The journal of John Wieners is to be called 707 Scott Street for Billie Holiday, 1959

by John Wieners

Begun on March 8, 1958, this never-before published document takes the reader through one of the richest literary periods of the great American poet's life, from the time of his first publication, The Hotel Wentley Poems, until 1960, the period he lived in San Francisco and participated in what now is described as the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. Uncovered in his personal papers, 707 Scott Street represents the poet at the height of his powers, and in this important work he alternates between the personal and the general, between prose observations and diaristic entries ("Sur-real is the only way to endure the real we find heaped up in our cities.") and some of the very best of his poetic lyrics. In fact, 707 Scott Street might be best described as a series of poems in the form of a journal, which, given Wieners' belief in living as a form of poetry itself, should come as no surprise to his readers.