Art, Survival & So Forth
Jules Smith
Published by Wrecking Ball Press, Art, Survival & So Forth is the long awaited book by local author Jules Smith about the life and work of Charles Bukowski. Originally scheduled for publication in the 1990's, this is a substantially rewritten and beautifully produced book containing unpublished photographs of Bukowski, and line drawings by David Hernandez, a West Coast poet who read at the Sailmakers Arms earlier in the festival. [ Festival Preview ]
Smith has pitched his book somewhere between the popular and academic markets, and has produced a work which is both accessible and entertaining. The launch at Waterstones will include readings of Bukowski's work by local poets, and recordings of Bukowski's own readings taken from 'Poems & Insults'.
Bukowski is a major cult figure counting Kurt Cobain, David Lynch, Irvine Welch, Jean-Luc Goddard, Dennis Hopper and Raymond Carver amongst his fans. By the time of his death in 1994, Bukowski was one of the most influential and widely immitated American poets. In 1973 he wrote that his contribution had been 'to loosen and simplify poetry, to make it more humane.'
'Art, Survival & So Forth' is available from booksellers or direct from Wrecking Ball Press
(contact [email protected]) and costs £11.95 plus p&p.;
[email protected]
