DUENDE Magazine: An Early Review by Ron Caplan

DUENDE: editor Larry Goodell: $1.00 each 

Ronald Bayes, History of the Turtle, Bk.1, cover by Bobbie Creeley duende #1

           from an article in trace: "those who would demand of a review of anything that it can be anything more than an advertisement, a statement of the existence of that thing; who would demand of a reviewer outline, portions of poems, any fragmentary description — are those who too often take the review for the thing, take it and too easily talk of it, having never come to battle with the actual work." SO to whom it may concern: neither him-null nor you'll-ogy, surely not as placement historically, that sort of thing —  but to do what a 

a. fredrick franklyn, Virgules and Deja Vu, cover by Bobbie Creeley duende #2

something is avail-able, & in the saying to speak as much of it as i care, to say, then, that larry goodell is doing a job, one he considers sufficiently important to do, & one i review (& thereby sufficiently reveal how important i think it is) to the extent that i speak of it here. the concern is with the making within the limits of WHAT IS POSSIBLE, there is a point, say, where form becomes easy: anyone today can get hold of a mimeo machine, stencils, a typewriter, paper (just as anyone can find a pencil, paint brush, clay, etc) — but the concerns here are in the making of a book, that as larry goodell's form, the work received as much materials as paper ink, staples, etc: & so, finally, his job. he has taken it as his job, his choice, to make certain things possible; & it may be said of him he has taken (staken, which is to say given) care, as, say, we make our own lives within precisely those limits: what food is obtainable, what

Richard Watson, Cockcrossing, cover by Signe Nelson duende #3

must be done to get food, what has happened to food between seed & our mouths; as, also, what we read: at what point we stop using bookshops & turn to libraries, and from there, say, to the manuscripts of friends, what is possible to us becomes incredibly determined: what is published, what is available to use as food, clothing, etc. becomes more & more determined by what will sell, so, mediocrity. OR we're thrown back (forward?), if we can make it, on growing our own food, delivering our own children, making what books we ourselves want to have available, as, again, larry goodell's job. here is some of what he has done: #1 HISTORY OF THE TURTLE: Ronald Bayes #2 VIRGULES AND DEJA VU: Frederick Franklyn #3 COCKCROSSING: Richard Watson #4 THE ROADRUNNER POEM: Kenneth Irby

Kenneth Irby, The Roadrunner Poem, cover by Signe Nelson duende #4

-- Ronald Caplan from Kulchur 20, Winter 1965-6

Here is a recount of duende press history and production: Musing Backwards to Duende. Many thanks to Ron Caplan (one of the editors of Mother which came out of Pittsburgh) for this review.

Larry Goodell