How Charles Bukowski’s correspondence with Harold Norse landed him in Penguin Modern Poets 13
2024 marks the 55th Anniversary of Charles Bukowski’s appearance in Penguin Modern Poets 13. In the two years leading up to its publication, Bukowski considered this the most important opportunity of his career. After all, Penguin was a well-known publishing house and Bukowski hoped his appearance in one of their books would legitimize his poetry, which had been castigated by university academics for years.
Bukowski’s opportunity stemmed from a correspondence he initiated with fellow poet Harold Norse in 1964. In these early letters it’s clear that Bukowski was genuinely impressed by his work. This is important to note because during this period Bukowski was also schmoozing with less talented poets and editors, trying to get his foot through the door via shameless flattery. What was different with Norse is how Bukowski consistently praised him in correspondence with other poets and editors. The only other writer who enjoyed this reverence was Al Purdy, who Bukowski had a similar correspondence with at the time.
Bukowski was very upfront with Norse about his reason for wanting to correspond with him. Bukowski had recently learned that selling his works to university archives could be a lucrative business. In his first letter to Norse, Bukowski told him he hoped the correspondence would lead to a “series of letters” and that “there will be $$$$ in this thing, and that’s shit, but it is needed and I am on the hustle.”
Bukowski continued:
“if you are with it, phoney [sic] as it may sound – send me only the carbons. Keep originals in a certain place. Do not send your letters to any archives. When we feel like we’ve got a book we will assemble it and see where to place it… but let’s not tell anyone… when we lay the book on them, many little snot pickers will try the same thing. But we’ll have been there first, with plenty.”
So began the correspondence. Although it wasn’t as prolific as Bukowski’s ongoing correspondence with Doug Blazek at the time, it was consistent and both poets wrote long letters to one another. It was also mutually beneficial with both writers recommending one another to various projects, editors and poets.
As a result, Norse got a special issue in Blazek’s OLE magazine as well as some other appearances. But that was nothing compared to the gift Norse presented Bukowski in an August 1967 letter:
“listen, as a result of reading my book, the Poetry Editor of Penguin Books got in touch with me, said it was the best book of poetry he’s read in 5 years, & would I sign a contract with Penguin. They issue a series with 3 poets in a single volume, so he asked me if I could name 2 other poets whose work would somehow go with mine. Yes, I said, charles bukowski is a must… These penguin poetry books reach 20,000 readers, and usually sell out. Let me know if you want to accept this offer, & if you agree then I’ll put the editor in touch with you.”
Bukowski’s response was quick and excited, now addressing Norse as “Prince Hal”:
“great on Penguin and if your editor works me in, I gotta say sweet, and if he can’t get UX [sic CRUX] or IT CATCHES elsewhere, can mail him a copy of CRUX for his bathroom but if I mail him an [sic] CATCHES I would like it back because the only one I have now I use to stack sherry glasses. Surprised you mentioned me, of all the fucking poets? in America you could only nd [sic] me?”
While the two continued to share their excitement in the subsequent weeks and months, Bukowski immediately began courting Nikos Stangos. the editor of Penguin Modern Poets. A poet himself, Stangos grew up in Greece during WW II and as a young man joined the communist party there. In 1965 he accepted a post at the Greek Embassy in London, but political turmoil in Greece led him to take the job at Penguin in 1967.
By the time Stangos arrived, there had been 9 volumes of Penguin Modern Poets, each featuring the work of three writers. Penguin’s mission was to “introduce contemporary poetry to the general reader.” To do this, Penguin published inexpensive mass-market paperbacks that were much less costly than traditional hardcover books of poetry. In all, 27 volumes were published from 1962-1979.
Curiously, in his first correspondence with Stangos on Sept. 18, 1967, Bukowski immediately tried to advocate for Al Purdy being the third poet instead of Philip Lamantia. Bukowski had already expressed his doubts to Norse about Lamantia’s work and thought the book would be much better with Purdy onboard.
