Artie Gold 1947–2007

In the 70s, Artie was an incandescent poet who wrote some of the freshest, most innovative poetry to come out of Montreal in a long time. His writing laid the foundation for future poets. He was funny; he was difficult. His work was brilliant—his talent great, but ultimately it was trumped by his health. Over the years, Artie's friend—artist and photographer Christian Knudsen—took photos of Artie and designed some of his books. "I have selected six photos of Artie as a small tribute. Personally I was very fond of the way he laughed. It was unique and despite everything he laughed often. He always had a funny story. I have selected images of Artie smiling or laughing ... the way I would like to remember him. The best times were in the 70s and 80s. These photos are from then."    Christian Knudsen's photographs and paintings have been exhibited across Canada and abroad. He teaches photography at Concordia University. Untitled (from before ROMANTIC WORDS) I have no astrologer– and don’t believe in falling in love on any particular August day you could name I have knapsacks full of knick-knacks that spread beneath a tree would suffocate a hermit and a perpetual cough that when I’ve had enough of– I’ll die from I came to this city naked and from a small town and have rearranged some of its objects I will hitch-hike out of here one day with my hair in my eyes and a good breeze blowing and cause a little confusion I’m sure– though no more than a hair discovered in a gravy Some of Artie’s Books that We Have on Our Shelf cityflowers Introduction by George Bowering Published by Delta Can, 1974 Designed by Glen Siebrasse Publisher’s logo designed by Leopold Plotek Cover photo by Christian Knudsen Printed by “The Presses at Véhicule” "So in the years 1967–1971 I encountered lots of young Montrealers who wanted to be poets, but only two who wanted to step fully into the world, the world, of poetry. These were Dwight Gardiner & Artie Gold. The only two I knew with holes in the knees of their jeans & great big libraries at home." –From George Bowering's introduction even yr photograph looks afraid of me Published by Talonbooks, 1975 Designed by Dwight Gardiner Cover design by Gary Lee Nova some of the cat poems Published by CrossCountry Press, 1978 Drawings by Artie Gold Frontispiece drawing by Allan Bealy Printed by Véhicule Press before ROMANTIC WORDS Published by Véhicule Press, 1979 Cover art and design by Chris Knudsen Photograph of the author by Chris Knudsen Printed by Véhicule Press The Beautiful Chemical Waltz Published by The Muses’ Company, 1992 Introduction by George Bowering Edited by Ken Norris Cover art and design by Christian Knudsen