Trace, No. 67 (1968) – Extremes

Journal Issue

Open this 1968 issue of Trace and the contents begin making their own introductions. It contains 56 named pieces or sections, beginning with When Time Was Born by James T. Farrell, The Smith by H. L. Van Brunt, and From the Smith and Horizon Press by H. L. Van Brunt. That opening offers a direct path through the issue, but it is not the only one. A reader can follow the printed order, pause over a familiar contributor, or start with a title that catches the eye. No special background is needed. The magazine explains itself gradually through the choices it makes and through the company each piece keeps.

When Time Was Born by James T. Farrell gives Trace no. 67 its clearest point of entry, while The Smith by H. L. Van Brunt and From the Smith and Horizon Press by H. L. Van Brunt widen the issue’s field. Dated 1968, this expansive number contains 61 pieces or named sections, moving between writing about literature, creative work, reviews, correspondence, and the everyday work of a little magazine. The order matters: recurring editorial features sit beside contributions with their own aims, so the magazine feels like an exchange among writers rather than a stack of unrelated pages. The reader’s edition makes that sequence easy to follow; the private source facsimile preserves the cover, page design, advertisements, visual material, and directory information that locate the writing in its first publication. Together, the reading edition and private source record show James Boyer May keeping a place for new writing while also showing how independent magazines found one another.

The contents page also works like a small map. Early entries establish the issue’s first set of voices; around the middle, The Teachers’ Party by Jerry A. Bitts changes the view; the closing stretch reaches Film Stills. The works differ in length, subject, and manner, yet their placement creates connections that a simple list of names cannot show. The pleasure comes from those changes. A short piece can clear the air after a longer one, a new voice can redirect the mood, and an unexpected title can make an earlier page look different when the reader thinks back to it.

The contributor list includes A. A. Almelkar, A. Fredric Franklyn, Albert E. Perks, Arvind Mehrotra, Bengali Sudhir Khastgir, Benjamin A. Kerner, Boyd Carter, and British Nandy, along with 62 additional contributors. Some readers will arrive looking for a particular name; others will meet these contributors here for the first time. Either approach works. The publication details add useful context: the issue was edited by James Boyer May, published by Villiers Publications Ltd., and issued from London, England; Hollywood, California (editorial office). A journal is also a made object, assembled by people deciding what to print, how to order it, and which voices should share a number. Reading from beginning to end lets those choices appear naturally.

The catalog subjects—Little magazines, Experimental literature, Poetry, Fiction, and Literary criticism—are useful starting points, especially for searching, but they do not set limits on what a reader may find. For a first visit, begin with When Time Was Born by James T. Farrell, turn next to The Teachers’ Party by Jerry A. Bitts, and finish with Film Stills. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 192 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 203 PDF pages. It keeps the contents in a stable, legible form and makes names and titles easier to find. A source facsimile remains part of the project’s private editorial record, but it is not included in the public upload. What appears here is the reading copy: a practical way to spend time with the issue and discover which pieces invite a return.

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Contributors

A. A. Almelkar — Contributor
A. Fredric Franklyn — Contributor
Albert E. Perks — Poet
Arvind Mehrotra — Contributor
Bengali Sudhir Khastgir — Contributor
Benjamin A. Kerner — Poet
Boyd Carter — Poet
British Nandy — Contributor
Bruce Bennett Brown — Poet
Catherine Savage — Poet
Chaim Mendelson — Poet
David Rafael Wang — Poet
Dennis Schmitz — Poet
Dette Whybrow — Poet
Don N. Smith — Fiction writer
E. I. Low — Poet
Elizabeth Louch — Poet
Eric Ratcliffe — Correspondent
Felix Singer — Essayist
Florence Lewis — Fiction writer
Frank Segger — Contributor
Gene Fowler — Essayist
H. L. Van Brunt — Contributor
Herbert Morris — Poet
Hugh F — Contributor
Hugh Fox — Correspondent
J. Chester Johnson — Contributor
Jack Lindeman — Contributor
James Boyer May — Essayist
James T. Farrell — Contributor
Jerry A. Bitts — Fiction writer
Jerry H. Burns — Poet
Joanne de Longchamps — Poet
John Tryford — Essayist
Joseph Martinek — Poet
Keki N. Daruwalla — Poet
Kybernetics — Contributor
Lawrence Hoey — Contributor
Laxman Pai — Contributor
Lillie D. Chaffin — Poet
Louise Louis — Contributor
Mark McCloskey — Contributor
Mary Graham Lund — Essayist
Mary Jean Irion — Poet
Mary M. Dorrian — Contributor
Mary Nordseth — Contributor
Michael Gregory — Essayist
Michael Miller — Poet
Michael T. Durden — Contributor
Milton VanSickle — Essayist
Mário de Andrade — Contributor
Neil Myers — Poet
Norbert Blei — Fiction writer
Phyllis Rose — Contributor
Poetry GENE FOWLER — Contributor
Prafulla Joshi — Contributor
Pritish Nandy — Poet
R. G. Everson — Contributor
Richard Shelton — Poet
Ron Miles — Poet
Seamus Finn — Contributor
Stella Worley — Contributor
Sylvia Roth — Artist
Thomas Fitzsimmons — Poet
To Eileen — Poet
Virginia Palmatary Moseley — Poet
William J. Margolis — Correspondent
William Packard — Essayist
William Pitt Root — Poet

