News & Reviews

Writers and Artists: Guillotine Press is seeking poetry, short-short stories, and line art of a social/political/anarchistic basis documenting our struggle against the current implementation of fascist totalitarianism under the guise of Reagan/Bush Republicanism; the unleashing of Capital’s watchdogs, the police, on a brutal (and now thanks to the Supreme Court) legal rampage against personal freedoms; the militaristic nationalism surging through White America’s veins justifying the continued oppression of nature, women and all people of color; and the continued ecologic rape of Earth in the name of profit & progress by the industrial mega-machines of multi-national corporations.

Got anything? Send to: Keith A. Dodson, Guillotine Press, P.O. Box 2730, Long Beach, CA 90801.

Tom and Sue Ness are a rare breed in the entrepreneurial 80s/90s. They built their weekly Detroit music mag, Jam Rag, into a 15,000 circulation, well respected publication, but instead of dreaming of being another Rolling Stone, took a different tack. They have converted their private ownership of the paper to a nonprofit, community-owned basis for the most admirable of reasons. The Nesses stated in their May 22, 1991 issue, “As publishers, after five years, we have decided to devote our lives to environmentalism and social justice.”

It was particularly good to see their Persian Gulf wartime issues festooned with slogans like “Don’t Be Loyal to Oil” next to a photo of a rock group and exhortations such as “Jam Rag Says ‘Go C.O.!’” alongside ads for amps and guitars. The paper got some flak from patriots among its readership, a few cancelled ad accounts and distribution spots, but generally the readers supported the paper’s stance giving further lie to contentions there was almost universal support for Bush’s bloody military adventure. Sample copy from Jam Rag, Box 20076, Ferndale, MI 48220.

“Just Say No!” is a rap about resistance to the Gulf War sung and recorded by American GIs stationed in Germany: “There’s no glory in Disaster Once the wheels of War start to turn...So when they tell you to go, just say no!” $5. to Michael Marsh, War Resisters League, 339 Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012. Phone: 212/228-0450.

Factsheet Five, that massive compendium of alternative publications published eight times a year by the intrepid Mike Gunderloy, has landed a contract for a mass-market book on the subject. It will be done in conjunction with Whole Earth Review and published by Viking/Penguin in early 1992. Mike is looking for ‘zines and mags to list, so if he hasn’t contacted you, send him a copy of your work. Also, Mike has raised the idea of a ‘zine convention sometime in 1992 if he can generate enough interest. Correspondence and sample copies of Factsheet Five ($3.50) available from 6 Arizona Ave., Rensselaer NY 12144.

A note from the translator of “French Radicals Sabotage Prison Project,” (see FE #336, Spring 1991): “Because of a pun I was unable to catch, an error slipped into ‘The Letter to an Architect’ which accompanied the Os Canaceiros article. The last line should have read, ‘Before you were building walls, now you’re going to keep a low profile.”’

—Michael

Montreal

Submissions, proposals for essays, short entries for the annotated bibliography, graphic work, inquiries and suggestions are being solicited for the forthcoming book Gone to Croatan: Origins of American Drop-Out Cultures. So far contents planned include: “1. A dozen essays on significant early drop-out cultures; 2. An extensive annotated bibliography; 3. Illustrated throughout with period graphics, collages, maps, etc.” Write to James Koehnline, POB 85777, Seattle WA 98145–1777. The deadline for proposals, graphics and bibliography submissions is October 31, 1991, for planned publication by Spring 1992.