Hidden Water: From the Frank Stanford Archives

by Frank Stanford, Michael Wiegers (Editor), Chet Weise (Editor)

"It is astounding to me that I was not even aware of this accomplished and moving poet. There is a great deal of pain on the poems, but it is a pain that makes sense, a tragic pain whose meaning rises from the way the poems are so firmly molded and formed from within."—James Wright.

Hidden Water is an addition to Copper Canyon's definitive collection What About This. Featuring unpublished and uncollected works, never before published correspondences between Stanford and poet Alan Dugan, and extremely rare audio of Stanford reading, Hidden Water is a must for any lover of Stanford, poetry, and the imagination.

My wallet was thick as the bible I carried around
Graphs of Elvis Presley John Lee Hooker Brigitte Bardot and the sodbuster
I thought up nom-de-plumes in the outhouse and sent off Burns
for things cryptic ads I used stamps that made the postmaster
ask where I was from

Is it too bold to say that Stanford will soon be recognized as one of the important voices in American literature and pop culture?

Born in 1948, Frank Stanford was a prolific poet known for his originality and ingenuity. He has been dubbed "a swamprat Rimbaud" by Lorenzo Thomas and "one of the great voices of death" by Franz Wright. He grew up in Mississippi, Tennessee, and then Arkansas, where he lived for most of his life and wrote many of his most powerful poems. Stanford died in 1978. He authored over ten books of poetry, including eight volumes in the last seven years of his life.

Genres: Poetry, Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 12, 2015

About the author

Frank Stanford was a prolific American poet. He is most known for his epic, The Battlefield Where The Moon Says I Love You— a labyrinthine poem without stanzas or punctuation. In addition, Stanford published six shorter books of poetry throughout his 20s, and three posthumous collections of his writings (as well as a book of selected poems) have also been published.

Just shy of his 30th birthday, Stanford died on June 3, 1978 in his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, the victim of three self-inflicted pistol wounds to the heart. In the three decades since, he has become a cult figure in American letters.

Reviews

[Sean A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting as a combination of early, rough poetry and Stanford ephemera. I must note the presentation of this book is amazing. Published by the new book division of Jack White's Third Man Records in association with Copper Canyon Publishing. Is the Stanford archive and republication complete? Did we need as much information as this book presents us with? For instance, the photographs of Stanford, especially the ones of his indie movie were interesting. I was somewhat embarrassed to have read the letters, however. Is this mythologizing? Is that bad or desirable, especially of a man who seemed to lead a genuinely interesting, troubled and mysterious "real life".
However, with Stanford, the work and the image always stand on their own. This book is most important as a completist glimpse into that.

[Aidan Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing and important collection curated by Chet Weise and Michael Wiegers. Hugely influential on my own work.

[Michael Fuhrman]

“You’ll get credit, and if any money comes out of this — which seldom happens in poetry — I promise half to the abbey.”

[MM · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still trying to figure out if I actually like Stanford’s backwoods beatnik alchemy…

[Melting Uncle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frank Stanford. A man not afraid to get weird. The amount he wrote is mind boggling considering his short life. Sometimes I thought "I can't make heads or tails of this" or "wtf does that mean?" Then I would keep reading and find something that made me say "Wow cool. this guy was out there." Favorite part is where Frank used an alias and pretended he was a teenager so he could have poems published in Seventeen magazine. Props to the the folks that put together this collection of unreleased gold.

[Reed · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first introduction to the poetry of Frank Stanford. I very much enjoyed his poetry, especially the long poem The Mind Reader, which was surprising to me because there is a fair amount of discussion of death. However, Frank Stanford is such a strong advocate for the downtrodden and writes lines with such vivid imagery that I did not feel strangled with dour subject matter as with Sylvia Plath.

I gave this 3 stars because the font size of many of the poems is super small. There are cut outs of some of his actual pages of handwritten or typewritten poetry, presumably to show the artistic process. Of course, that process cannot be appreciated when not readable. The solution for me was quite simple: I returned this book back to the library, unfinished, and checked out a different collection of his poetry with larger font.

[Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first read "The Battlefield" in 2018/2019 and "What About This" in 2022. Absolutely worth the read. Please read them.

I recently acquired a copy of "Hidden Water" and this is also worth the read. You need to prepare yourself for the small font and semi-mythologizing this collection adds to Stanford and his work. The photo collection throughout was a lot of fun.

"Hidden Water" made me really excited for "The Life and Poetry of Frank Stanford" by James McWilliams (expected July 2025). I'm quite curious how this upcoming work will fit into the Stanford collection that occupies my shelves.

[edmondegreen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good Book

[Luke Levi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection of poems, letters, photos, etc. about Stanford's short but interesting life in Arkansas.

[Carmelo Valone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a thing of pure and unfiltered beauty and life. While most might argue that Stanford ' s work is chocked full of death, but I found myself saying that these reflections on death; really did help me out with an appreciation for Frank's passion and a pure sort of lust for life, and feeling so many of those intensely wild moments. Please do yourself a favor and run off and get this book and the other new collection of his poetry: "What About This."

Both are great collections, and just when I was over those dead old white men poets....I am impressed with love, humor and passionate intensity for all things Arkansas and all things Stanford.

[in8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

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