Ira Joel Haber on Hannah Weiner

© Ira Joel Haber

from Ira Joel Haber on this 1970 poster:

The poster was never used. I recall that Hannah for some reason was angry or upset with me maybe we had an argument or it was just a bad day. I don’t think she didn’t like it. Instead she just used a boring typed list of names. … I met her when I was twenty years old at a small private party that John Perreault had for his friends to meet me. I was very shy of course and sat there the whole night not saying a word, surrounded by all these poets and artists, at the end of the evening Hannah came up to me and said it was a pleasure looking at you. Very amusing and smart woman. The other funny story is one evening I was in an elevator going somewhere I forget with Hannah and a close very gay friend of mine, who announced that he was taking a class at the New School in homosexuality. Hannah replied John you don’t need to take a class. 

Here is the poster that was circulated:



And here is John Perreault’s essay on the “Street Works” context for this poster.

Also from Ira Joel Haber — a set of photos of Weiner, from 1969: