Group 74 Anthology

The Poet’s Press is delighted to present this new edition of a wonderful 1974 anthology of New York poets from “The Last Bohemia.” Group 74: The New York Poets’ Cooperative. Edited by Edward Butscher, Roberta Gould, and Donald Lev. In his Foreword, Robert Kramer outlines the organization and its goals: “In April, 1969 the New York Poets’ Cooperative was founded by Sabina Roseman and a number of other writers from the metropolitan area who believed that by working together and sharing their writing problems they could improve their own creativity and also foster an appreciation of poetry around New York. Thus the activity of the organization today is concentrated on two levels: the writing, editing, criticizing, public reading, and publishing of the members' own works; and the sponsoring of public poetry readings for non-member poets in order to enable the public, at little or no cost, to hear gifted but lesser-known poets read their own works. The Cooperative sponsors fifty regular public poetry readings a year and also, upon request, provides poets for readings at libraries, churches, Y's, and radio-stations. The organization is completely democratic and not committed to any particular school or style of poetry. New members are admitted solely on the basis of the quality of their work, and all members share equally in performing necessary tasks.”

Group 74 features the work of 32 poets who were active members of the Cooperative, and provides a lively cross-section of the literary scene in Greenwich Village in the 1970s: Jacob Bush — Edward Butscher — Olga Cabral Kurtz — Vinnie-Marie d’Ambrosio — Richard Davidson — Joseph Drucker — Elaine Edelman — RobertOh Faber — Mark Fishbein — Dolores Giles — Andrew Glaze — Roberta Gould — John Guenther — Hannelore Hahn — Rembert Herbert — Ronald Hobbs — Barbara A. Holland – Robert Kramer — Ann Kregal — Donald Lev — William J. Matthews — D. H. Melhem — John Burnett Payne — Sabina Roseman — Janet Sage — Susan Sands — Layle Silbert — Denis Sivack — Lee Strothers — P. K. Vollmuth — Dick Whipple — Eunice Wolfgran.

The text of the book has been completely re-set and corrected.

This is the 272nd publication of The Poet’s Press. Published March 2020.