A tribute from vagabond poet Stelaru to poète maudit Verlaine:

Dimitrie Stelaru – Verlaine

Dimitrie Stelaru’s poem Verlaine was first published in România literară in 1940, when the vagabond poet was 23 years old. The short tribute to Stelaru’s odd god and friend Verlaine not only addresses the French Decadent and Symbolist poet but also revolves around symbolist styles and themes, such as repeated sounds, cadence of verse and references to intoxicated states of mind, in this case to the use of alcohol, the intake of which was substantial in both Verlaine’s and Stelaru’s case. Verlaine has been translated into English and illustrated by Ben Schot, who published the poem as a limited edition hand made Sea Urchin chapbook. 15 copies only.

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Moloko‘s new Burroughs study available now:

Oliver Harris/Farid Ghadami – Two Assassins: Hassan Sabbah/William Burroughs

From the blurb of this beautiful Moloko double edition:

“Two Assassins is a unique collaborative work, part detective story, part literary scholarship, part historical research, and part personal memoir that seeks to unravel a mystery: what the 11th-century Persian master of the Assassins, Hassan Sabbah, really meant for William Burroughs. Oliver Harris sheds light on the many untold backstories and dark textual secrets behind Burroughs’ invocations of Hassan Sabbah by retracing his own path of scholarship over the past 40 years. The result is a quest to discover the emotional as well as intellectual connections between the American writer and his most dedicated scholar. Farid Ghadami, on the other hand, tells the story of the real historical figure of Hassan Sabbah and his Ismaili successors, drawing on Persian and Arab sources to uncover some of the most important facts behind the legends.“

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New in our Collectible catalogue:

Harry Hoogstraten – The Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach

In 1988 Harry Hoogstraten compiled poems that he had written from 1967 to 1987 in his independently published edition The Organ Works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Hand made in an edition of 30 copies only, each provided with a hand written colophon, signature and number, this xeroxed and Japanese bound edition is a handsome and almost impossible to find treasure. This particular copy is number 11 and is in fine condition except a slightly discoloured cover near the spine.

The irrepressible poet and artist Harry Hoogstraten (1941) was born and raised in Amsterdam. In the 1960s and 1970s Hoogstraten travelled extensively in Japan, the US and Europe and befriended fellow-travellers such as artist Daan van Golden, poet Franco Beltrametti and jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy. Hoogstraten co-organised Ben Posset’s One World Poetry festivals in Amsterdam, co-edited Marcello Angioni’s Abracadabra magazine, ran his own magazine Mandala from Amsterdam and formed a connection for visiting poets, whom he photographed extensively and sometimes collaborated with. Hoogstraten is still one of Holland’s best kept secrets.