Arts & Entertainment
The
Literary Press
O ome writers want to get their poetry and short fiction
published by the most popular periodicals and book publishers
in the nation. But the New Yorker, Scribner and Sons, Esquire
and Simon and Schuster are not interested in every writer,
even if they happen to be a potential T.S. Eliot or James Joyce.
For those who find the Eastern establishment press too
much to handle, or for those who are too much to handle for
the Eastern establishment press, there is an alternative small
press here in Eugene.
The small presses in Eugene are looking for poetry,
philosophical essays, fiction and art by talented writers and
artists, whether or not they’ve published Before. Thus far small
press publications in Eugene — Twenty Three Magazine, 10
point 5 Art Magazine, Silverfish Review, Glyphs and the
Northwest Review — are not making a great deal of profit for
themselves or their writers, but some of these publications are
getting nationwide attention from libraries, universities and
some bookstores that order them. In some instances small press
publications may even act as a stepping stone for a writer’s
work to be picked up by the more well-known large press
companies.
Twenty Three
Mamzine
O ne publication, Twenty Three
Magazine, published for the first time in
October 1978, is distributed both in Oregon
and Northern California. A second issue, put
out in spring 1979, has led to a third issue to
be titled Odin’s Booty and expected in July.
“Creative anarchism is how our magazine
started," says J.T. Gillett, one of the
magazine’s founders and most active
members. “That’s a governing idea still.
“The contributors decide what they want
Twenty Three Magazine to be. They decide
what kind of art they want to get together.
Everyone has to rap, hangout and decide
what’ll happen.”
The name, Twenty Three Magazine, is
derived from the number’s cosmological
significance. Gillett says some significant
aspects of 23 are that the earth’s axis tilts at 23
degrees; the mean temperature of earth’s
sister planet, Venus, is 23 degrees; Harpo
Marx died on November 23, and the human
sex chromosones number 23.
Anybody can get involved with the
magazine if they want, “but it’s not only for
getting your poetry published,” Gillett says.
“You’ve got to work on it as a total project.
We’d like to keep it a conceptually based
magazine.”
Gillett and another co-founder of the
magazine, Eric Meyer, operate the
Eugene-based Homonculus Press, whose
name is derived from an alchemical term. The
first issue of Twenty Three Magazine provided
a world of insight into alchemy and gnosticism
through numerous essays, short fiction, poetry
and line drawings.
“Gnosticism and alchemy are where we’re
at,” Gillett says. “Gnosticism is where no
values are constant. If the fashion is to wear
long hair, a gnostic wears short hair. If the
fashion is to wear short hair, the gnostic wears
long hair. One of our favorite gnostics is
Rimbaud. Joyce was another heavy gnostic.
One of the purposes of gnosticism — and one
of the purposes of Twenty Three Magazine —
is to have people look at things another way.”
The magazine’s alchemical emphasis is
rooted in a pragmatic but perhaps
unattainable motive. "At Twenty Three, we re
into life extension through meditation and
drugs," Gillett says. “We’re after immortality
and researching old time alchemists for the
philosopher’s stone, said to bring immortality.”
In his quest for immortality, Gillett has *
formed the Argus West Immortality Institute
here in Eugene. Affiliated with Homonculus
Press, the institute advertises in Rolling Stone.
In publishing Twenty Three Magazine
costs have been a major factor. The magazine
has no aid from government grants. In the
past, all contributors, instead of getting paid,
have worked on the production of the
magazine and contributed anywhere from $20
to $100 for typesetting and other costs. The
first issue of Twenty Three, more than 100
pages, cost $1,000 for 500 issues. It didn’t
make an money, despite selling out in less
than two months. The collective did profit from
the smaller second issue.
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