Combo: A Journal of Poetry and Poetics, 1998–2003 (ed. Michael Magee)
Edited by Michael Magee and published in association with the Kelly Writers House, Combo published a vital selection of younger poets over its twelve-issue run from 1998 to 2003. As originally stated, the journal combines “innovative writers under 40 alongside a few older and more established poets who have influenced them.” However, over the course of the twelve issues, the reader can also chart the emergence of Flarf and related developments in poetry around the millennium. Most issues open with smart editorial notes by Magee introducing the poems of a dozen or so contributors to follow, and are concluded by a longer essay or interview with an established writer or artist.
Published in a neatly trimmed 5.5 x 8.5 format, Combo came side-stapled with brightly colored cardstock covers and off-white interiors. Each cover features a distinctive rubber offset print design: a tactile experience these digital reissues cannot distribute.
Issues are available for browsing or download below. You may also download the entire set of twelve issues here: zip, 199 MB. Download links for searchable PDFs of each issue follow. Original pagination noted in the contents, which retain the all-caps format of the original tables.
Combo No. 1, Summer 1998 [PDF, 19.2 MB]
Contents
| JESSICA CHIU | Five Poems | p.3 |
| CHRIS STROFFOLINO | Two Poems | p.5 |
| KRISTEN GALLAGHER | Three Poems | p.8 |
| ANDREW EPSTEIN | Three Poems | p.10 |
| JENA OSMAN | from "The Periodic Table as Assembled by Dr. Zhivago, Ocultist" | p.12 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE | Three Poems | p.15 |
| KATHERINE STEELE | Two Poems | p.19 |
| LOUIS CABRI | Two Poems | p.21 |
| JOHN PARKER | The Sinful Flesh | p.23 |
| LEE ANN BROWN | Three Poems | p.26 |
| KERRY SHERIN | Five Poems | p.29 |
| BOB PERELMAN | Tenses | p.32 |
| MATT HART | Reading, Writing, Rithmetic | p.33 |
| HARRYETTE MULLEN | A Conversation with Farrah Griffin and Michael Magee | p.36 |
Combo No. 2, Fall-Winter 1998 [PDF, 12.8 MB]
Contents
| PATTIE McCARTHY | Three Poems | p.3 |
| BRETT EVANS & PRAGEETA SHARMA | Two Poems | p.7 |
| BRETT EVANS | [sipped on the suds do a fountain] | p.8 |
| HEATHER FULLER | 3 Urban Legends | p.9 |
| DAVID KELLOGG | From A to B | p.13 |
| RAY DI PALMA | Two Poems | p.14 |
| LEE ANN BROWN | Loaded Terms / Communicating Rooms | p.20 |
| CHRIS McCREARY | Three Poems | p.24 |
| ANGE MLINKO | Four Poems | p.26 |
| KIT ROBINSON | Two Poems | p.30 |
| STANDARD SCHAEFER | from My Pocket | p.32 |
| LEV RUBINSHTEIN | Two Poems (Trans. from the Russian by Philip Metres and Tanya Tulchinsky) | p.37 |
Combo No. 3, Spring 1999 [PDF, 14.9 MB]
Contents
| MATT HART | Two Poems | p.3 |
| JEN HOFER | Two Poems | p.5 |
| NATE CHINEN | Lucky Stars (Thursday Night Express Poems) | p.7 |
| SHEILA MURPHY | Three Poems | p.10 |
| PATRICK DURGIN | from Color Music | p.11 |
| JENNIFER McCREARY | Three Poems | p.14 |
| BILL BERKSON | Two Poems | p.18 |
| RACHEL RAFFLER | Four Poems | p.19 |
| LOSS PEQUEÑO GLAZIER | Two Poems | p.23 |
| RACHEL DALEY | [oneway a cinema] | p.26 |
| KRISTEN GALLAGHER | Three Poems | p.28 |
| CLARK COOLIDGE | Six Poems | p.37 |
| MARK DuCHARME | Split Infinities | p.38 |
| ALlICE NOTLEY | An Interview with Shawn Walker and Heather Starr | p.40 |
