Real Things

Among JIM ELLEDGE's ten books are four collections of his poetry, most recently Into the Arms of the Universe which won the 1995 Stonewall competition for gay and lesbian poets; four volumes of literary criticism; and Sweet Nothings: An Anthology of Rock and Roll in American Poetry, also published by Indiana University Press. Professor of English at Illinois State University, he teaches in that department's creative writing program and is director/editor of Thorngate Road, a press.Susan Swartwout is Assistant Professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University where she teaches creative writing and literature. She also serves on the editorial staff of The Cape Rock and advises the student literary magazine, Journey. Her two collections of poetry are entitled Freaks and Uncommon Ground, and she has poems published in literary journals such as Nebraska Review, The Cape Rock, Mississippi Review, Negative Capability, and Spoon River Poetry Review.

• A Sampling of the ContentsJune Jordan, Mid-Year Report: For HarukoJonathan Holden, Why We Bombed HaiphongKatharyn Howd Machan, No, Superman Was Not the Only OneRafael Campo, Superman Is DeadKathleen de Azevedo, Famous Women—Claudette ColbertSusan Swartwout, The Gypsy Teaches Her Grandchild Wolfen WaysEdward Field, The Bride of FrankensteinWilliam Trowbridge, Kong Breaks a Leg at the William Morris AgencyDavid Wojahn, Francis Ford Coppola and Anthropologist Interpreter Teaching Gartewienna Tribesmen to Sing "Light My Fire," Philippine Jungle, 1978Chrystos, Soap BubblesJoseph Like, James Dean & the PigFrank O'Hara, Four Little ElegiesSharon Olds, The Death of Marilyn MonroeJudy Grahn, [I have come to claim / Marilyn Monroe's body]Dennis Cooper, From "Some Adventures of John Kennedy, Jr."Jim Elledge, The Man I Love and I Have a Typical Evening the Night Richard M. Nixon DiesWilliam Trowbridge, Viet KongAi, Blue Suede ShoesMaureen Seaton, A Story of StonewallDavid Lehman, The Difference Between Pepsi and CokeMartin Espada, Coca-Cola and Coco FrioMarge Piercy, Barbie DollDaniel Mark Epstein, MannequinsRita Dove, After Reading Mickey in the Night Kitchen for the Third Time Before BedMaxine Chernoff, BreastsJulia Alvarez, Against CinderellaOlga Broumas, RapunzelKatharyn Howd Machan, Hazel Tells LaVerneRobin Becker, Peter Pan in North AmericaAudre Lorde, The Day They Eulogized MahaliaJuan Felipe Herrera, Iowa Blues Bar SpiritualTimothy Liu, EchoesJonathan Holden, LiberaceJoy Harjo, We Encounter Nat King Cole as We Invent the FutureMarilyn Hacker, MythologyGary Soto, Dizzy Girls in the SixtiesJan-Mitchell Sherrill, WoodstockPedro Pietri, The First Rock and Roll Song of 1970Maureen Seaton, Blonde AmbitionPamela Stewart, Punk PantoumPaula Gunn Allen, Teaching Poetry at Votech High, Santa Fe, the Week John Lennon Was ShotYusef Komunyakaa, Never LandAngela Jackson, Billie in SilkBruce Weigl, Homage to Elvis, Homage to the FathersMary A. Koncel, Come Back, Elvis, Come Back to HolyokeConnie Deanovich, From "Ephemera Today on All My Children"Daniel Hoffman, In the Days of Rin-Tin-Tinklipschutz, Funicello at 50Dorothy Barresi, When I think About America Sometimes (I Think of Ralph Kramden)Dennis Cooper, David Cassidy ThenTim Dlugos, Gilligan's IslandGary Soto, TV in Black and WhiteWilliam Carpenter, GhostsCarol J. Pierman, The ApparitionAllen Ginsberg, A Supermarket in CaliforniaJennifer M. Pierson, Thrift Shop LadiesBaron Wormser, ShopliftingLarry Levis, WhitmanPaul Zimmer, RomanceMark Doty, Days of 1981David Baker, 8-Ball at the TwiliteJim Daniels, Ted's Bar and GrillWilliam Matthews, A Story Often Told in Bars: The Reader's Digest VersionRobin Becker, Dreaming at the Rexall DrugSharon Bryan, Lunch with Girl ScoutsMichael Pettit, Vanna White's Bread PuddingThom Tammaro, 'mericn fst fdJim Daniels, Short-Order CookWilliam Hathaway, Why That's Bob HopeCharles Bernstein, Of Time and the LineAlbert Goldbarth, The Counterfeit Earth!Paul Violi, Harold and ImogeneJames Tate, The MotorcyclistsLouise Erdrich, The Lady in the Pink MustangMark Wunderlich, Take Good Care of YourselfLawrence Ferlinghetti, Lost ParentsGarrett Kaoru Hongo, Off from Swing ShiftEmily Hiestand, Moon Winx MotelMartin Espada, Transient Hotel Sky at the Hour of SleepPaul Allen, Tattoo #47, "Happy Dragon"Sandra McPherson, Pornography, NebraskaAlberto Rios, The Man She Called Honey, and MarriedContributorsIndexes