Frank Stanford
(1948-1978)
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POETRY
The Singing Knives. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1971) First edition, 56 pages, perfect bound. Poet’s first book. Frank Stanford poetry: The Blood Brothers · The Singing Knives · Living · The Pump · The Gospel Bird · The Albino · Elegy for My Father · Tapsticks · The Bass · The Minnow · The Picture Show Next Door to The Stamp Store in Downtown Memphis · Poem · Transcendence of Janus · Strappado · If I Should Wake · Wishing My Wife Had One Leg · Narcissus to Achilles · Planning the Disappearance of Those Who Have Gone · The Intruder after Jean Follain · The Quiver · Becoming the Unicorn · Belladonna · The Snake Doctors.
Ladies From Hell. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1974) First edition. Frank Stanford Poetry: Brothers On Sunday Night · Hidden Water · Linger · If She Lives In the Hills · Women Singing When Their Husbands Are Gone · Sudden Opera · Do Tell · Suspect · Dante Gabrielle Rossetti With His Head on the Virginal · Blue Yodel of the Wayfaring Stranger · Twilight · Death In The Cool Evening · Place On A Grave · Getting To Sleep · The Paramour · Farewell · Where We Slept Together · Pasture Dream.
Field Talk. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1975) First edition, 32 pages, perfect bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Plowboy · Lullaby to a Child Who They Say Will Not Live Through The Night · Milksnake · The Long Staircase · The River is Some Time to Kill Without Warning · Sanctuary · The Prows · Wrote Down Burns · The Chinese Noseguards for The Entrance to The Mouth · The Face of Love · Spell · Nautilus · A Life Taken in The Throat of The Tree Frog · Partner · I Would Have a Woman as Real as Death · On · Blue Yodel Silence You Are · When It's After Dark · Cutting Fishing Poles for The Dead · Fire Left by Travellers.
Note: The Poems in this selection were originally a part of the following manuscripts: Field Talk, 1957-1972, Blue Yodels.
Shade. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1975) First edition, 50 pages, perfect bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Soybeans · The Last Dance · In Plain View · The Unbelievable Nightgown · Liason · My Home · The Cloud · The Conflict · Wonder Bread · Swirl of Dust in The Cottonfields · Dawn · Black Swan · A Man Born in The Forest · Born There · Gray · All in My Good Time · Leer · Drunk Song in May · Honeymoon · The Silence The Thicket The Sniffing · Fair Trial · The Hearse on The Other Side of The Canvas · Night Time · Wedding · Humming This Song · Tryst · Field Hands on Plantation Night · Slow Rag of The Yearbook · Living with Death · Called.
Note: These poems were written during the time: 1964-1968, and were originally part of the following manuscripts: Hard Figuring, So Long For This World, Blue Yodels, Touched Stones, Taking My Shade.
Arkansas Bench Stone. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1975) First edition, perfect bound, 32 pages. Frank Stanford poetry: The Visitors of Night · Monk's Dog · Mouths Full of Spit · Their Names are Spoken · Lap · Tale · Island · Lament of the Land Surveyor · Blue Yodel · Blue Yodel of the Quick and the Dead · Will · Shed · Village with Dark Sun · Inventory · Land of the Downstream People · Soaking Wet.
Note: Arkansas Bench Stone is a Legend For John S. Morris.
Constant Stranger. (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1976) First edition, 48 pages, perfect bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Death and the Arkansas River · Directions from a Madman · The First Twenty-Five Years of My Life · The Boathouse · Blue Yodel of the Desperado · In These Rooms · Eyelids Noticed Only in the Seventh Minute of Twilight · No Signs of Life: A Tragic Gag of Raymond Radiguet · The Forgotten Madmen of Menilmontant · At the Moment of Death · A Black Cat Crossed the Road I Was Born On · Time Forks Perpetually Towards Innumerable Futures In One Of Them I Am Your Enemy.
