Boooook: The Life and Work of Bob Cobbing

by Bob Cobbing, William Cobbing (Editor), Rosie Cooper (Editor)

This is the first comprehensive overview of the life and work of the pioneering British concrete and sound poet Bob Cobbing (1920-2002). 'Boooook' addresses all aspects of Cobbing's career, with essays detailing his key roles in Better Books, London Film-makers' Co-op and the abAna trio, as well as his involvement in the Destruction in Art Symposium, Fylkingen and Writers Forum. Edited by William Cobbing and Rosie Cooper and illustrated with reproductions of artworks, documents, posters, poems and film stills from the Bob Cobbing family collection Boooook features contributions by Adrian Clarke, Arnaud Desjardin, Sanne Krogh Groth, Will Holder, Gustav Metzger, Andrew Wilson, and others.

Genres: Art, Poetry

207 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

Cobbing was a British sound, visual, concrete and performance poet who was a central figure in the British Poetry Revival.
He grew up within the Plymouth Brethren community. He attended Enfield Grammar School and then trained as an accountant. He later went to Bognor Training College to become a teacher. During the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector.
He left teaching in the 60ies and managed Better Books on Charing Cross Road, London. Better Books was more than a mere bookshop. Once described as a ‘mini Arts Lab’ it served as stage, cinema and gallery. Its cross-disciplinary approach welcomed new art forms like assemblage, performance art, and radical poetry. Together with other alternative galleries such as 26 Kingly Street and Indica Bookshop, Better Books was one of the hot spots of the London underground scene.