| NEW & RECOMMENDED | p.50 |
Combo No. 4, Fall 1999 [PDF, 13.8 MB]
Contents
| MYTILI JAGANNATHAN | Two Poems | p.3 |
| LORENZO THOMAS | Two Poems | p.10 |
| SERGEY GANDLEVSKY | Three poems (Trans. from the Russian by Philip Metres | p.12 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE & NATE CHINEN | Trading Fours | p.15 |
| RANDY PRUNTY | heardit means all something | p.21 |
| JACQUES DEBROT | Two Comix | p.28 |
| CARL MARTIN | Eight Poems | p.30 |
| PAIGE MENTON | Bulgarian Voices | p.33 |
| K. SILEM MOHAMMAD | Four Poems | p.36 |
| GIL OTT | Seven Poems | p.40 |
| ROD SMITH | Three Poems | p.44 |
| TOM RAWORTH & ROD SMITH | aux alouettes: the prose of patrick drevet | p.46 |
| KRISTEN GALLAGHER | Five Poems | p.47 |
| SHAWN WALKER | Highway | p.51 |
| EVENTS | p.53 | |
| CONTRIBUTORS' NOTES | p.55 |
Combo No. 5, Winter 2000 [PDF, 21.9 MB]
Contents
| ANSELM BERRIGAN | Two Poems | p.3 |
| MICHAEL GIZZI | from cured in the going bebop | p.7 |
| JESSICA CHIU | Five Poems | p.10 |
| RAY DI PALMA | from The Ancient Use of Stone | p.13 |
| DAVID KOPPISCH | Four Poems | p.15 |
| LAURA GOLDSTEIN | Two Poems | p.17 |
| AMIRI BARAKA | Poems & Artwork | p.19 |
| BRIAN KIM STEFANS | Two Poems | p.23 |
| BILL BERKSON | A conversation with Michael Magee | p.25 |
| SHAWN WALKER | Review of Norman Fischer's Success | p.58 |
Combo No. 6, Spring 2000 [PDF, 14.6 MB]
Contents
| K. SILEM MOHAMMAD | Four Poems | p.3 |
| JOHN ASHBERY | Greased Lightning | p.8 |
| ANGE MLINKO | Nouns for Maggie | p.9 |
| BRIAN KIM STEFANS | The Straw Camel | p.10 |
| CATHERINE DALY | Two Poems | p.18 |
| MATT HART | Two Poems | p.19 |
| RONALD PALMER | Three Poems | p.23 |
| ABIGAIL SUSIK | Two Poems | p.25 |
| CHRIS McCREARY | Two Selections | p.29 |
| BRUCE ANDREWS | Not-You & selection from Flameproof | p.33 |
| ELIZABETH TREADWELL | Two Poems | p.36 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE | On the Highway its Raining | p.38 |
| JONATHAN MONROE | Two Poems | p.42 |
| PATTIE McCARTHY | from bk of(h)rs | p.43 |
| EDWIN TORRES | Six Poems | p.44 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE | Interviews Someone / Someone Interviews | p.50 |
Combo No. 7, Fall 2000 [PDF, 14.7 MB]
Contents
| MARK SARDINHA | Four Poems | p.3 |
| MYTILI JAGANNATHAN | A.C.T.S. | p.7 |
| MARK McMORRIS | A Poem for the Love of Women | p.9 |
| HARRYETTE MULLEN | Kamasutra Sutra | p.13 |
| PRAGEETA SHARMA | Four Poems | p.14 |
| BILL FREIND | from A Specter is Haunting the Suburbs of Cleveland | p.16 |
| RACHEL RAFFLER | (split cycle) | p.19 |
| FRAN CARLEN | from a notebook | p.21 |
| DMITRY PRIGOV | Selected Poems (trans. by Philip Metres) | p.24 |
| JESSICA CHIU | Five Poems | p.27 |
| SUMMI KAIPA | Fore-Cast or Some Ob-scene Dare | p.36 |
| EUGENE OSTASHEVSKY | Five Poems | p.37 |
| CARL MARTIN | Five Poems | p.42 |
| TAYLOR BRADY | Three Poems | p.44 |
| LETTERS | p.49 |
Combo No. 8, Winter-Spring 2001 [PDF, 17.5 MB]
Contents
| KRISTEN GALLAGHER | Four Poems | p.8 |
| RODRIGO TOSCANO | Three Poems | p.12 |
| ROSMARIE WALDROP | Intentionalities | p.19 |
| K. SILEM MOHAMMAD | Six Poems | p.20 |
| ERIC BAUS | from the space between magnets | p.25 |
| DAVID BARATIER | from Estrella's Prophecies | p.28 |
| KRISTIN PREVALLET | from Facing the People Database. A collaboration with Annemie Maes | p.30 |
