Today, we remember with fondness the great transgressive writer, Kathy Acker (1947-1997) and salute her with this 1985 Alan Benson documentary (made back then for London Weekend Television’s flagship South Bank Show)
and since then, we now have a definitive compendium Kathy Acker – Get Rid of Meaning (2023), “the first comprehensive publication on Acker’s work from an artistic and literary perspective”, a volume which, “grew out of a multilayered exhibition and symposium in 2019 at the Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Germany”, curated by Anja Casser, the Badischer Kunstverein’s director, and Matias Viegener, Acker’s friend and the administrator of her estate, McKenzie Wark reports on that initial show, for The Brooklyn Rail, in some detail – here)
Here’s Jason McBride, Acker’s biographer, speaking this past February in Toronto:
I have to give a heads up to Acker fans about the compendium of early writings, Kathy Acker (1971-1975) published by Editions Ismael. Now out of print but you can download a free pdf copy from this address (just keep scrolling down, you’ll find it):
https://editions-ismael.com/en/catalog/kathy-acker-1971-1975-2/