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A Hauntological Investigation of the Works of Thomas Meyer: Sun Nailed to Water is a bibliographical study that draws critical and literary-historical attention to the works of the poet Thomas Meyer, situating his writing within postwar ("New American") queer and avant-garde contexts. The book investigates various personal and poetic communities, including Meyer's connections to first- and second-generation "New American" poets; the intertwining of his literary, publishing, and personal relationship with Jonathan Williams; his literary apprenticeships and occasional breaks with senior postwar poets; and Meyer's engagements with and idiosyncratic development of poetic techniques, such as channelling/mediumship, translation, and the use of personae.
Martrich's investigation unfolds through a theoretical engagement with hauntology, addressing and redressing gaps, absences, and "specters" (including those of Jack Spicer, Sappho, and Strato) in both Meyer's work and its literary-critical reception. The study concludes with an annotated bibliographical checklist of Meyer's books from 1971 to 2025, and includes a preface by Peter O'Leary and a coda by Erica Van Horn.
List of contents
.- Chapter 1. A Space for the Generation of Ghosts.- Chapter 2. Specters of Jack Spicer.- Chapter 3. Alternate Futures.- Chapter 4. Translation s Masks.- Chapter 5: Sun Nailed to Water: A bibliographical checklist of books, chapbooks, and pamphlets.
About the author
Andy Martrich is a poet, archivist, small press publisher, and author of occasional books. Recent publications include
Shy of the Squirrel's Foot: A Peripheral History of the Jargon Society as Told Through Its Missing Books (The University of North Carolina Press, 2024), and
Imaginary Libraries of the Nintendo Entertainment System: A Directory (Counterpath, 2026). Research focuses on a convergence of the literary avant-garde, repository studies, ephemera, and collecting.
Summary
A Hauntological Investigation of the Works of Thomas Meyer: Sun Nailed to Water is a bibliographical study that draws critical and literary-historical attention to the works of the poet Thomas Meyer, situating his writing within postwar ("New American") queer and avant-garde contexts. The book investigates various personal and poetic communities, including Meyer's connections to first- and second-generation "New American" poets; the intertwining of his literary, publishing, and personal relationship with Jonathan Williams; his literary apprenticeships and occasional breaks with senior postwar poets; and Meyer's engagements with and idiosyncratic development of poetic techniques, such as channelling/mediumship, translation, and the use of personae.
Martrich's investigation unfolds through a theoretical engagement with hauntology, addressing and redressing gaps, absences, and "specters" (including those of Jack Spicer, Sappho, and Strato) in both Meyer's work and its literary-critical reception. The study concludes with an annotated bibliographical checklist of Meyer's books from 1971 to 2025, and includes a preface by Peter O'Leary and a coda by Erica Van Horn.