Note: The title of the last poem in this book comes from a line by Borges.
The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You. (Fayetteville, Arkansas: Lost Roads/Mill Mountain Press, 1977) First edition, 542 pages, perfect bound.
Crib Death. (Kensington: Ironwood Press, 1978) First edition, 55 pages, perfect bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Amaranth: Amaranth · A Woman Driving a Stake into the Ground at Midnight · Taking Your Life · Strange Roads Before Light · Lost Recipe · The Angel of Death · Knew it was Love, Felt is was Glory, The Home Movie of Those Who Are Dead Now: In This House · The Boy Who Shot Weathercocks · More Biscuits · A Milk Truck Running into a Crazy Maid · Island Funeral · The Movie of Those Who Are Dead Now · Why the Moon is in the Outhouse · Blue Yodel a Prairie · Memory is Like a Shotgun Kicking You Near the Heart · The Dead Man's Fiddle, Death & The Arkansas River: Between Love and Death · Dreams of a River I Waded with Others · Would You Like to Lie Down with the Light On and Cry · Blue Yodel of the Lost Child · The Lunatic · Death and the Arkansas River, The Light the Dead See: Fire Left By Travellers · A Beautiful Woman Came Down to the Sawmill · The Neighbor's Wife · Terrorism · Only One Set in the Singer's Eyes · Living the Good Life · The Light the Dead See.
You. [Lost Roads, Number 15]. (Fayetteville, AR: Lost Roads Publishing Company, 1979) First edition, 49 pages, perfect bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Handling Paper with Cold Hands · Jonquils · Spirits · Postcard to Lucia · Epiphanies · Boots · Braids · Parole · Freedom, Revolt, and Love · The History of John Stoss.
The Singing Knives. [Lost Roads, Number 18]. (Fayetteville, AR: Lost Roads Publishing Company, 1979) Second edition, contains two poems not included in the first edition. 56 pages.
Conditions Uncertain and Likely to Pass Away: Tales. [Lost Roads, Number 37]. (Lost Roads Publishers, 1990) First edition, 151 pages, perfect bound.
The Light the Dead See: Selected Poems of Frank Stanford. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1991) First edition, 111 pages, hardcover with dustjacket.
The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You. (Barrington : Lost Roads Publishers, 2000) Second edition,383 pages, perfect bound. New preface by C.D. Wright.
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ANTHOLOGIES
Big Easy. Edited by Ralph Adamo. (New Orleans, LA: Arts Council of Greater New Orleans, 1978) Perfect-bound. Frank Stanford poetry: Drunk Song in May [collected in Shade].
Fifty Contemporary Poets: The Creative Process. Edited by Alberta Turner (NY, U.S.A.: Longman Publishing Group, 1977)
The Lost Roads Project: A Walk-In Book of Arkansas. Edited and with an introduction by C.D. Wright (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1994) Frank Stanford poetry: What About This [uncollected] .
The Made Thing: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern Poetry. Edited by Leon Stokesbury (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1987) Frank Stanford poetry: The Intruder [collected in The Singing Knives] · Inventory [collected in Arkansas Bench Stone] · Place on a Grave [collected in Ladies from Hell] · Allegory of Death and Night [uncollected] · Island Funeral [collected in Crib Death] .
Ozark, Ozark: A Hillside Reader. Edited by Miller Williams (University of Missouri Press, 1984)
The Writer’s Mind: Interviews with American Authors, Volume II. Edited by Irv Broughton. (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 1990)
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MAGAZINE APPEARANCES
Aldebaran Review, 11 (Berkeley, CA: Aldebaran Review, December 1971) Stapled wrappers, one of 1000 copies. Poetry: On Jesus Highway [uncollected] .
American Poetry Review, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1975)
American Poetry Review, Vol. 8, No. 2 (1979)
The Ark River Review, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Haverford, PA: The Ark River Review, 1974) Stapled wrappers. Poetry: In Plain View [collected in Shade] · Pasture Dream [collected in Ladies from Hell].
