Rare Books
Refractive Africa : ballet of the forgotten
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Refractive Africa : ballet of the forgotten
Rare Books
""The poet is endemic with life itself," Will Alexander once said, and in this searing pas de trois, Refractive Africa: Ballet of the Forgotten, he has exemplified this vital candescence with a transpersonal amplification worthy of the Cambrian explosion. "This being the ballet of the forgotten," he writes as diasporic witness, "of refracted boundary points as venom." The volume's opening poem pays homage to the innovative Nigerian-Yoruban author Amos Tutuola; it ends with an encomium to the modernist Malagasy poet Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo-two writers whose luminous art suffered "colonial wrath through refraction." A tribute to the Congo forms the bridge and brisé vole of the book: the Congo as "charged aural colony" and "primal interconnection," a "subliminal psychic force" with a colonial and postcolonial history dominated by the Occident. Will Alexander's improvisatory cosmicity pushes poetic language to the point of most resistance-incantatory and swirling with magical laterality and recovery"--
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Works, projects, and research materials
Manuscripts
Will Alexander's written works and collaborative projects: primarily typescript drafts or copies of typescripts; printed proofs; and some handwritten drafts. Many of the typescripts and printed drafts include handwritten notes and corrections. There are also copies of reviews of Alexander's work, and reviews by him of others' work. Interspersed with these works are Alexander's research materials, usually printouts of articles and information from the internet that influenced and inspired his writing. Boxes 10-12 consist entirely of research materials. There is a small amount of correspondence and biographical material also interspersed with the works, which is noted in the individual boxes. Box 5 includes the bulk of the correspondence; box 8 includes Sotère Torregian signed poems and correspondence. Box 3 also includes a few drawings.
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Anonymous Stellar Ravines
Rare Books
"Anonymous Stellar Ravines comprises 75 "telepathic eruptions"--Will Alexander's poetic responses to Byron Baker's ink drawings. The original collaboration included 327 "visual scripts" by Baker, to which Alexander contributed improvisational responses. This is Alexander's first artist's book, though he collaborated with artist Baker in a prior work, The Codex Mirror (2014), which Cornel West described as "powerful and poignant," bringing "together two great artists who take us on a journey so badly needed in our dark times." Alexander's recent book, Refractive Africa, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2022. The pages were printed in Los Angeles by E&T Graphics, including tipped-on digital prints of Baker's drawings. The title and colophon pages were printed by Aardvark Letterpress. Cloth-covered clamshell boxes were fabricated by Charlene Matthews, and assistance to the project was provided by Armand Kossayan. Published by Granary Books in New York City. This is from an edition of 25 copies, plus 2 copies hors commerce, numbered and signed"--Publisher's website.
642262
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Above the human nerve domain
Rare Books
"The domain of poet Will Alexander's nervy curiosity ranges from the icy Himalayas, to African savannahs, from physics, astronomy, and music, to alchemy, philosophy, and painting. Orishas, angels and ghosts all sing to this poet, instructing him in their art of verbal flight. This is a poet whose lexicon, a 'glossary of vertigo,' might be culled from the complete holdings of a reconstituted Alexandrian library endowed for the next millenium"--Harryette Mullen. Book Jacket.
653854
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Singing in magnetic hoofbeat : essays, prose texts, interviews and a lecture, 1991-2007
Rare Books
"One of the most prolific and original figures in the field of contemporary literature, Will Alexander is known worldwide for his arresting explorations of European and Caribbean surrealism, postcolonial history, twentieth-century philosophy, and contemporary scientific theory. Here, Alexander undertakes nothing less than a redefinition of the essay form itself, opening an "artery of twilight" wherein aesthetic, political, historical, social, cultural, scientific, and theoretical discourses often become indistinguishable elements of a holistic investigation into the composition--or, re-composition--of the physical and metaphysical worlds. Singing in Magnetic Hoofbeat is an indispensable record of Alexander's thought, and confirms his reputation as one of the foremost exponents of Afro-futurist modernism."--Page 4 of cover.
653781
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David B. Alexander papers
Manuscripts
The collection consists of letters, documents, account books and two photographs related mainly to David B. Alexander's purchase of property in the area of Fort, Main, Fifth, and Spring Streets in central Los Angeles. There are also materials related to his purchase of a portion of Rancho Muscupiabe in San Bernardino County and business regarding the ranch between Alexander and his partner Samuel W. Little. There are also business papers relating to property Alexander owned in Lincoln, Nebraska and account books kept by Alexander and both J. W. Hartley, and J. A. Hartley.
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