Gagaku

Steve Richmond, along with friend and mentor Charles Bukowski, dominated the outlaw post mimeo revolution poetry scene of the 1970s and 1980s. He was a friend of the iconic rock star Jim Morrison, who was also a poet. Fiercely independent and poised against the academic literary establishment-what critic Ben Pleasants called the "poetry mafia"-Richmond invented a poetical style influenced by Japanese Shinto court music known as "Gagaku." Driven by inner demons and fueled by drugs he produced thousands of poems over a thirty year period prior to his death in 2009. Gagaku Reader, the Life and Poetry of Steve Richmond is a selection of his best work.