Nettelbeck, F. A

F. A. Nettelbeck (Chicago, IL, 1950) is a unique poet whose work has created considerable resonance through several lines of literary culture, ranging from the Beat tradition, to various of the avant garde currents active at the beginning of the 21st century. In the early 1970's he began work on a long poem that was to become an underground classic when it was published in 1979: Bug death. Bug death was created using cut-up and collage texts combined with original writing and represented a major advance in literary technique and thinking, growing upon the innovations promoted by Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs of a previous generation. Nettelbeck's book has had a far-reaching influence on his contemporaries and on younger poets, not only because of its technical innovations, but because of the authentic and deeply felt lyricism that pervades its pages. Nettelbeck went on to publish many other collections of poetry, such as Americruiser, Albert Ayler disappeared, Destroy all monsters, Ecosystems collapsing, and many others. From 1980 to 1997 he published a very small in size (though large in content and significance) magazine called This is important, which was meant to be printed in large numbers and distributed free. It published innovative poetry by several generations of poets, and had an influence far greater than its small size and unpretentious design might suggest.