Les Gottesman's poems straddle the New York School and San Francisco Beat literary scenes with his own uniquely comic, surrealist sensibility. Les Gottesman resumed his career as poet and editor in the early 2000s, after he devoted decades as an educator and radical political activist. Omerta gathers a selection of his poems from 2006 to 2019 as well as earlier works from the 1960s and 70s. Born in May of 1945, Les Gottesman grew up in Portland, Oregon and received a BA and MA in literature from Columbia. He later received an Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco, and an MFA from California College of the Arts. In the mid-to-late 1960s, Les was a pivotal figure in the Columbia literary scene, and was mentored by poet Kenneth Koch. As a startlingly fresh poet himself, and as editor of Columbia Review, Les worked with many of the prominent Beat and New York School writers of his time: Allen Ginsberg, Ann Waldman, Ted Berrigan, Ron Padgett, Diane di Prima, and many others. He co-edited with Alan Senauke and Hilton Obenzinger A Cinch: Amazing Works from the Columbia Review, published by Columbia University Press in 1969. Dating back to his participation and arrest during the 1968 occupation of Columbia University, Les dedicated his life to fighting for human rights – opposing racism and colonialism. Moving to San Francisco in the early 70s, Les was a founding member of FITS Printing, a movement community press in the Mission District. He worked with Prairie Fire Organizing Committee and contributed to their journal, Breakthrough. As part of the solidarity movement with Eritrea, Les traveled to Eritrea several times, teaching at Asmara University and helping the newly independent country start a newspaper. He documents the literacy project, carried out during Eritrea's war of independence, in his book To Fight and Learn: The Praxis and Promise of Literacy in Eritrea's Independence War. Working with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee (JBAKC), Les exposed police violence and organized several Rock Against Racism concerts, featuring headliners like the Dead Kennedys and MDC. Les taught at Golden Gate University as a professor and Dean of Arts and Sciences for over 30 years. When he retired he resumed his career as poet and editor. He founded Omerta Publications, which has published 45 chapbooks by 23 writers and poets who Les admired, such as Bill Berkson, Herbert Gold, Jack Hirschman, Joanne Kyger, Genny Lim, David Meltzer, Donna de la Perrière, Diane di Prima, and Julie Rogers. He also produced 17 chapbooks of his own poetry, from Don't Look Down in 2006 to Explanation of Benefits and So Beat It Hurts in 2019, as well as two larger selections published by other presses, The Cases and Misuses of Poetry. Gottesman's poetic ferment lasted until his death in 2019. During more than a decade he created a vibrant literary community through Omerta Publication's chapbooks. He made the chapbook itself a work of art, with cover art and book designs created with his son, critically acclaimed artist Jesse Gottesman.
William "Bill" Crossman is an anti-imperialist human-rights organizer/activist; cultural worker: jazz/world-music pianist (see Cooke-Crossman Music channel on YouTube), playwright (plays Journey of Names and Rag Doll Lullaby performed in 2023 by Oakland Black Theater Co. Lower Bottom Playaz), poet (volume War In America published by Omertà), and author; for decades he's been a university, college (including HBCU), and community college teacher (philosophy, critical thinking, writing, ESL). He lives in Oakland, CA. willcross@aol.com
Hilton Obenzinger writes criticism, poetry, fiction, and history. His books include Witness: 2017-2020, Treyf Pesach [Unkosher Passover], New York on Fire, and This Passover Or The Next I Will Never Be in Jerusalem, which received the American Book Award. He was co-editor with Les Gottesman and Alan Senauke of A Cinch: Amazing Works from the Columbia Review. Born in Brooklyn, he graduated Columbia University in 1969, has taught on the Yurok Indian Reservation, was part of FITS Printing, a community printing press in San Francisco's Mission District (along with Les and Alan). He has been active in the anti-imperialist movement, and the Native American and Palestine solidarity movements. He was co-editor of Palestine Focus and one of the founders of the Palestine Solidarity Committee. He taught writing, literature and American studies at Stanford University, and is Associate Director Emeritus of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America project
Hozan Alan Senauke is a Soto Zen Buddhist priest in the tradition of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi . He is the abbot of the Berkeley Zen Center, and is well known for his decades-long work in engaged Buddhism. Hozan Alan founded the Clear View Project, developing Buddhist-based resources for relief and social change in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and India. From 1991 to 2001 he was executive director of Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Hozan Alan is the author of Turning Words: Transformative Encounters with Buddhist Teachers, The Bodhisattva's Embrace, and other books. He is also a poet and co-edited A Cinch: Amazing Works from the Columbia Review with Les Gottesman and Hilton Obenzinger. He has been a musician for many years, and was editor of Sing Out magazine. Alan has been part of Bluegrass Intentions, Blue Flame String Band, Fiction Brothers, and other bands, and has performed and recorded old-time, country, blues, bluegrass and folk music, including his albums Everything is Broken and Wooden Man.
Born in San Francisco, Genny Lim earned a BA and an MA from San Francisco State University. She earned a certificate in broadcast journalism from Columbia University and later worked as a reporter, producer, and commentator for CBS News. Lim is the author of the poetry collections Winter Place (1989), Child of War (2003), and Paper Gods and Rebels (2013); the children's book Wings for Lai-Ho (1982); and the plays Paper Angels (1978) and Bitter Cane (1989), among others. Her work appears in The Politics of Life: Four Plays by Asian American Women (1993), the Oxford Book of Women's Writing in the United States (1995), and Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island (1980). Lim is the winner of the 1981 American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.
Jesse Gottesman is an artist, graphic designer, and educator based in Eugene, Oregon and San Francisco. His work focuses on the beauty and danger of stormy weather (sea, sky, and atmosphere) as visual metaphor for Chinese martial arts, which he has studied and practiced for over 30 years. He received his B.F.A. in graphic design at Long Island University/C.W. Post and holds an M.F.A. in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. He is the recipient of the 2005 James D. Phelan Art Award in Printmaking and was an artist in residence at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley from 2006-2016. Gottesman's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally including shows in San Francisco, New York City, Portland, Oregon, Budapest, Hungary, Hong Kong, and Hollerich, Luxembourg. His work is in the collections of the Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA, the Francis Ford and Eleanor Coppolla Foundation, Rutherford, CA., and numerous private collections.