Ask The Poet.
Barataria, 3 (New Orleans, LA: Barataria Press, Spring-Summer 1977) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: Dreamt By a Man In a Field [uncollected] · Between Love And Death [collected in Crib Death] · You · Would You Like To Lie Down With The Light On And Cry [collected in Crib Death] · Allegory of Youth [uncollected] .
Barataria, 4 (New Orleans, LA: Barataria Press, 1977)
Boston After Dark.
Boston Phoenix.
The Chicago Review, Volume 23, Number 1 (Chicago: Univeristy of Chicago, 1971) Poetry: Fish on the Trees (elegy) [uncollected] · The Albino [collected in The Singing Knives] · Remembering the Odor in the Jewish Dentist’s House Next Door, I Recall the Picture Show next door to the Stamp Store in Downtown Memphis [uncollected].
The Circular Ruins (Scotland)
Conjunctions: 29 (Bard College, 1997)
Dacota Territory, 8/9 (Moorhead, MN: Dacotah Territory, 1975) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: Suspect [collected in Ladies from Hell] · Soybeans [collected in Shade].
De Quincey (England)
Edge (Christchurch , New Zealand)
Field, 10 (OH: Oberlin College, Spring 1974) Poetry: Brothers on Sunday Night [collected in Ladies from Hell] · Linger [collected in Ladies from Hell] .
Field, 11 (OH: Oberlin College, Fall 1974) Poetry: The Dead Man’s Fiddle [collected in Crib Death] · The Home Movie of Those Who are Dead Now [collected in Crib Death].
Field, 12 (OH: Oberlin College, Fall 1974) Poetry: Blue Yodel of Her Feet · Allegory of Death and Night [uncollected]· Children at the Point of Death [uncollected] · Knew it was Love, Felt it was Glory (after Pier Paolo Pasolini) [collected in Crib Death].
Ghost Ship (Ireland)
Hollins Critic, Volume IX, Number 1 (Roanoke, VA: Hollins College, April 1972) Poetry: Chimera [uncollected].
The Hunchback in the Park (Wales)
The Iowa Review, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Summer 1972)
The Iowa Review, Volume 5, Number 2 (Iowa City: University of Iowa, Spring 1974) Poetry: Rooms [collected in Constant Stanger] · Hidden Water [collected in Ladies from Hell].
The Iowa Review, Vol. 5, No. 4 (Spring 1974)
Ironwood, 4, edited by Michael Cuddihy (1974)
Ironwood, 6, edited by Michael Cuddihy (1975) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: The Burial Ship [uncollected] · The Wolves [uncollected].
Ironwood, 9, edited by Michael Cuddihy (1977) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: Taking Your Life [collected in Crib Death] · Amaranth [collected in Crib Death].
Ironwood, 12, Volume 6, Number 2 (Tucson: Ironwood Press, 1978) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: The Light The Dead See [collected in Crib Death] · In This House [collected in Crib Death] · A Milk Truck Running Into A Crazy Maid At The Corner Of Getwell And Park [collected in Crib Death] · The Boy Who Shot Weathercocks [collected in Crib Death].
Ironwood, 23 (Tucson: Ironwood Press, 1984)
Kayak, 26 (Santa Cruz: Kayak Books, 1971) Stapled wrappers. Poetry: Wishing My Wife Had One Leg [collected in The Singing Knives].
La Bell Et La Bete (France)
La Notte (Italy)
The Little Review.
The Massachusetts Review, Volume XIII, Number 4 (Amherst: University of Massachusetts, Fall 1972) Frank Stanford poetry: Tapsticks [collected in The Singing Knives].
The Mill Mountain Review, Volume 1, Number 2 (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1970) Paperback. Poetry: The Professors [uncollected] · The Solitude of Historical Analysis [uncollected] · The Politicians [uncollected] · Holy Night [uncollected] · Living [collected in The Singing Knives].
