Journal Issue
The Spring 1966 issue of Trace brings its writers together without asking them to sound alike. It contains 33 named pieces or sections, beginning with Towards Print (a Bit of Plain Talk) by James Boyer May, Saroyan at 57 by Felix Singer, and The Daring Young Man After the Fall. 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.
Towards Print (a Bit of Plain Talk) by James Boyer May gives Trace no. 60 its clearest point of entry, while Saroyan at 57 by Felix Singer and The Daring Young Man After the Fall widen the issue’s field. Dated Spring 1966, this substantial number contains 42 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, Out of Newport by Keith Gunderson changes the view; the closing stretch reaches Film Comment. 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 (Vergil) The Barmaid Tempts the Itinerant Poet, A. Fredric Franklyn, Alfred B. Cahen, Alice 'Mackenzie Swaim, Beatrice Levin, Beatrice Levin Illumines MAXWELL ANDERSON, Booker T. Jackson, and Carl Schemmerling, along with 44 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 Towards Print (a Bit of Plain Talk) by James Boyer May, turn next to Out of Newport by Keith Gunderson, and finish with Film Comment. The clean reading edition is designed for that kind of movement. Original scan: 130 PDF pages. Reader’s edition: 135 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.
Contributors
- (Vergil) The Barmaid Tempts the Itinerant Poet — Contributor
- A. Fredric Franklyn — Essayist
- Alfred B. Cahen — Poet
- Alice 'Mackenzie Swaim — Poet
- Beatrice Levin — Essayist
- Beatrice Levin Illumines MAXWELL ANDERSON — Contributor
- Booker T. Jackson — Poet
- Carl Schemmerling — Poet
- Dan Georgakas — Essayist
- Dorothy Ellin Flax — Poet
- Edmund Alleyn — Artist
- F. E. Sandelius — Poet
- Felix Singer — Essayist
- George W. Linden — Contributor
- Gigi Lord — Poet
- Harold Fleming — Poet
- Helen Wolfert — Correspondent
- I. Einstadt — Contributor
- Illustrated Satire by Peter Barnes — Contributor
- James Boyer May — Essayist
- James Dougherty — Contributor
- Janet Overmyer — Essayist
- Jerry L. Miller — Contributor
- Joel Weishaus — Contributor
- Joseph H. Kempf — Poet
- Katherine Gorman — Poet
- Keith Gunderson — Poet
- Kenneth L. Beaudoin — Poet
- L. Stanley Cheney — Contributor
- Lake Calhoun — Contributor
- Marti Kristen — Poet
- Mary Frances Hardin — Poet
- Mary Frances Hardwate — Poet
- Maude Rubin — Contributor
- Michael Lebeck — Poet
- Milton Vansickle — Reviewer
- Norma Crandall — Reviewer
- Norma McLain Stoop — Poet
- Pacificus — Correspondent
- Peter Barnes — Poet
- Peter Meinke — Contributor
- Poems, Criticisms, Book Reviews, Timely Correspondence — Contributor
- Richard Emil Braun — Poet
- Richard O'Connell — Reviewer
- Robin Johnson — Poet
- Seamus Finn — Poet
- Stefan Yachevik — Poet
- Tracy Thompson — Poet
- Vin Cassidy — Poet
- WILLIAM SAROYAN A Reappraisal by Felix Singer — Contributor
- William Tillson — Reviewer
- Zoe Apostolides — Artist
Publication details
Full contents
- Towards Print (a Bit of Plain Talk) — James Boyer May [Essay, p. 5]
- Saroyan at 57 — Felix Singer [Essay, p. 7]
- The Daring Young Man After the Fall [Contribution, p. 7]
- Little Boys — Kenneth L. Beaudoin [Poem, p. 12]
- The Chronicle [Reference, p. 13]
- Editors (and others) Write [Correspondence, p. 14]
- Two Views of a Common Problem [Contribution, p. 14]
- Can Good Doors Be Kept Open? — Pacificus [Correspondence, p. 27]
- Of Individualism & the Writing Scene — Helen Wolfert [Correspondence, p. 28]
- Y, Z — Vin Cassidy [Poem, p. 29]
- The Hand in the Fist — A. Fredric Franklyn [Essay, p. 30]
- (a Study of William Wyler’s the Collector) — A. Fredric Franklyn [Contribution, p. 30]
- Back to Quality (tv Today—& Tad Mosel) — Janet Overmyer [Contribution, p. 39]
- Long Live Porfirio Montez — Carl Schemmerling [Poem, p. 46]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 48]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 50]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 52]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 54]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 56]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 59]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 61]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 63]
- Carl Schemmerling [Contribution, p. 67]
- Number One Man on the Sit-down Power Mowers at Lakewood Cemetery [Contribution, p. 69]
- Out of Newport — Keith Gunderson [Poem, p. 71]
- The Gypsy Motorcycle Club of South Minneapolis — Lake Calhoun [Contribution, p. 72]
- Notes on Love and Freedom — F. E. Sandelius [Poem, p. 76]
- Satires (ii) [Contribution, p. 90]
- With the Guard [Contribution, p. 92]
- Marti Kristen [Contribution, p. 95]
- A Past and Present High School Student’s Guide to Society — Peter Barnes [Poem, p. 98]
- RABBIT RUN, ch. 1 THE GROUP, ch. 2 ANOTHER COUNTRY, ch. 1 & 3, ETC. Or, Who Needs Multiplication Tables? [Contribution, p. 100]
- Rape of the Purple Nightshade — Maude Rubin [Contribution, p. 101]
- Even the Dead Have Potential — Joel Weishaus [Contribution, p. 106]
- Maxwell Anderson: ‘no Certain Answer’ — Beatrice Levin [Contribution, p. 107]
- Dan Georgakas : Notes on 1960s’ Mannerism [Contribution, p. 112]
- The Hand in the Fist (continued from Page 27) [Contribution, p. 114]
- Alan Watts and Existence — Milton Vansickle [Review, p. 124]
- A Poet and Critic Translates — William Tillson [Review, p. 129]
- Human Voice — Poems, Criticisms, Book Reviews, Timely Correspondence [Contribution, p. 132]
- Film Comment [Contribution, p. 133]
- Film Comment [Contribution, p. 134]
Rights and citation
Copyright remains with the respective authors, artists, publisher, or successors.
Copyright Status Unresolved
Rights in the individual contributions and the periodical compilation have not been fully resolved.
Trace, no. 60 (Spring 1966). Text/Tech Journals reader’s edition, 2026.