Beyond Baroque, Vol. 1, No. 4 (March 1971)

This March 1971 number of Beyond Baroque is best met through the writing itself. It contains 17 named pieces or sections, beginning with CONFESSIONAL by V. H. Adair, TO BE by V. H. Adair, and ASPECT by V. H. Adair. 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.

CONFESSIONAL by V. H. Adair establishes this number’s particular register. Compact lyrics sit beside longer, more loosely unfolding poems, with changes in line and stanza doing much of the issue’s formal work. The movement toward MERRIMENT gives the number a clear closing direction while leaving its voices distinct. Across 17 poems, formal interest lies in the changes of scale: short, image-driven pieces give way to longer fields of syntax, and each new opening resets the relation between line, breath, and page. The variety reflects the Venice workshop culture around the publication, where experimental practice was less a house style than a shared willingness to let voice, spacing, and sequence determine form.

The contents page also works like a small map. Early entries establish the issue’s first set of voices; around the middle, NAMES OF MOTELS by Lyn Hejinian changes the view; the closing stretch reaches MERRIMENT by Toby Lurie. 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 V. H. Adair, Susan Mernit, Carla Perry, Jacob Kisner, Evelyn Thorne, Lyn Hejinian, David Lunde, and Steve Russo, along with 4 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 George Drury Smith, published by Beyond Baroque Enterprises, and issued from Venice, California. 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—Los Angeles poetry, Venice, California, Experimental poetry, and Little magazines—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 CONFESSIONAL by V. H. Adair, turn next to NAMES OF MOTELS by Lyn Hejinian, and finish with MERRIMENT by Toby Lurie. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 68 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 32 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.