"I Write Poetry to Sleep with Girls" - anyone knows this story? (1 Viewer)

[cirerita]

I was talking to Stephen Rodefer -one of the editors of Fervent Valley- and he told me there's this Bukowski story titled "I Write Poetry to Sleep with Girls" or something like that.

Let Rodefer do the talking:

There iS a very fugitive story, I Write Poetry To Sleep With Girls I think its called, or something like, published around 1969, mebbe 70, in which he writes of his visit to the University of New Mexico, at my invitation, to read--his firsT invitation to read, or so he said, in which he recounts our going to district court to stop an injunction brought to prevent the reading, and another by Lenore Kandell. This was during the bombing of Cambodia and massive student demonstrations against the Vietnam War, US National Gard with fixe bayonets and tear gas blasting.
And, get this, the main issue in the gubernatorial elections that year in Sante Fe, was pornographic litrature being toaught at the University, anD a professor of Political Science daring to teach Das Kapital! Can you imagine? Those were different days.

anyone knows the real title of this story?

 

[Digney in Burnaby]

NOLA Express has a story entitled "The Silver Christ of Sante Fe" circa 1971 (NOLA #75, no date that I could find, they went "the present" for awhile....).

The story starts: "Then I got a letter from Marx who had moved to Santa Fe. He said he'd pay trainfare and put me up if I came out for a while."

Problem is the microfilm is very faded on the lower portion of the first of two pages. I'm going to head back to the university to try to make a darker copy to decipher that portion. (Mass production woes and a mental lapse at the moment of doing that particular page.) Probably not for another week, though, as Easter messes up their hours.

NOLA #57 (June 12-25, 1970) has a Bukowski poem entitled "New Mexico". On the same page are photos of the University of New Mexico protests (blood and people running).

Not sure this answers your question but NOLA is pretty interesting. I've gone through 1968 to 1972. Think there is another year before it gave out. Lots of Bukowski stuff that has and hasn't appeared in print elsewhere.
bp

 

[cirerita]

more info:

The date just coulD be after 1973... CB's narrative, fictive plume is so stiff, my character appears in the story as Steve Rodefer, or just Prof Steve.

 

[bospress.net]

The publishers, Robert Head & Darlene Fife live in West Virginia. I have been in contact with them (Robert has a poem appearing in the upcoming "Bottle #5"). If all else fails, I can ask him for a date on when that story would have been published.

Bill

 

[cirerita]

Bill,

thanks for that. I talked to Darlene recently but forgot to ask her about that. Thing is, I'm almost positive the story was NOT first printed in Nola Express. Rodefer believes he read it in one of those adult mags Buk submitted to...