Omerta

Omerta: Selected Poems by Les Gottesman gathers a selection of his poems from 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Les Gottesman's poems straddle the New York School and San Francisco Beat literary scenes with his own uniquely comic, surrealist sensibility. He resumed his career as poet and editor in the early 2000s, after he devoted decades as an educator and radical political activist. As poet and playwright Genny Lim explains in the Preface, "Les Gottesman's willful deconstruction of literary conventions through his terse metric schemes, find their own dissonant logic and stream of consciousness in surprising accord, if read aloud, to the discordant rhythms and riffs of the best boppers and new music innovators of our time, like Bird, Dizzy, Hawk, Ornette or Cage." Novelist and poet Paul Auster finds in the poems "surprise after surprise, delivered with wit and masterful timing." Critic Bruce F. Kawin calls his poems "funny and personal. Sharp and obscure. His tightly arranged sounds and vivid words take you somewhere but don't tell you where it is. He's a grave jester with a speeding mind and a montage artist's control of tone." The last period of poetic ferment by this "grave jester" lasted until his death in 2019. Omerta gathers a selection of all of his poems, those 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Omerta: Selected Poems by Les Gottesman includes the preface by Genny Lim, essays by the three editors, Bill Crossman, Hilton Obenzinger, and Alan Senauke, and images of book covers by acclaimed artist Jesse Gottesman.

Omerta: Selected Poems by Les Gottesman gathers a selection of his poems from 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Les Gottesman's poems straddle the New York School and San Francisco Beat literary scenes with his own uniquely comic, surrealist sensibility. He resumed his career as poet and editor in the early 2000s, after he devoted decades as an educator and radical political activist. As poet and playwright Genny Lim explains in the Preface, "Les Gottesman's willful deconstruction of literary conventions through his terse metric schemes, find their own dissonant logic and stream of consciousness in surprising accord, if read aloud, to the discordant rhythms and riffs of the best boppers and new music innovators of our time, like Bird, Dizzy, Hawk, Ornette or Cage." Novelist and poet Paul Auster finds in the poems "surprise after surprise, delivered with wit and masterful timing." Critic Bruce F. Kawin calls his poems "funny and personal. Sharp and obscure. His tightly arranged sounds and vivid words take you somewhere but don't tell you where it is. He's a grave jester with a speeding mind and a montage artist's control of tone." The last period of poetic ferment by this "grave jester" lasted until his death in 2019. Omerta gathers a selection of all of his poems, those 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Omerta: Selected Poems by Les Gottesman includes the preface by Genny Lim, essays by the three editors, Bill Crossman, Hilton Obenzinger, and Alan Senauke, and images of book covers by acclaimed artist Jesse Gottesman.

Les Gottesman's poems straddle the New York School and San Francisco Beat literary scenes with his own uniquely comic, surrealist sensibility. Les Gottesman resumed his career as poet and editor in the early 2000s, after he devoted decades as an educator and radical political activist. Omerta gathers a selection of his poems from 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Born in May of 1945, Les Gottesman grew up in Portland, Oregon and received a BA and MA in literature from Columbia. He later received an Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco, and an MFA from California College of the Arts. In the mid-to-late 1960s, Les was a pivotal figure in the Columbia literary scene, and was mentored by poet Kenneth Koch. As a startlingly fresh poet himself, and as editor of Columbia Review, Les worked with many of the prominent Beat and New York School writers of his time: Allen Ginsberg, Ann Waldman, Ted Berrigan, Ron Padgett, Diane di Prima, and many others. He co-edited with Alan Senauke and Hilton Obenzinger A Cinch: Amazing Works from the Columbia Review, published by Columbia University Press in 1969. Dating back to his participation and arrest during the 1968 occupation of Columbia University, Les dedicated his life to fighting for human rights – opposing racism and colonialism. Moving to San Francisco in the early 70s, Les was a founding member of FITS Printing, a movement community press in the Mission District. He worked with Prairie Fire Organizing Committee and contributed to their journal, Breakthrough. As part of the solidarity movement with Eritrea, Les traveled to Eritrea several times, teaching at Asmara University and helping the newly independent country start a newspaper. He documents the literacy project, carried out during Eritrea's war of independence, in his book To Fight and Learn: The Praxis and Promise of Literacy in Eritrea's Independence War. Working with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee (JBAKC), Les exposed police violence and organized several Rock Against Racism concerts, featuring headliners like the Dead Kennedys and MDC. Les taught at Golden Gate University as a professor and Dean of Arts and Sciences for over 30 years. When he retired he resumed his career as poet and editor. He founded Omerta Publications, which has published 45 chapbooks by 23 writers and poets who Les admired, such as Bill Berkson, Herbert Gold, Jack Hirschman, Joanne Kyger, Genny Lim, David Meltzer, Donna de la Perrière, Diane di Prima, and Julie Rogers. He also produced 17 chapbooks of his own poetry, from Don't Look Down in 2006 to Explanation of Benefits and So Beat It Hurts in 2019, as well as two larger selections published by other presses, The Cases and Misuses of Poetry. Gottesman's poetic ferment lasted until his death in 2019. During more than a decade he created a vibrant literary community through Omerta Publication's chapbooks. He made the chapbook itself a work of art, with cover art and book designs created with his son, critically acclaimed artist Jesse Gottesman.