A review of Lummox Journal.

Lummox Journal. Feb. 2002. ( Lummox Journal PoBox 5301 San Pedro, Ca. 90733-5301 lumoxraindog.earthlink.net) $20/12 issues.R.D. Armstrong, editor.

R.D. Armstrong is aptly named. There is something strong and solid about the sound of it.It has a bare-fisted, get the job done done sensibility , that one would need in putting out 75 issues of a venerable small press zine. Lummox advertises itself as exploring the creative process, and this is not a bait and switch tatic. In this issue, the editor has a number of gems. There is a provocative long-poem by small press doyen, A.D. Winans. There is also an essay by Todd Moore that examines the OUTLAW POET. He writes " Today, in order to be an outlaw poet and a hero, you need to travel into the interior of poetry and steal the raw psychic stuff swirling around you." There is also a fascinating interview with L.A. poet, Laurel Ann Bogen. Bogen is impressive, because she truly sacrificed for her art, she states:" I've given up many things,( family, marriage,financial security) for a lot of years to follow my somewhat precarious path." I ask you, would you? I feel sorry for the person who hasn't taken a subscription to Lummox. That person is simply missing too much.

Doug Holder