Kaja — Kay Johnson “Dead Cat Poem for Bukowski” — Perdido Press 1998/1999 — Limited to 150 Copies

Description

Published in an edition of only 150 copies, Kaja is a vivid artists’ book devoted to painter–poet Kay Johnson, the elusive “Kaja” from the Beat Hotel at 9 Git-Le-Coeur in Paris. The book gathers two key texts: the Paris reverie “…in Heaven at 9 Git-Le-Coeur” and the legendary letter-poem to Charles Bukowski, “Dead Cat Poem for Bukowski.” Written in 1967 but unpublished until it appeared here, the poem has a tangled textual history—variously cited as coming from Gypsy Lou Webb’s collection yet also preserved in Bukowski’s own archive as one of three surviving letters from Kaja. The typescript shows the title corrected from “DEAD CAT B…” with two typed Xs, suggesting the intended title is “DEAD CAT POEM FOR BUKOWSKI,” without the later asterisk.

Hand printed and bound at the New Orleans School of GlassWorks & Printmaking Studio for Edwin Blair’s Perdido Press, with artwork and book design by New Orleans artist Karoline Schleh (who notably collabbed with Johnny Brewton of X Ray Book Co. for the Hunter S. Thompson title Mr. Leary—He Dead). Richly layered color printing, translucent textured sheets, and silkscreened images of Kaja, Bukowski, and Jon Webb (working at the LouJon Press on his Chandler & Price) turn the pamphlet into a full-on tribute object—very much in the Loujon / Outsider tradition.