Gail Sher Collection

About the Collection

Since her first poetry publication in 1981 in a literary journal edited by Robert Bertholf, former curator of the Poetry Collection, Gail Sher has published over thirty books of poetry, three books on writing as a craft and a spiritual practice, and a book on bread making based on her years of experience at the San Francisco Zen Center’s bakery in San Francisco. Her books include From Another Point of View the Woman Seems to Be Resting (Trike Press, 1982), Broke Aide (Burning Deck, 1985), Kuklos (Paradigm Press, 1995), Marginalia (Rodent Press, 1997), One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers (Penguin, 1999), redwind daylong daylong (Night Crane Press, 2004), From a Baker’s Kitchen (20th anniversary edition, Marlowe & Co., 2004), and Five Haiku Narratives (Night Crane Press, 2015). Her writing has appeared in numerous literary magazines and journals, and her haiku has won awards in Japan and the U.S.

Underlying Sher’s work as a writer and therapist is her training in Zen and Tibetan Buddhism. In 1970 she was ordained as a lay disciple of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the Zen master who helped spread Soto Zen Buddhism in the United States through his founding of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and San Francisco Zen Center, monasteries where Sher practiced for eleven years. Both her writing and her counseling are deeply informed by a Buddhist approach to awareness. In her recent publication Poetry, Zen and the Linguistic Unconscious (2016), Sher writes that her “biggest responsibility to myself as a poet is to remain in the realm of the unknown. I don’t write what I already know…My writing arises, and I am constantly surprised by it.”

This digital collection features downloadable copies of almost all of Sher’s poetry books and magazine/anthology appearances as well as a 1982 video recording of her reading her early work. It complements the Poetry Collection’s Gail Sher Collection, which includes manuscripts of published and unpublished writings; correspondence between Sher and other poets and poet-editors; artwork; photographs; documentation of her published work, including many journals in which her poetry has appeared; and audio visual materials (finding aid). The poet also maintains her own website and can be contacted via gailsher.com.

Gail Sher Bibliography

Poetry books by Gail Sher organized by phase

I. Radical language experiments, 1982-1997

From another point of view the woman seems to be resting. San Francisco: Trike, 1982.
(As) on things which (headpiece) touches the Moslem. San Francisco: Square Zero, 1982.
Rouge to beak having me. Paris: Moving Letters Press, 1983.
Broke Aide. Providence: Burning Deck, 1985.
Cops. Berkeley: Little Dinosaur, 1988.
KUKLOS. Providence: Paradigm Press, 1995.
la. Boulder: Rodent Press, 1996.
Marginalia. Chicago: Rodent Press, 1997.
Early Work. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.

II. Asian-influenced work, 1996-2008

Five Haiku Narratives. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press. 2015. [Contains the following out-of-print chapbooks written between 1996-2002: Like a Crane at Night (1996); One Bug ... One Mouth ... Snap! (1997); Saffron Wings (1998); Fifty Jigsawed Bones (1999); Lines: The Life of a Laysan Albatross (2002).]
The Moon of the Swaying Buds. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2001. 3rd edition 2017.
Look at That Dog All Dressed Out in Plum Blossoms. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2002.
RAGA. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
redwind daylong daylong. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
Once There Was Grass. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
DOHĀ. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2005.
Watching Slow Flowers. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2006.
The Haiku Masters: Four Poetic Diaries. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2008. 2nd printing 2018.

III. The wisdom-mind collection, 2008-2013

though actually it is the same earth. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2008.
The Tethering of Mind to Its Five Permanent Qualities. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2009.
Mother’s Warm Breath. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2010.
White Bird. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2010.
The Bardo Books. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2011.
Figures in Blue. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2012.
The Twelve Nidānas. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2012.
Mingling the Threefold Sky. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2013.

IV. Late work, 2014-2020

Sunny Day, Spring. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2014.
Ezekiel. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2015.
Pale Sky. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2015.
Elm. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.
Mary’s Eyes. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2018.
Gail Sher Poetry & Poetics, 1980-2020. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press / The Poetry Collection, 2020.

All publications by Gail Sher organized by date, 1980-2020

Print copies of her books and the journals in which she has appeared are available in the Poetry Collection. Books published by Night Crane Press remain in print and can be ordered from any bookseller, including online sellers.

I. Prose books (print)

Reading Gail Sher. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.
Poetry, Zen and the Linguistic Unconscious. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.
Writing the Fire: Yoga and the Art of Making Your Words Come Alive. New York: Random House/Bell Tower, 2006.
The Intuitive Writer: Listening to Your Own Voice. New York: Penguin, 2002.
One Continuous Mistake: Four Noble Truths for Writers. New York: Penguin, 1999.
From a Baker’s Kitchen: Techniques and Recipes for Professional Quality Baking in the Home Kitchen. Twentieth Anniversary Edition. New York: Marlow & Co., 2004.
From a Baker’s Kitchen: Techniques and Recipes for Professional Quality Baking in the Home Kitchen. Berkeley: Aris Books, 1984.

