The Alternative Press Records, 1949-2018 (majority within 1970-1999)

Start Over Collection The Alternative Press Records, 1949-2018 (majority within 1970-1999)

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The Alternative Press Records, 1949-2018 (majority within 1970-1999)

78.5 Linear Feet (157 manuscript boxes and 7 oversize boxes) — The printed products of the press are located in the Printed Materials series in boxes 42-43, 95, and oversize 157 and 162. — Ephemera is located throughout the collection, but is concentrated in the Ephemera series (box 38) and the Artists and Poets series (boxes 1-36 and 50-88).

The Alternative Press was a literary and artistic small press started in Detroit in 1969 by Ken and Ann Mikolowski. The press initially focused on publishing the work of Detroit artists and later became international in scope. The collection documents the press's management and publication processes, including those for its acclaimed subscription mailings, which contained poetry, bookmarks, bumper stickers, drawings, paintings, collages, and postcards.

The Alternative Press Records held by the University of Michigan Special Collections Library is the founders' full set of press records up until 1996. It contains items such as correspondence from poets, artists, and friends, manuscripts of poems and other writings, sketches, Christmas cards, event announcements, the press' printed products, subscription renewal requests and more. Records from all three operating locations of the press are included, although the records from business done from Grindstone City predominate.

The Alternative Press Records is divided into ten series: Artists and Poets: Correspondence, Writings and Ephemera; Business Records; Ephemera; Events and Organizations; Original Postcards; Printed Materials; Printing Process; Small Presses; 1996 accretion; and 2018 accretion. Records sorted by individual or organization (primarily Artists and Poets and Small Presses) are arranged in alphabetical order. Other series and subseries (primarily those containing correspondence, business records, artwork/writings, and event announcements) are arranged in chronological order to preserve evidence of the creative process and organizational decisionmaking.

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Artists and poets: correspondence, writings, and ephemera

The activities of Ken and Ann Mikolowski and their Alternative Press created a sense of community among the artists whose work the Press distributed. The Artists and Poets Series illustrates this high degree of connection between and among the artists.

This series is the largest of the collection, taking up 14 linear feet. The largest sub-series consists of correspondence from the Mikolowskis' close friends such as Donna Brook, Morgan Blair (Faye Kicknosway), Kenward Elmslie and Sue Pickard. Of the numerous correspondents, some of particular note are Robert Bly, Andrei Codrescu, Robert Creely, Allen Ginsburg, Donald Hall, Anselm Hollo, Bradley Jones, Norman Mailer, Ron Padgett, Robert Sestok, John Sinclair, Patricia Söderberg and Anne Waldman. By far the most voluminous is the Jim Gustafson sub-series, which includes incoming and outgoing correspondence, printed materials, writings, and ephemera.

The variety of materials in this series reflects that there was little distinction between business and friendship. Propositions for collaboration and event announcements are intermingled with family photos and birth announcements. The correspondence is often accompanied by original poems that were created for potential poetry postcards or bookmarks. Some artists and presses, such as the Cold Mountain Press of Austin, Texas also sent their own poetry postcards to the Alternative Press. Other notable items in the series include: Hanuman Press material; press clippings for poetry readings and exhibits openings; longtime Detroit sportswriter Joe Falls' unpublished mystery novel Supreme Justice ; Detroit poet Judith Goren's piece "Detroit Suburb, 1967" about the Detroit Riots/Rebellion; and a position paper by writer Clayton Eshleman.

The vibrancy of the artistic life of the Cass Corridor and the place of Wayne State University in the community is well-reflected in this series. The turbulent social and political climate of the United States in the 1970s and 1980s is also central to much of the material in the Artists and Poets series, from John Sinclair's correspondence from jail, to Vietnam protest material, to the Urbations' performance schedules.