger
51. The Constructivist Moment: From Material Text To Cultural Poetics- Barrett Watten
52. Acts + Encounters
53. The Invisibles: Entropy In The U.K.- Grant Morrison
54. Sex Criminals Volume 2: Two Worlds, One Cop- Matt Fraction, Chip Zdarsky
55. The Death-Ray- Daniel Clowes
56. Case Sensitive- Kate Greenstreet
57. Iron John: A Book About Men- Robert Bly
58. Morning Constitutional- Michael Magee
59. Earliest Worlds- Eleni Sikelianos
60. New Yipes Reader #17- edited by Armand F. Capanna, Dodie Bellamy
61. The Declaration Of Independence And The Constitution Of The United States
62. Robert Duncan: Selected Poems- Robert Duncan
63. Land- CJ Martin (Crux 1)
64. The Shirt Weapon- Brandon Downing
65. Eyewitness: From Black Mountain To White Rabbit- Carolyn Dunn interviewed by Kevin Killian
66. The Selected Letters Of Pauline Kael And Robert Duncan 1945-1946- Part 1 and Part II
67. PPL IN A Depot- Gary Sullivan
68. Saga Of The Swamp Thing Volume 1- Alan Moore, Stephen Bissette, John Tutleben
69. Adventures Beyond The Body: How To Experience Out-Of-Body Travel- William Buhlman
70. Take The Rich Off Welfare- Mark Zepezauer, Arthur Naiman
71. Doubled Flowering: From The Notebooks Of Araki Yasusada- Araki Yasusada, translated by Josa Motokiyu, Ojiu Norinaga, Okura Kyojin
72. Women In Public- Elaine Kahn
73. Uploading Nature- Stephen Boyer
74. Cyborg Legs- Steve Orth
75. On My Way- Eileen Myles
76. Folly- Nada Gordon
77. Bats Of The Republic- Zachary Thomas Dodson
78. The Balcony- Jean Genet
79. New American Writing # 33
80. Wytches Volume 1- Scott Snyder, Jock
81. The Bedside Guide To No Tell Motel: Second Floor- edited by Reb Livingston, Molly Arden
82. Swamp Thing Volume 2: Love And Death- Alan Moore
83. When The Sick Rule The World- Dodie Bellamy
84. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art- Scott McCloud
85. Action Kylie- Kevin Killian
86. Hanging Loose #105

I helped translate this new anthology,

Cross-Section: An Anthology Of Contemporary Greek Poetry
edited by Jack Hirschman and Dinos Siotis

available here

The Act Of Drinking Beer

Nightboat Books In The Bay