“yes, we have certainly heard of the PENGUIN series here, and it would be a great honor for me to be included, especially with Harold Norse who is one of the few living poets whose work lifts and interests me, keeps me going, keeps me from thinking that everybody isn’t dead, that the whole crew hasn’t quit on me,” Bukowski wrote Stangos. “The only other poet whose work I can bear to read (in bulk) is Al Purdy, the Canadian. It is strange that there is so little going on and that all the famous and great names actually do write feebly and badly, but the life of things remain with Norse and Purdy and that’s it.”
At the time, Bukowski had a similar correspondence going with Purdy. It’s unclear whether the motivation with Purdy was the same as Norse, but the Bukowski/Purdy letters did end up turning into a book much later.
After a few blunders and misconnects, Bukowski eventually gave up on Purdy being included and started to focus on his own contributions. Since Stangos was in London he didn’t have access to most of the magazines and chapbooks Bukowski previously appeared in. And since Bukowski didn’t keep carbons during those years, he was forced to undertake other means to get Stangos his poems.
“what I hope to do, what I WILL do is to slowly go through the magazines here and type a poem or 2 to send to you,” Bukowski wrote Stangos. “a poem or 2 every day or so, something out of the magazines that is not in the books. I mean, just the things I think might be a little better than the rest.”
The next hurdle was getting permission to reprint some poems that appeared in Crucifix in a Deathhand. For this he needed the approval of LouJon Press editor Jon Webb. The problem was that Bukowski had recently written a column on a visit he made to Webb in Tucson, Arizona. It was a personal dig at Webb and to make matters worse Bukowski made sure Webb would see it.
“MY PROBLEM IS THAT JON WEBB IS PROBABLY PISSED AT ME AND IF WE ASK HIM HE’LL PROABLY SAY ‘NO’! Bukowski wrote Stangos on Oct. 30, 1967. “you see I visited Webb earlier this year and then wrote a column on my visit. (column enclosed). I believe Webb read the column and is pissed. (I sent the column to an acquaintance of Webb’s and asked him to show it to Webb when Webb’s wife felt better. She was sick at the time.)
As a precautionary first step Bukowski requested and received permission from the publisher of Crucifix In a Deathhand, Lyle Stuart. But in the end, Webb came around and granted Bukowski the use of his poems. At this point Webb was looking to do an audio recording of Bukowski to raise funds for the next issue of Outsider magazine, so it was mutually beneficial that their working relationship continue.
In the meantime, Bukowski continued to type up poems from earlier appearances and send them to Stangos. In the end he ended up sending Stangos at least 24 poems, many of them long poems. (There has been talk over the years about whether Bukowski reworked his poems after they were published. It would be an interesting exercise to compare Bukowski’s typed poems to the original magazine appearances to see if he made any changes.)
In the end, Norse and Stangos selected 25 Bukowski poems for the book, most of them well-known works.
When they received their review copies of the book, both Norse and Bukowski were caught off guard by the cover illustration. And while their concerns about how it would negatively affect sales was probably overblown, their conclusion about the imagery itself was undeniable.
“I finally goes out to mailbox and there is PENGUIN POETS 13, and you are right, it is a pussy, what a silly cover, we have been done in old man, they gave us a pussy with a monthly yet and no kotex, god. doesn’t STANGOS have any control over that sort of thing?” Bukowski wrote Norse. “now, if they had only put a REAL pussy on the thing I would have no objections, especially if it were an old diseased pussy with all the horrors and malignancies attached, say, esp. pissing during the Catholic mass.”
For all the build up to the book’s publication, Bukowski’s excitement seemed to wane in the months before the book was published in June 1969. It may have been the result of many other things going on at the time.
During the two years it took to get Modern Poets published, Black Sparrow Press had published their first Bukowski book, At Terror Street and Agony way, as well as the chapbook, The Curtains Are Waving and People Walk Through The Afternoon Here and In Berlin and In New York City and In Mexico. POEMS WRITTEN BEFORE JUMPING OUT OF AN 8 STORY WINDOW was published by Poetry X/Change and Bukowski’s Notes of A dirty Old Man column was more popular than ever.