Publication details

Journal: Trace
Volume: Not recorded
Issue number: 67
Issue date: 1968
Editor: James Boyer May
Publisher: Villiers Publications Ltd.
Place of publication: London, England; Hollywood, California (editorial office)
Language: English
Pagination: Original scan: 192 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 203 PDF pages.
Record ID: ttj-trace-67-1968

Full contents

When Time Was Born — James T. Farrell [Contribution, p. 6]
The Smith — H. L. Van Brunt [Contribution, p. 7]
From the Smith and Horizon Press — H. L. Van Brunt [Contribution, p. 8]
Uncertainties — H. L. Van Brunt [Contribution, p. 8]
The Smith/8 — Gene Fowler [Contribution, p. 9]
The Strongest Magazine — Gene Fowler [Contribution, p. 9]
SPECIAL OFFER — CLOTH EDITION OF UNCERTAINTIES, AND THE SMITH/8 BOTH FOR $6.00 ORDER FR( THE SMITH [Contribution, p. 15]
PARK ROW, NEW YORK, N.Y. 10038 — Gene Fowler [Contribution, p. 9]
The Poet and the 20th Century — Gene Fowler [Essay, p. 10]
Some Notes on Hiroshima Mon Amour — Felix Singer [Contribution, p. 14]
Towards Print (the Word & the Poem) — James Boyer May [Essay, p. 25]
Editors (and others) Write [Correspondence, p. 29]
The Poet & the Community — Eric Ratcliffe [Correspondence, p. 29]
A Medium for ‘This Shaking Shadowy World’ — William J. Margolis [Correspondence, p. 32]
Sur-rebuttal on Latin American Mags — Hugh Fox [Correspondence, p. 33]
Love and Death — Jack Lindeman [Contribution, p. 34]
Paper Boats or the Hydra-headed Woe — Mary Graham Lund [Essay, p. 42]
The Pebble-heap — a fable — Keki N. Daruwalla [Contribution, p. 51]
Keki N. Daruwalla [Contribution, p. 53]
Keki N. Daruwalla [Contribution, p. 55]
Glossary [Contribution, p. 57]
Paragraphs — Arvind Mehrotra [Contribution, p. 58]
View from the Field — Bruce Bennett Brown [Poem, p. 67]
Letter : a Detachment — Lillie D. Chaffin [Poem, p. 89]
Songs Taught, Songs Untaught — Seamus Finn [Contribution, p. 90]
The Songs [Contribution, p. 90]
Letter from the Unmagic Street — J. Chester Johnson [Contribution, p. 93]
The Pink Girl — Florence Lewis [Fiction, p. 99]
Florence Lewis [Contribution, p. 101]
Florence Lewis [Contribution, p. 102]
The Teachers’ Party — Jerry A. Bitts [Fiction, p. 104]
‘You better come get your husband!’ [Contribution, p. 105]
The Teachers’ Party (the Play) [Contribution, p. 106]
Jerry A. Bitts [Contribution, p. 107]
Jerry A. Bitts [Contribution, p. 110]
The Letter Carrier — Norbert Blei [Fiction, p. 114]
Norbert Blei [Contribution, p. 116]
Norbert Blei [Contribution, p. 119]
Norbert Blei [Contribution, p. 125]
A Box of Three — Don N. Smith [Fiction, p. 128]
The Evening [Contribution, p. 134]
Mary Nordseth [Contribution, p. 138]
Spiropanosome: a bacteriological tragedy — Albert E. Perks [Poem, p. 141]
Scene 3: the Same [Contribution, p. 146]
Scene 4: the Laboratory [Contribution, p. 149]
The ‘old’ Days — Louise Louis [Contribution, p. 151]
Underground — Louise Louis [Contribution, p. 152]
Unidentified Craft — Stella Worley [Contribution, p. 153]
Eclogue Forty Eight — Pritish Nandy [Poem, p. 159]
Icon Twenty Four — Pritish Nandy [Poem, p. 160]
The Need to Write — Michael Gregory [Essay, p. 161]
Story — Michael Miller [Poem, p. 164]
The Failure (part Ii) — John Tryford [Essay, p. 165]
(sequel to essay in Trace 58) — John Tryford [Essay, p. 165]
Epitaph [Contribution, p. 169]
Milkbottle H & Gil Orlovitz — Milton VanSickle [Essay, p. 170]
William Packard: Poetry in the Theatre—vi [Contribution, p. 173]
Rome Boat Thing on Its End [Contribution, p. 180]
The Chronicle [Reference, p. 200]
Art of India [Contribution, p. 201]
Film Stills [Contribution, p. 202]

Rights and citation

Rights in the individual contributions and the periodical compilation have not been fully resolved.

Trace, no. 67 (1968). Text/Tech Journals reader’s edition, 2026.