Stuart Ross & Proper Tales Press
I first became acquainted with
Canadian poetry in 1960 & 1961, when I was working on various
archaeological projects in Southern Saskatchewan. Being a poet, whenever I was in a town with a
bookstore, I looked through the poetry sections, and found work I really liked
– for example, Leonard Cohen's early pre-rockstar books, and probably Victor
Coleman. By 1980, I was in contact with
several poets; Gary Barwin, jwcurry, Lillian Nekacov, Greg Evason, and others,
all of whom impressed me with their innovative and avant-garde writings. One of those poets was Stuart Ross. His magazine Mondo Hunkamooga helped
open many windows into a scene of avant-garde literary activity that I could
not find in such concentration at the time in the US. I'm pretty sure we met (forgive my aging
memory) when I took a trip to Toronto in 1980 or thereabouts to meet him and
several others. His own work has a sense
of irony, humor, and serious playfulness that continues to impress me, as does
his indefatigable activity as a publisher and poetry promoter. In 1984, Stuart published, in his Proper
Tales Press, my chapbook Antpath, which remains one of my favorites to
this day. The Canadian poetry scene is
unique and full of strong voices, and I owe Stuart much gratitude for including
my non-Canadian but admiring voice among them.
John M. Bennett
July 2019
John M. Bennett has published over 400 books and chapbooks of poetry and other materials. He has published, exhibited and performed his word art worldwide in thousands of publications and venues. He was editor and publisher of LOST AND FOUND TIMES (1975-2005), and was Founding Curator of the Avant Writing Collection at The Ohio State University Libraries. Richard Kostelanetz has called him "the seminal American poet of my generation." His work, publications, and papers are collected in several major institutions, including Washington University (St. Louis), SUNY Buffalo, The Ohio State University, The Museum of Modern Art, and other major libraries. His PhD (UCLA 1970) is in Latin American Literature.
He is the author of the Proper Tales Press title Antpath (1984).
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