Beat Not Beat

by Rich Ferguson ( Editor), Susan Hayden (Contributor), S.A. Griffin (Editor)

Beat Not Beat, edited by Rich Ferguson and published by Eric Morago's Moon Tide Press, is an anthology of California poets screwing on the Beat and post-Beat tradition. Co-edited by Alexis Rhone Fancher, S.A. Griffin and Kim Shuck, this dynamic anthology spans the postwar, atomic-bomb-obsessed American landscape to the here and now: a period when Beat poets, the Vortex, Baby Beats, and their progenitors inspired one another through cultural, political, and humorous means to create new forms of consciousness weaponizing pen and paper to enact mighty forms of lyrical rebellion. The collection features notable poets such as Bob Kaufman, Diane di Prima, Jack Hirschman, Wanda Coleman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Charles Bukowski. It also features contemporary poets such as Douglas Kearney, Brendan Constantine, Kim Addonizio, Ellyn Maybe, Will Alexander, and former United States Poet Laureate Robert Hass.

364 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2022

About the author

Rich Ferguson has performed across the country and has shared the stage with Patti Smith, Wanda Coleman, Exene Cervenka, T.C. Boyle, Loudon Wainwright, Bob Holman, and many other esteemed poets and musicians. He has performed on The Tonight Show, at the Redcat Theater in Disney Hall, the New York City International Fringe Festival, the Bowery Poetry Club, the South by Southwest Music Festival, the Santa Cruz Poetry Festival, the DocMiami International Film Festival, the Topanga Film Festival, and Stephen Elliott’s “Rumpus.” He is also a featured performer in the film, What About Me? (the sequel to the double Grammy-nominated film 1 Giant Leap), featuring Michael Stipe, Michael Franti, k.d. lang, Krishna Das, and others. He has been published in the LA TIMES, has been anthologized by Uphook Press (gape-seed), Smith Magazine (The Moment), TNB Books (The Beautiful Anthology), spotlighted on PBS (Egg: The Art Show), and was a winner in Opium Magazine’s Literary Death Match, LA. Ferguson is a Pushcart-nominated poet, and also a regular contributor and poetry editor to the online literary journal, The Nervous Breakdown.

Reviews

[Robert Morgan Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh hell yeah. Rich Ferguson and crew have done a marvelous job of putting together a definitive anthology. I know many of these poets personally and to see their work alongside Brautigan, Di Prima et al is very satisfying. There are some nice surprises here, celebrity turns one might not expect—but it only adds to the glory of the project. Well done, man!

[Kyle Gunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Believe in the love.”

[ronny · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a compilation, so you won't love every single poem, but there are some real treasures in here and it all flows together wonderfully.