II. Poetry books (print)

Gail Sher Poetry & Poetics, 1980-2020. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press / The Poetry Collection, 2020.
Mary’s Eyes. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2018.
Elm. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.
Early Work. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2016.
Pale Sky. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press. 2015.
Five Haiku Narratives. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press. 2015.
Ezekiel. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2015.
Sunny Day, Spring. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2014.
Mingling the Threefold Sky. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2013.
The Twelve Nidānas. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2012.
Figures in Blue. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2012.
The Bardo Books. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2011.
White Bird. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2010.
Mother’s Warm Breath. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2010.
The Tethering of Mind to Its Five Permanent Qualities. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2009.
though actually it is the same earth. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2008.
The Haiku Masters: Four Poetic Diaries. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2008. 2nd printing 2018.
Who, a Licchavi. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2007.
Calliope. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2007.
old dri’s lament. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2007.
The Copper Pheasant Ceases Its Call. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2007.
East Wind Melts the Ice. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2007.
Watching Slow Flowers. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2006.
DOHĀ. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2005.
RAGA. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
Once There Was Grass. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
redwind daylong daylong. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
Birds of Celtic Twilight: A Novel in Verse. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2004.
Look at That Dog All Dressed Out in Plum Blossoms. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2002.
Lines: The Life of a Laysan Albatross. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2002. [Reprinted in Five Haiku Narratives.]
The Moon of the Swaying Buds. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2001. 3rd edition 2017.
Fifty Jigsawed Bones: A Sea Turtle’s Life. Emeryville, CA: Night Crane Press, 2001. [Reprinted in Five Haiku Narratives.]
Saffron Wings. Berkeley: Night Crane Press, 1998. [Reprinted in Five Haiku Narratives.]
One Bug . . . One Mouth . . . Snap! A Year in the Life of a Turtle. Berkeley: Night Crane Press, 1997. [Reprinted in Five Haiku Narratives.]
Marginalia. Chicago: Rodent Press, 1997.
la. Boulder: Rodent Press, 1996.
Like a Crane at Night. Berkeley: Night Crane Press, 1996. [Reprinted in Five Haiku Narratives.]
KUKLOS. Providence: Paradigm Press, 1995.
Cops. Berkeley: Little Dinosaur, 1988.
Broke Aide. Providence: Burning Deck, 1985.
Rouge to beak having me. Paris: Moving Letters Press, 1983.
(As) on things which (headpiece) touches the Moslem. San Francisco: Square Zero, 1982.
From another point of view the woman seems to be resting. San Francisco: Trike, 1982.

