Ahadadians Daniel Sendecki and Jesse Glass outside of the Kabukiza Theatre in Ginza, Tokyo on 9 August 2004. Behind us are posters that herald the opening of “Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan“; guaranteed to give anyone the chills, the story is replete with murders, ghosts and sadistic cruelty — comparable to the transpacific meetings Jesse and I occasionally enjoy! Alas, tickets were hard to come by and Jesse and I were unable to attend the showing. Rather, we spent the day taking in the sights around Ginza, and enjoying a sushi lunch.

To provide a little more information regarding the Glass/Sendecki venture that is Ahadada books, I thought I’d reprint a snippet of an interview from the Muse Apprentice Guild which ran in the fall of 2003.

Do you have any close associations with younger writers whose development as a writer you are supporting and nurturing?

… my most recent connection with a younger poet has resulted in a publishing venture. Dan Sendecki, a Canadian, met me over the winter holidays a couple of years ago in Tokyo. From that meeting Ahadada Books was born. Not only is Dan a writer of talent, but he’s also a book designer, cover artist, publicist-the real deal. Coach House Press does our printing and our books are beautiful. Our latest offering is Marton Koppany’s Investigations & Other Sequences. We’ve also done on-line volumes of John Solt’s and Rick Peabody’s.

What is your connection with the small press?

Richard Kostelanetz convinced me of the importance of the small press early on. I began my own efforts in 1974 with a homely little mimeo magazine called Goethe’s Notes. The remarkable thing about it was that this tiny publication attracted so many accomplished writers. It was learning about contemporary literature truly by the seat of my pants, and having fun while doing it. I went on to establish Goethe’s Press and published a few nice chapbooks after that.

On a recent trip back to the U.S. I opened an old foot-locker I’d stacked away in a closet and found signed copies of books by William Matthews and Daniel Mark Epstein, as well as scads of little magazines in which I had published in the 1970’s. Aleph, edited by Mel Raff, was a fine one. And the elegant Gargoyle. I found back numbers of Guardino’s Gazette, edited by Len Guardino, a friend of Langston Hughes, and a former editor of Hughes’ Poetry World. Who has ever heard of him? He was a generous editor, though, a nice guy and his magazine is still a good read. I’m sure he’s publishing it in Heaven.

By the way, where did that name ahadada come from?

Many folks see a deep significance in it, but actually my son Yoichi used to call me that when he was just beginning to talk. I thought it was cute and used it for my Internet name. There’s no real connection with urinals or Hugo Ball or hobby horses, though Dan uses Duchamp’s urinal as our logo.

Daniel Sendecki and Jesse Glass outside of the Kabukiza Theatre in Ginza, Tokyo on 9 August 2004. Behind us are posters that herald the opening of “Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan”; guaranteed to give anyone the chills, the story is replete with murders, ghosts and sadistic cruelty. Alas, tickets were hard to come by and Jesse and I were unable to attend the showing. Rather, we spent the day taking in the sights around Ginza, and enjoying a sushi lunch.