Now, in the spring of 1969, Black Sparrow Press was working on two new Bukowski books. Essex House was about to publish Notes of a Dirty Old Man, and Apple Records had approached him about doing a recording of his poems.
While Bukowski continued to write Norse in the year after the book was published, it’s unclear how frequently Norse responded. Finally, in Sept. 1970, Bukowski wrote Norse a short letter that began, “there’s nothing to write.” To which, Norse replied, “what a pathetic little note.”
Four days later, Bukowski came full circle with their five-year correspondence and in the process poisoned the relationship for good.
“shit, you’ll sell my letters for thousands of dollars,” Bukowski wrote. “and what’ll I get for yours? An old used fan or something. That’s it, an old used fan from a 90 year old admirer in Weaton, Ill. And the fucking thing will break down in the first 100 degree heat. Which is what we’re having now.”
Bukowski then made it clear that he didn’t owe any gratitude to Norse for including him in Penguin Modern Poets 13.
“got a royalty check from Penguin for $43!,” Bukowski wrote. “We’re big time now, baby! I sit by phone waiting for LIFE mag to call… so you have a big heart, you tell me. well, see if you can touch it with your dick, my boy.”
Penguin Modern Poets (1962-1983)
- Penguin Modern Poets 1: Lawrence Durrell / Elizabeth Jennings / R. S. Thomas.
- Penguin Modern Poets 2: Kingsley Amis / Dom Moraes / Peter Porter.
- Penguin Modern Poets 3: George Barker / Martin Bell / Charles Causley. 1962
- Penguin Modern Poets 4: David Holbrook / Christopher Middleton / David Wevill. 1963.
- Penguin Modern Poets 5: Gregory Corso / Lawrence Ferlinghetti / Allen Ginsberg. 1963.
- Penguin Modern Poets 6: Jack Clemo / Edward Lucie-Smith / George MacBeth. 1964.
- Penguin Modern Poets 7: Richard Murphy / Jon Silkin / Nathaniel Tarn. 1965.
- Penguin Modern Poets 8: Edwin Brock / Geoffrey Hill / Stevie Smith.
- Penguin Modern Poets 9: Denise Levertov / Kenneth Rexroth / William Carlos Williams.
- Penguin Modern Poets 10: The Mersey Sound – Adrian Henri / Roger McGough / Brian Patten. 1967.
- Penguin Modern Poets 11: D. M. Black / Peter Redgrove / D. M. Thomas. 1968.
- Penguin Modern Poets 12: Alan Jackson / Jeff Nuttall / William Wanting. 1968.
- Penguin Modern Poets 13: Charles Bukowski / Philip Lamantia / Harold Norse. 1969.
- Penguin Modern Poets 14: Alan Bronwjohn / Michael Hamburger / Charles Tomlinson. 1969.
- Penguin Modern Poets 15: Alan Bold / Edward Brathwaite / Edwin Morgan.
- Penguin Modern Poets 16: Jack Beeching / Harry Guest / Matthew Mead.
- Penguin Modern Poets 17: David Gascoyne / W. S. Graham / Kathleen Raine.
- Penguin Modern Poets 18: A. Alvarez / Roy Fuller / Anthony Thwaite.
- Penguin Modern Poets 19: John Ashbery / Lee Harwood / Tom Raworth.
- Penguin Modern Poets 20: John Heath-Stubbs / F. T. Prince / Stephen Spender.
- Penguin Modern Poets 21: Iain Crichton Smith / Norman MacCaig / George Mackay Brown.
- Penguin Modern Poets 22: John Fuller / Peter Levi / Adrian Mitchell. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973.
- Penguin Modern Poets 23: Geoffrey Grigson / Edwin Muir / Adrian Stokes.
- Penguin Modern Poets 24: Kenward Elmslie / Kenneth Koch / James Schuyler.
- Penguin Modern Poets 25: Gavin Ewart / Zulfikar Ghose / B. S. Johnson.
- Penguin Modern Poets 26: Dannie Abse, D.J. Enright, Michael Longley.
- Penguin Modern Poets 27: John Ormond / Emyr Humphreys / John Tripp.