The Sinking Bear: A Newsletter / 1963–64

Created and published by the enigmatic Søren Agenoux in 1963 and 1964, The Sinking Bear was a playful response to The Floating Bear, the influential mimeographed poetry newsletter published by the influential poet, Diane di Prima.

More than a literary parody, The Sinking Bear became a print playground for artists, poets, performers, and filmmakers connected to New York’s downtown avant-garde. Contributors included Ray Johnson, Al Hansen, Gerard Malanga, Andy Warhol, Joe Brainard, Ondine, Billy Name, Yvonne Rainer, and others moving through the creative community surrounding Caffe Cino and the Judson Church.

While The Floating Bear circulated in editions exceeding one thousand copies, The Sinking Bear was produced in the basement of the Judson Church in quantities believed to have numbered only a few dozen. Copies were distributed largely among contributors and their friends. As a result, the newsletter became legendary among collectors of 1960s mimeograph publications: known by many, but seen by very few.

This edition reproduces all nine original issues in their entirety for the first time. Each page is presented at its original size, preserving the varied colors of the paper stocks on which the newsletters were printed.

The collection also includes the exceptionally rare 18-page Freddie Herko memorial book created by Søren Agenoux and Ray Johnson, together with archival photographs and newly commissioned texts.

A new foreword by contributor Gerard Malanga recalls the people and circumstances surrounding the newsletter, while an introduction by Anastasia James places The Sinking Bear within the broader history of Andy Warhol, downtown publishing, and New York’s early-1960s avant-garde.

Compiled and edited by Dagon James, this publication brings together the surviving record of one of the period’s most elusive and inventive independent publishing projects.

The Sinking Bear: A Newsletter / 1963–64
8.75 × 11 inches
156 pages
Nine complete facsimile issues
Includes the 18-page Freddie Herko memorial book

Softcover
Limited to 150 copies

Hardcover
Printed on heavyweight premium paper
Signed by Gerard Malanga, Anastasia James, and Dagon James
Signed and numbered edition of 50