Charles Bukowski and Wormwood Review

Over the course of his career, Charles Bukowski submitted his work to hundreds of different magazines and newspapers. While his most prolific submissions took place during the 1960s and 1970s, Bukowski kept submitting new poems to magazines long after he became well known – in fact, right up to his death.
For the most part, these magazines came and went almost overnight with few surviving more than a handful of issues. Even the Los Angeles Free Press, where Bukowski appeared in 191 issues, folded in just over a decade.
The exception to the norm was The Wormwood Review. Bukowski first appeared in issue #7 in 1962 and would continue to appear until the final issue in 1999 – five years after he died. In that time the magazine printed 410 Bukowski poems in 97 issues, some of which were special Bukowski issues. What’s more: Many of these poems remain unpublished in any books, including those by Black Sparrow Press. And many of the poems that did appear in Black Sparrow Press books were edited from the originals that appeared in Wormwood – and not for the better.
Learn more about The Wormwood Review.