Portland 1978

Terry Simons has edited a collection of work from Portland writers in 1978. This is a valuable addition to our literary history. Check it out.

A personal note. This is when I arrived in Portland, entering a well-established literary scene of which Simons was a major participant, editing a poetry review at the time. Then Terry disappeared to a degree, his work less visible. What is extraordinary and wonderful about the digital revolution, is that artists like Terry can take it by the throat and become their own publishers, divorcing the whims of the pop culture marketplace forever, and for the first time give wide availability to work that otherwise would be lost or very hard to access. I've seen the same thing happen with my writer friend Lynn Jeffress in Paris, a bright and talented woman also without means to find her audience until the digital revolution made it possible. Sure, there is a large amount of amateurish work made public now but this is a small price to pay for the significant first rate work that has become available for the first time from the likes of Simons, Jeffress, and others (I suppose I should even add myself, though I played the traditional game for a long time before I took matters into my own hands). A book like this anthology is what the digital revolution does best.