A Certain Kind of Wizard: Treasures from the Vaults of Ira Cohen (2024)

Fruita, Colorado, US.: Lithic Press (book, compilation, 1st), 2024.
9" x 7" x 1.125", 409 pages, softcover, ISBN 978-1-946583-36-9.

A Certain Kind of Wizard: Treasures from the Vaults of Ira Cohen, a compilation of writings, images, and interviews by or about Ira Cohen, edited by Romy Ashby and published by Lithic Press (Fruita, Colorado, US.) in collaboration with the Golda Foundation.

This is centered around Ira Cohen, but there are multiple recollections of and references to William S. Burroughs at pages 11, 23, 24, 75, 79, 82, 99, 113, 282, 319, 320, 322, 351, 358-359, 363, 389.

A photo of Ira Cohen, William S. Burroughs, and Brion Gysin is at page 287.

Additionally there are many mentions of Brion Gysin, as well as an interview between Cohen and Gysin in this book.

Contents:

• Introduction by Ira Landgarten
• Ian MacFadyen: "A Greek proverb..." (essay)
• Romy Ashby and Ira Cohen: "Ira Cohen: Poet at Large" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Sherrington's Dream" (prose)
• Edward Field: "I first met Ira in 1964..." (recollection)
• Jordan Zinovich and Ira Cohen: "The Bat Palace" (interview)
• Ira Cohen and Paul Bowles: "Interview with Paul Bowles, 1965" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Sensory Overload" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "Jilala" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "'Hemp, Hemp, Hooray! No Ship Could Sail Without It': From James Joyce to François Rabelais" (memoir)
• Ira Cohen: "Minbad, Sinbad" (memoir)
• Ira Cohen: "Dr. Brown's Cough Syrup" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "The Goblet of Dreams" (essay)
• Allan Graubard: "The Ritual Theatre of Hallucination" (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "From the Mylar Chamber: Color Photographs by Ira Cohen: An Historical Perspective 1966-1971" (essay)
• Jimi Hendrix: quote
• Ira Cohen and Ira Landgarten: "On Mylar and Other Magic Tricks" (interview)
• Ira Cohen and Charles Henri Ford: "Ira Cohen Interviews Charles Henri Ford, recorded in 1974, Kathmandu" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Our Desire is Remedy" (review of Om Krishna I by Charles Henri Ford)
• Ira Cohen: "Ferry to Xania" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "Blue Dolphins" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "Cretan Interlude" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "The Great Rice Paper Adventure, Kathmandu, 1972-1977" (memoir)
• Ira Cohen: "Map of Dusk: Ira Cohen on Angus MacLise" (memoir)
• Ian MacFadyen: "In Kathmandu in 1979..."
• Ira Cohen: "Chair Dream after Mescaline" (prose)
• Edward Field: "I like to remember..." (memoir)
• Ira Cohen: "The Psychedelic Rantings of Ganesh Baba" (poetry)
• Ira Cohen: "Amsterdam Diary, February 1992" (journal entries)
• Paul Pines: "The poet is a shape-shifter..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "Poem for Vali" (poetry)
• Ira Cohen: "Christmas in Ethiopia" (memoir)
• Ian MacFadyen: "The ritual celebration..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "Juliam Beck at Mount Sinai" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "The Stauffenberg Cycle" (poetry)
• Ira Cohen: "The Time of the Werewolf" (poetry)
• Ira Cohen: "LSD 61" (prose)
• Michael Rothenberg: "He uses phrases..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "Notes of an Alchemist" (poetry)
• Ira Cohen: "Photography" (statement)
• Ira Cohen: "Hardwar: Pilgrimage City" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "Naga Portraits" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "Sadhus" (photography)
• Paul Pines: "Ira Cohen is a one man festschrift..." (quote)
• John Solt and Ira Cohen: "Ira Cohen: Close Up" (interview)
• Ira Cohen and Brion Gysin: "Cutting Up: Ira Cohen Talks to Brion Gysin" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Kathmandu Dream Piece" (essay)
• Ian MacFadyen: "Here is the energy..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "Kings with Straw Mats" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "Hadrwar Journal: The Festival of Kumbh Mela" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "Petroleum, Petroleum" (essay)
• Ira Cohen: "The Insomniac Doorman" (journal entries)
• Ira Cohen: "In & Out of Paris & London: Journal Extracts, 1982" (journal entries)
• Ira Cohen and Gerard Malanga: "There's a Poem that Remembers It: Ira Cohen Talks with Gerard Malanga" (interview)
• Ian MacFadyen: "Cohen searches..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "Diamond Matchboxes" (poetry)
• Charles Henri Ford and Ira Cohen: "Charles Henri Ford and Ira Cohen Discuss the Passing of the Surreal Baton to Gerard Malanga" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Bombay Boogie Woogie" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "The Hardwar Journals: Kumbh Mela 1986" (prose)
• Paul Pines: "A man of huge appetites..." (quote)
• Ira Cohen: "From teh Moroccan Journal 1987" (poetry)
• Zephyr Magazine and Ira Cohen: "A Conversation with Ira Cohen and Zephyr Magazine" (interview)
• Ira Cohen: "Traveling with the G" (memoir)
• Ira Cohen: "Swansong" (prose)
• Ira Cohen: "Preface to Judith Malina's Love & Politics" (essay)
• Chris Stein: afterword
• Notes
• Names Referenced in this Book
• Other Work by Ira Cohen
• Acknowledgments