Rhyming and Necromancy
Collected Poems
$51.26
- Paperback
176 pages
- Release Date
15 December 2026
Summary
A new collection of work, some never seen before, by a forgotten queer poet of the mid-twentieth century. This collection draws from Harry Fainlight’s memoirs, unpublished work, and other biographical pieces to create a provocative portrait of the artist.
Born in New York and raised in England before returning to the Lower East Side in the early 1960s, by the age of thirty Harry Fainlight had cruised with Ginsberg, boozed with Kerouac, and posed for Warhol, all the while managing to f…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9798896231011 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Harry Fainlight, M. Syd Rosen |
| Publisher: | New York Review Books |
| Imprint: | NYRB Poets |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 176 |
| Release Date: | 15 December 2026 |
| Weight: | 369g |
| Dimensions: | 114mm x 178mm |
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Critics Review
“The most promising new consciousness poet in the English tongue…. I always thought him the most gifted English poet of his generation.” —Allen Ginsberg
“With Harry, too, it was in the music, and in how achingly beautiful the lyric is in the hands of someone who makes it in the throat.” —Ted Berrigan
Harry Fainlight
Harry Fainlight (1935-1982) was born into a Jewish family in New York and raised in England. After university, he worked as an ad executive in London. He visited New York in the 1960s, where he befriended several of the famous Beat poets of the time, including Allen Ginsberg, and published work in C: A Journal of Poetry, edited by New York School poet Ted Berrigan.
After returning to London, Fainlight was part of the International Poetry Incarnation at the Royal Albert Hall where he suffered a severe breakdown. He became increasingly more isolated before retreating to rural Wales in the 1970s, where he later died of pneumonia.
M. Syd Rosen is the author of International Freak: Robin Farquharson and the Dream of Psychedelic Revolt. His writing has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement and History Workshop, among other publications. He lives in London, where he runs Jargon, a nonprofit dedicated to diasporic culture. He was recently awarded a PhD in the history of science from the University of Cambridge.
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