Journal Issue
The February 1959 issue of Recurrence brings its writers together without asking them to sound alike. It contains 21 named pieces or sections, beginning with Vent de Mai by Marcel Béalu, Les Grands Arbres Fiancés by Marcel Béalu, and Avenir à Venir by Michel Faré. 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.
Vent de Mai and Femme Immolée give the issue a strong interest in water and weather. Across 20 poems, rhyme often serves as a way of tightening turns of thought: brief lyrics sit beside longer stanzaic arguments, while the sequence of titles keeps the pacing exact. What stands out is those changes of scale, as a single image is often answered by a more extended poem on the next leaf. The movement from Vent de Mai to Femme Immolée gives the number a specific arc while leaving its voices formally distinct.
The contents page also works like a small map. Early entries establish the issue’s first set of voices; around the middle, The Negative After-Image by Robert Beloof changes the view; the closing stretch reaches Contributors. 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 Marcel Béalu, Michel Faré, Myron H. Broomell, Douglas Nichols, Guillevic, André Marcou, Robert Beloof, and Laura Kent, along with 8 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 Grover Jacoby, published by Variegation Publishing Company, and issued from Los Angeles, 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 little magazines, American poetry, Rhyme, Formalist poetry, and Urban life—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 Vent de Mai by Marcel Béalu, turn next to The Negative After-Image by Robert Beloof, and finish with Contributors. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 24 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 26 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.
Contributors
- Marcel Béalu — Poet
- Michel Faré — Poet
- Myron H. Broomell — Poet
- Douglas Nichols — Poet
- Guillevic — Poet
- André Marcou — Poet
- Robert Beloof — Poet
- Laura Kent — Poet
- Mary Winter — Poet
- Constance M. Topping — Poet
- Elinor Lennen — Poet
- Elma Dean — Poet
- Joseph Joel Keith — Poet
- Jean Tardieu — Poet
- Samuel Hazo — Poet
- André Marissel — Poet
Publication details
Full contents
- Vent de Mai — Marcel Béalu [Poem, p. 3]
- Les Grands Arbres Fiancés — Marcel Béalu [Poem, p. 4]
- Avenir à Venir — Michel Faré [Poem, p. 4]
- The City Deserted — Myron H. Broomell [Poem, p. 5]
- Weather Forecast — Myron H. Broomell [Poem, p. 5]
- The Shore Seeker — Douglas Nichols [Poem, p. 6]
- Ecrire — Guillevic [Poem, p. 7]
- L'Automne — Guillevic [Poem, p. 7]
- Insomnie des Formes — André Marcou [Poem, p. 8]
- Postcard to Berkeley from Lake Tahoe — Robert Beloof [Poem, p. 10]
- The Negative After-Image — Robert Beloof [Poem, p. 10]
- The Recluse — Laura Kent [Poem, p. 11]
- Season's End — Mary Winter [Poem, p. 11]
- Ceramics — Constance M. Topping [Poem, p. 12]
- In Retrospect — Elinor Lennen [Poem, p. 12]
- Woman With a Tower — Elma Dean [Poem, p. 13]
- In an Oriental Garden — Joseph Joel Keith [Poem, p. 13]
- Malédiction d'une Furie — Jean Tardieu [Poem, p. 14]
- Plaza de Toros — Samuel Hazo [Poem, p. 17]
- Femme Immolée — André Marissel [Poem, p. 18]
- Contributors [Contributor notes, p. 19]
Rights and citation
Copyright, 1959 by Grover Jacoby
Copyright Status Unresolved
The issue bears a 1959 copyright notice; rights in individual contributions and the compilation have not been fully resolved.
*Recurrence*, no. 28, February 1959. Text/Tech Journals, reader’s edition.