| MARK SARDINHA | Four Poems | p.31 |
| MARK DuCHARME | Two Poems | p.34 |
| JOHN HEON | Four Poems from Free Fall with Viscous Friction (v=mg/k), a novel | p.36 |
| NICOLE BURROWS | Four Poems | p.38 |
| BOB PERELMAN | Two Poems | p.44 |
| ALEX KATZ | Interviewed by Abigail Susik | p.49 |
Combo No. 9, Fall-Winter 2001 [PDF, 19.9 MB]
Contents
| BEN LERNER | Two Poems | p.5 |
| CHRISTOPHER MULROONEY | Demogorgon | p.7 |
| NATHAN AUSTIN | from glost | p.8 |
| E. TRACY GRINNEL | from music or forgetting | p.9 |
| RAY DI PALMA | Two Poems | p.12 |
| PHIL METRES | Three Poems | p.13 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE | Hats Noodle | p.15 |
| JASON NELSON | Four Poems | p.21 |
| PATRICK F. DURGIN & JEN HOFER | from Routine Knew | p.23 |
| JENN McCREARY | from a doctrine of signatures | p.27 |
| CHRIS STROFFOLINO | Behind the Hymn | p.28 |
| RONALD PALMER | Verb Confusion (No Suggetions) | p.32 |
| LAURA ELRICK | Serial Errant | p.34 |
| REVIEW: Shed by Yedda Morrison | Reviewed by Laura Elrick | p.40 |
| NOTES FROM A PRELAPSARIAN NEW YORK: VINCENT KATZ | "How Much Fun You Can Have Thinking": Reflections on Poetry in the Year 2001 | p.42 |
| CARLA HARRYMAN | Interviewed by Michael Magee & Jacques Debrot | p.44 |
Combo No. 10, Spring 2002 [PDF, 15.7 MB]
Contents
| YAGO SAID CURA | Two Poems | p.5 |
| LISA LUBASCH | Ten Poems | p.6 |
| MARK WALLACE | Four Poems | p.16 |
| ROMINA E. FRESCHI | Five Poems (w/ translations) | p.19 |
| THOMAS SAYERS ELLIS | Stalking Another Man's Hands | p.21 |
| SARA MLARSEN | Two Poems | p.23 |
| CARL LOMBARDI | Figural Analysis | p.25 |
| ALAN GILBERT | Two Poems | p.26 |
| JESSICA CHIU | Five Poems | p.29 |
| ALBERT FLYNN DESILVER | Five Poems | p.32 |
| LYTLE SHAW | Three Poems | p.34 |
| KEITH WALDROP | Claude-Mirror | p.36 |
| THOMAS SAYERS ELLIS | Interviewed by Philip Metres | p.42 |
| New Books / Contributors' Notes | p.54 |
Combo No. 11, Fall-Winter 2002 [PDF, 15 MB]
Contents
| RACHEL RAFFLER | Three Poems | p.3 |
| KIT ROBINSON | Ten Poems | p.7 |
| JORDAN DAVIS | Nashville | p.11 |
| MYTILI JAGANNATHAN | Two Poems | p.15 |
| SARA THACHER | Four Poems | p.17 |
| MATT HART | Three Poems | p.22 |
| ALEX LAVIGNE-GAGNON | A Night in Montreal | p.24 |
| SUSAN LANDERS | 14 mgs. | p.27 |
| MARK SARDINHA | Five Poems | p.28 |
| JULES BOYKOFF | Eight Poems | p.32 |
| ANGE MLINKO | Five Poems | p.36 |
| BARBARA COLE | from situ / ation / come / dies | p.43 |
| BARBARA COLE'S SITU / ATION / COME / DIES | Reviewed by Thom Donovan | p.47 |
| JENNIFER MOXLEY'S THE SENSE RECORD | Reviewed by K. Silem Mohammad | p.51 |
Combo No. 12, Spring 2003 [PDF, 17.6 MB]
Contents
| KATIE DEGENTESH | Four Poems | p.5 |
| K. SILEM MOHAMMAD | Six Poems | p.9 |
| GARY SULLIVAN | Four Poems | p.15 |
| SHARON MESMER | My Own Story | p.22 |
| MITCH HIGHFILL | Seven Poems | p.23 |
| DAVID LARSEN | Seven Poems | p.28 |
| MICHAEL MAGEE | Four Poems | p.31 |
| MARIA DAMON | Two Poems | p.36 |
| JORDAN DAVIS | Five Poems | p.37 |
| DANIEL BOUCHARD | In Reverent Mumble | p.42 |
| RODNEY KOENEKE | Four Poems | p.43 |
| NADA GORDON | Four Poems | p.49 |
| DREW GARDNER | Three Poems | p.54 |
Special thanks are due to Kristen Gallagher, who, in addition to playing a major role in shaping Combo, graciously loaned Reissues the hard copies of the magazine to be digitized.