The Mill Mountain Review, Volume 1, Number 4 (Seattle: Mill Mountain Press, 1971) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: Planning the Disappearance of Those Who Have Gone [collected in The Singing Knives] · The Bandits [uncollected] · Bergman the Burning Ship [uncollected] · Bend Sinister [uncollected] · The Mother of Yannis Ritsos [uncollected] · The Men [uncollected].
The Nation, Vol. 213, No. 10 (New York: The Nation Associates, Inc. 1971)
New American Review, 11 (NY: Simon & Schuster, 1971) Poetry: The Gospel Bird [collected in The Singing Knives].
The New York Quarterly, 15, edited by William Packard (NY: Summer 1973) Paperback. Frank Stanford poetry: Death in the Cool Evening [collected in Ladies from Hell].
Out There, 10 (IL: Northeast Illinois University, July 1976) Poetry: Only One Set in The Singer’s Eyes [collected in Crib Death] · Why The Moon Is The Outhouse [collected in Crib Death] · Porch Chair [uncollected].
Open Places (Columbia, MO: Stephens College).
The Partisan Review.
Poetry: Australia, 43 (Sydney: South Head Press, 1972) Translation from the Spanish: Twilight by César Vallejo [collected in Ladies from Hell].
Poetry: Australia, 51 (Sydney: South Head Press, 1974) Translation from the Spanish: Message by Lorca Sent to Me in an Infant’s Casket by Nicanor Parra [uncollected].
Poetry Now, Vol. 1, No. 2 (1975)
The Portable Plateau, Volume 1 Number 1 (Joplin, MO: Summer 1997)
Prairie Schooner, Volume 48, Issue 3 (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska, Fall 1974) Poetry: Sudden Opera [collected in Ladies from Hell].
Raccoon: Tenth Anniversary Issue (Memphis: Ion books, 1987) Paperback. Frank Stanford short story: Untitled.
Road Apple Review (Albuquerque , NM : Road Runner Press)
Seems (DeKalb , IL)
Stinktree (Memphis , TN : Stinktree Press)
Tansy, 1 (Lawrence, KS: Tansy Publications, 1970) Poetry: Early Times In A Mississippi Liquor Store [uncollected] · The Hole [uncollected].
Tansy, 4 (Lawrence , KS : John Moritz, n.d.) Poetry: Tapsticks [collected in The Singing Knives] · Chimera [uncollected].
Village.
West Coast Review, Volume 6, Number 2 (Vancouver, BC: West Coast Review, October 1971) Poetry: The Intruder [collected in The Singing Knives] · The Quiver [collected in The Singing Knives] · Friends of the House of Momus [uncollected] · Momus [uncollected] · White Feather [uncollected] · Poet Manque [uncollected] · Becoming the Unicorn [collected in The Singing Knives] · The Tribade [uncollected] · The Arena [uncollected] · The Odor [uncollected] · Solus [uncollected] · Holy Night [uncollected] · The Bandits [uncollected] · The Smoking Mirrors [uncollected] · Bergman the Burning Ship [uncollected].
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BIOGRAPHICAL
Ironwood 17 (Tucson: Ironwood Press, 1981) From "A Note on The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You, A Poem by Frank Stanford," 159-160.
A Raccoon Monograph (Memphis: Raccoon Books, April 1981) This booklet has 3 articles about Frank Stanford: 1. Toward Innumerable Futures: The Offering of Frank Stanford's Poetry by Pamela Stewart, 2. A Preliminary Bibliography of Frank Stanford by C. D. Wright, 3. The Wharf for Frank Stanford, 1948-1978 by Floyd Collins.
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MOVIE
“It Wasn’t A Dream It Was A Flood”, 1974
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RESOURCES
A Frank Stanford Index
C.D. Wright Interview
The Alsop Review
Frank Stanford - Wikipedia
