Beyond Baroque, Vol. 3, No. 2 (1973)

The 1973 issue of Beyond Baroque brings its writers together without asking them to sound alike. It contains 15 named pieces or sections, beginning with UNE SAISON EN ENFER by Thomas Sinclair, BHANGI by Phil Williams, and INVIERNO. INVERTED by Thomas Kretz. 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.

With UNE SAISON EN ENFER by Thomas Sinclair, the number begins from a specific image and rhythm rather than a general theme. 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 THE EFFECT OF DECAPITATION ON A MAN'S WILL TO gives the number a clear closing direction while leaving its voices distinct. Across 15 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, EYE by Frederick Owen Wegela changes the view; the closing stretch reaches THE EFFECT OF DECAPITATION ON A MAN'S WILL TO by Phil Smith. 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 Thomas Sinclair, Phil Williams, Thomas Kretz, Peter Klappert, Hugh Fox, Madison Morrison, Frederick Owen Wegela, and Bruce Andrews, along with 5 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 UNE SAISON EN ENFER by Thomas Sinclair, turn next to EYE by Frederick Owen Wegela, and finish with THE EFFECT OF DECAPITATION ON A MAN'S WILL TO by Phil Smith. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 72 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 38 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.