A Litter of Lists by Alex Gildzen is a wide-ranging collection of list-based poems and prose pieces spanning over five decades of the author's life and work. Drawing from journals, postcards, travel notes, correspondence, and unpublished manuscripts, Gildzen assembles an unconventional memoir composed entirely of lists-of people, places, meals, performances, cultural icons, and personal encounters.
Rooted in the poet's life as a curator, archivist, and participant in late 20th-century queer artistic circles, the collection documents a rich network of relationships and cultural history. Figures such as John Ashbery, Allen Ginsberg, Judy Garland, and David Hockney appear alongside intimate personal details, reflecting Gildzen's belief that "any group of seemingly unrelated items...can make art as well as careful history."
Both formally inventive and deeply autobiographical, A Litter of Lists explores memory, preservation, and the poetic potential of accumulation. The result is a singular body of work that blurs the boundaries between poetry, archive, and lived experience.
