thank you so much for doing this. Are the covers copyrighted? I would like to use one of them for a book I am writing for Wesleyan University Press on the influence of Buddhism on the NY avant garde.
Thanks,
Ellen

Here is a brief introduction by Robert Duncan from a reading in New Mexico in 1964. He mentions Floating Bear and particularly its status as a New York magazine and what it meant for a SF poet to appear there. This highlights Di Prima and Jones’ willingness to tear down borders and publish anything that was considered new writing. It also foreshadows the Bear’s shift to SF in the later issues when Di Prima moved there. Also note that the parochialism of the SF writers would be a big source of tension in the SF Renaissance period when the East Coast Beats blew into town and brought loads of media attention.

http://media.sas.upenn.edu/pennsound/authors/Duncan/Albuquerque-64/Duncan-Robert_04_Introducting-Night-Scene_Albuquerque_02-29-64.mp3

Duncan’s Night Scenes appeared in Issue 19 of FB. You can see the first few stanzas in the archive. Duncan also appeared in Fuck You, the 5/7 issue that also included William Burroughs and in Robert Kelly’s Matter so he was in other NY mimeos but you were more likely to see him in West Coast mimeos like J (a classic mimeo that you almost never see copies of), Wild Dog, and Sum. Fred Wah (of Tish) edited Sum when he was a grad student at the University of New Mexico when Robert Creeley was a lecturer there. Given Wah and Creeley’s presence in NM you can see why Duncan read there in 1964.

There is an Ed Sanders exhibit at The Arm in Brooklyn. Details: http://thearmnyc.com/news/2009/06/ed_sanders_show_at_the_arm

I hear there are paste-ups of the various Fuck You, a magazine of the arts issues as well as rare and virtually unseen ephemerial items. The opening in on July 10th.

hi there, is there any way to get copies of the floating bear issues? my grandfathers name (bobby driscoll) was mentioned in a few of them and i would love to see them personally

Luke,

I just saw this comment. Go to Abebooks.com and search for Floating Bear and the number of the issues you want.