We begin with Don Share, poet and Senior Editor of Poetry, who will start us off this week on cover design.
Having been asked for his top three ("Only three? how difficult!") Don considered a few options...
"Among my favorites are Larry Rivers's covers for Kenneth Koch's books, and particularly the one he designed for Frank O'Hara's collected poems (later used on the selected),"
He settled on "the cover of Frank O’Hara’s Lunch Poems as my no. 1."
"This book never ever fails to get my heart pumping, and scholars will soon observe that the color scheme is indebted to the old Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain!"
Other options vying for first place--
"I’m also fond of the famous Grace Hartigan cover of O’Hara’s Oranges: Twelve Pastorals;... and of course Jasper Johns’ cover for the MOMA edition of In Memory of My Feelings is incredible...!"
Pick 2:
"Next... Geof Huth’s superb cover for Ron Silliman’s The Alphabet."
"Huth is one of our very best visual poets, and his cover design not only makes you want to hold and read the book... it’s a poem by itself."
And finally.....
Finally, the cover of Jack Spicer’s My Vocabulary Did This To Me – a Nathaniel Dorsky image – is arresting and haunting. In some ways the austere Black Sparrow cover of Robin Blaser’s edition of The Collected Books of Jack Spicer is a lot more appropriate, and I adore it as well. Then, too, Jess’s cover for Spicer’s After Lorca cover is terrific & iconic... and yet...
I’ll pick Graham Mackintosh and Stan Persky’s design for The Book of Magazine Verse – a delicious parody of the Rago-era Poetry magazine cover design: how could I not?
There we have it! Top Three, complete with many spiraling alternative possibilities. Visually diverse (save for a love of typographical play) and all the more compelling for it.
Thoughts? Personally, I can't quit Grace Hartigan and her oranges.
Many thanks, Don: so, so rich!
