Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 22, 2026

Contact/II

Contact/II, or simply Contact II, was an American literary magazine from New York. Established in 1976, the periodical was edited by Maurice Kenny and Josh Gosciak. Contact II published poetry, reviews, and interviews. Contact II also published books and chapbooks of contemporary poetry. The name Contact II was a tribute to Contact, a small press poetry magazine produced in the 1920s and 1930s by William Carlos Williams.

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Contact/II
EditorJosh G Gosciak and Maurice Kenny
Frequencysemi-annually
PublisherContact II Publications
Founded1976
CountryUSA
Based inNew York
LanguageEnglish
ISSN0197-6796

Contact/II, or simply Contact II, was an American literary magazine from New York. Established in 1976, the periodical was edited by Maurice Kenny and Josh Gosciak. Contact II published poetry, reviews, and interviews.1 Contact II also published books and chapbooks of contemporary poetry.2 The name Contact II was a tribute to Contact, a small press poetry magazine produced in the 1920s and 1930s by William Carlos Williams.

Contact II was part of a proliferation of small independent presses based in downtown New York City in the 1970s and known for high production values.3 Maintaining a post box at the historic Bowling Green post office in Manhattan's financial district, the editors worked from George's Diner and their apartments in the Lower East Side and Brooklyn.4 In addition to the magazine, Contact II also published poetry chapbooks and mini-anthologies inserted into the magazine, including one by Mei-mei Berssenbrugge.4 Contact II developed a focus on multicultural poetry at a time before the idea of multiculturalism was widespread, and also fostered what Gosciak has called "a rough-edged regionalism" among poets writing outside of established American literary strongholds.4

It has been said that Kenny has immensely contributed to "the growth of multicultural literatures of North America in his work as an editor [...] and as a mentor to emerging writers of color."5 Alex Jacobs, a Native American poet, said that Kenny helped emerging poets receive funding from the New York State Council on the Arts. Kenny also often published new poets in Contact II and his own imprint, Strawberry Press, devoted to publishing Native American poets.64

Contact II also supported the feminist movement of the late 1970s and 1980s. The magazine published a special edition on women's writing and only included works by and about women for that issue. It featured articles about Audre Lorde, Laura Riding, and Judy Grahn, as well as poems by Carol Berge, Ntozake Shange, Rachal Hadas, Sharon Olds, Joan Colby, Frances Chung, Carolyn Stoloff, Wanda Coleman, and many others.7

Authors published in Contact II magazine

Writers published in the pages of Contact II magazine included:4

Books published by Contact II

In addition to the magazine, Contact II published numerous books and chapbooks. A partial list includes:

References

References

  1. “Contact 2: A Poetry Review.” UlrichsWeb.com. Abstracted/Indexed.
  2. Google Books. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=inpublisher:%22Contact+II+Publications%22&tbm=bks&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiI7IqDwYuRAxWjFlkFHbiHDUcQmxN6BAgJEAI&sxsrf=AE3TifNb3e5Lf49H7FcqwxAZTL5kUDWZDw:1764012062879#ip=1
  3. Wright, Jeffrey Cypher. "Indy Indeed: A Half Century of Downtown's Independent Presses." New York Public Library. https://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/community-showcases/indy-indeed-half-century-downtowns-independent-presses
  4. Gosciak, Josh. "Contact II, 1970s – 1990s: When Poetry Mattered More." Poet's House. https://digitalcollections.poetshouse.org/digital-collection/chapbook-collection/riding-the-one-eyed-ford
  5. Kelsey, Penelope Myrtle. “An Introduction to the Works of Maurice Kenny.” Suny Press.https://www.sunypress.edu/pdf/62232.pdf
  6. Caudell, Robin. “Charismatic Poet Tastes Strawberries.” Press Republican. https://www.pressrepublican.com/news/local_news/charismatic-poet-tastes-strawberries/article_1dd1ef4a-89af-55ee-99b6-0641fc0f30d4.html
  7. “Racism is the Issue.” Heresies 4(3), 1982. http://heresiesfilmproject.org/archive/
  8. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Toll_Bridge/1SWyAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  9. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Haiku_s_of_Teaching/JO6rnQEACAAJ?hl=en
  10. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Dan_de_Lion/xjvujgEACAAJ?hl=en&kptab=overview
  11. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Blue_Moon_for_Ruby_Tuesday/dpyZAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  12. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Riding_the_One_eyed_Ford/EaCZAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  13. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Reggae_Or_Not/geWwAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  14. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hello_I_m_Erica_Jong/HzVaAAAAMAAJ?hl=en
  15. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cutting_Our_Losses/PKGZAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  16. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/What_Happened_when_the_Hopi_Hit_New_York/Om2xAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  17. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Pack_Rat_Sieve/AGbKMQAACAAJ?hl=en
  18. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/What_Matisse_is_After/z9ZQAQAAIAAJ?hl=en
  19. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Trying_to_Understand_what_it_Means_to_be/w91lAAAAMAAJ?hl=en
  20. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Nuke_Chronicles/mzaxAAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  21. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/W_C_Fields_in_French_Light/NJc9AAAAIAAJ?hl=en
  22. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Man_with_the_White_Liver/_pTAAAAACAAJ?hl=en
  23. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/This_Wanting_to_Sing/smFYHQAACAAJ?hl=en
  24. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/These_Waves_of_Dying_Friends/QqlpQgAACAAJ?hl=en
  25. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Green_Dream/hWxyAAAAMAAJ?hl=en
  26. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mississippi_River_Poems/auuTpwAACAAJ?hl=en
  27. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hotel_Madden_Poems/G7hqAAAACAAJ?hl=en
  28. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Paysanne/Rt8I0QEACAAJ?hl=en
  29. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Edwardian_Poems_The_Queen_of_Swords/s6ugAAAACAAJ?hl=en
  30. Google Books. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Seismic_Events/XDXUZwEACAAJ?hl=en