bp Nichol | Lament

bpNichol

Lament : a sound poem to the memory of D. A. Levy who took his own life, November 1968

Toronto, Canada: Ganglia Press, 1969

[24] pp., 3.6 x 5”, staple-bound

Edition size unknown

d.a. levy was an American poet, artist, and publisher based in Cleveland, Ohio. Like bpNichol, he used lower case letters in his name and published mimeographed editions of his own work, and the work of poets he admired. 

He died at the age of 26, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on November 24, 1968, following a long legal battle over distributing “obscene poetry”. 

Published May 3rd, 1959, Nichol’s tribute Lament was previously performed as part of a reading in conjunction with the opening of an exhibition of concrete poetry at the UBC gallery the previous month. 

A second edition was released by the Writers Forum in London, in late ’69. A copy is available here, for $75.00.