The Jargon Society released its first publication numbered Jargon 1 in 1951, “Garbage Litters the Iron Face of the Sun’s Child,” a folded pamphlet with poetry by Jonathan Williams and an etching by David Ruff. Founded that same year by Williams and Ruff, the Jargon Society would go on to publish 115 titles, mostly by up-and-coming writers and photographers.
Andrew Holleran (pseud.) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer and a significant contributor to post-Stonewall literature. He was a member of the Violet Quill, a group of gay writers who assembled in the early 1980s to critique each other’s work and to develop strategies to overcome corporate publishers’ reluctance to publish gay-themed novels. The Rare Book and Special Collections Division collects the works of the Violet Quill writers, including Andrew Holleran, and holds the first editions of their works in the Gene Berry and Jeffrey Campbell Collection.
Guy Davenport was an American writer, translator, illustrator, painter, intellectual, and professor. This blog post provides a short biography and some examples of his work found in his collection.
This post explores the life and work of poet, teacher, and publisher Naomi Cornelia Long Madgett (1923-2020), particularly her creative output and influence on publishing African American poetry.
![Williams, Jonathan. Ruff, David, Metal-engraver. Garbage litters the iron face of the sun's child. Jargon 1. [Jonathan Williams], [San Francisco], 1951](https://blogs.loc.gov/bibliomania/files/2025/07/mm-jargon-001-01a.jpg)