III. Periodicals & anthologies

“Beginner's Mind.” Midwest Zen 3. December 2022. 26-30. Online.
“Excerpt from Blue.” Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here. Eds. Beau Beausoleil & Deema K. Shehabi. Oakland, CA: PM Press, 2012. 71. Print.
“Hundred-Stanza Renga” [with Andrew Schelling]. Simply Haiku 8.2. Autumn 2010.
“can’t touch you” [with David Rice]. The Tanka Journal 14. Tokyo: Nihon Kajin Club [Japan Tanka Poets’ Club], 1999. 10. Print.
“Lovers” [nine poems]. Generator 8.1: A Magazine of International Experimental Visual and Language Material. Cleveland, OH: Generator Press, 1998. n.p. Print.
“Autumn” [includes Japanese translation]. Ashiya International Haiku Festa 1998. [Award]. Ashiya, Hyogo, Japan: 1998. 36. Print.
“Against the longed-for clouds” [with David Rice]. Tanka Splendor 1997. [Award]. Gualala, CA: AHA Books, 1997. n.p. Print.
“Fallout.” [Honorable Mention]. Hiroshima Haiku and Tanka Competition, 1997. n.p. Print.
“Silent snow.” One Breath: Haiku Society of America 1995 Members’ Anthology. New York: Haiku Society of America, 1996. 14. Print.
“Basho.” Black Bough 8. Flemington, NJ: 1996. 5. Print.
“The Paintings of Social Concern.” Juxta 4. Charlottesville, VA: 1996. n.p. Print.
“Wipers steady,” “Home at last,” “Night Falls” [corrected version]. Frogpond 19.1. New York: Haiku Society of America, 1996. 8, 20, 52. Print.
“Innocent Diversions.” Chain 3. Special Topic: Hybrid Genres/Mixed Media. Buffalo: 1996. 183-188. Print.
“Night falls.” Woodnotes 28 [Associate Editor: Gail Sher]. Foster City, CA: Spring 1996. 9. Print.
“The boy dozes,” “Winter sun.” Woodnotes 29 [Associate Editor: Gail Sher]. Foster City, CA: Summer 1996. 10, 22. Print.
“George Tooker: Marginalia” [excerpt]. Big Allis 7. Brooklyn: 1996. 30-33. Print.
“Autumn leaves.” Ant 3: A Periodical of Autochthonous Poetry & Other Conundrums. Oakland, CA: Summer 1996. n.p. Print.
“Resurrection,” “The Seven Sacraments.” Raddle Moon 15. Vancouver, BC, Canada: 1996. 113-118. Print.
“Noisy city.” Raw NerVZ 2.4. Aylmer, QC, Canada: Proof Press, Winter 1995-96. 29. Print.
“Winds blow briskly this evening.” Five Lines Down: A Tanka Journal. Redwood City, CA: Winter 1995. 12. Print.
“Even in his company,” “The wind blows stronger.” Woodnotes 25. San Francisco: Haiku Poets of Northern California, Summer 1995. 8, 13. Print.
“Cross-legged I sit.” Ant 2. Oakland, CA: Summer 1995. n.p. Print.
“Home at last” [includes Japanese translation]. Basho Festival Dedicatory Anthology. [Award]. Ueno City, Mie Prefecture, Japan: Master Basho Museum, 1995. n.p. Print.
“Night falls.” Woodnotes 26. San Francisco: Haiku Poets of Northern California, Autumn 1995. 24. Print.
“Snow buries,” “A train whistle blows,” “Tassajara Summer 1969.” Woodnotes 27. San Francisco: Haiku Poets of Northern California, Winter 1995. 17, 31, 41. Print.
“Folding its wings.” Modern Haiku 26.1. Madison, WI: 1995. 10. Print.
“Sudden squall,” “Misty rain.” Frogpond 18.3. New York: Haiku Society of America, Autumn 1995. 22, 37. Print.
“Night Falls.” Frogpond 18.4. New York: Haiku Society of America, Winter 1995. 21. Print.
“Silent snow.” Woodnotes 23. San Francisco: Haiku Poets of Northern California, Winter 1994. 5. Print.
“La” [excerpt]. Big Allis 5. New York: 1992. 34-41. Print.
“Ex-voto” [excerpt from Broke Aide (1985) translated into French by Pierre Alferi & Joseph Simas]. 49+1: Nouveaux Poetes Americains. Eds. Emmanuel Hocquard & Claude Royet-Journoud. Royaumont (France): 1991. 222-223. Print.
“Osiris co rider” [from “Kuklos”]. Gallery Works 8. Aptos, CA: 1991. n.p. Print.
“Tamarind Esau” [from “Kuklos”]. Big Allis 1. New York: 1989. Print.
“From Kuklos.” o-blek 6. Stockbridge, MA: The Garlic Press, 1989. 134-135. Print.
“The Poetics of Emptiness.” Jimmy & Lucy’s House of “K” 9. Oakland: CA, January 1989. 4-5, 12-14. Print.
“W/.” Abacus 35. Elmwood, CT: Potes & Poets Press: 1988. n.p. Print.
“The Fasting Spirit” [review essay on anorexia nervosa, with excerpts from “Moon of the Swaying Buds”]. The San Francisco Jung Institute Library Journal 8.2. San Francisco: 1988. 61-80. Print.
“Cops” [excerpt read by Gail Sher at UCSD November 24, 1987]. Archive Newsletter: The Archive of New Poetry. San Diego: University of California, 1987. 12-14. Print.
“Cops” [excerpt]. Writing 18. Vancouver, BC, Canada: 1987. Print.
Ten poems. Gallery Works 7. Norwalk, CT: 1987. n.p. Print.
“For Bart II.” Karamu 10.2. Charleston, IL: Eastern Illinois University, 1987. 14-19. Print.
“The Lanyard.” Notus: New Writing 1.1. Ann Arbor: 1986. 13-21. Print.
“Ocker Marginalia” [review of Ocker by P. Inman]. Jimmy & Lucy’s House of “K” 6. Oakland: CA, May 1986. 116-118. Print.
“For Bart.” Tramen 4. San Francisco: 1985. n.p. Print.
“Broke aide” [excerpt]. Tramen 3. San Francisco: June 1985. n.p. Print.
“The Science of Cooking: The Sponge Method.” The Cook’s Magazine vol. 6, no 1. January-February 1985. 62-65. Print..
Review of “Jailbait” by Brad Gooch. Jimmy & Lucy’s House of “K” 3. Oakland: CA, January 1985. 8-9. Print.
“Which Collateral Bends the Sea,” “Deft and Resilient.” Gallery Works 6. Bronx, NY: 1984. n.p. Print.
Poems. Credences: A Journal of Twentieth Century Poetry and Poetics New Series 3.1. Buffalo: State University of New York, 1984. 84-88. Print.
“Chests in exact spiritual.” Tramen 2. San Francisco: May 1984. n.p. Print.
“Aware of this as a social act.” Tramen 2. San Francisco: May 1984. n.p. Print.
“A Question of Origin” [with Merry White Benezra, review of Lascaux by Beau Beausoleil]. Poetry Flash 124. July 1983. 3. Print..
“Working Notes from Gail Sher.” HOW(ever) vol. 1, no. 1. May 1983. 5-7. Print.
“From Another Point of View the Woman Seems to Be Resting.” Credences: A Journal of Twentieth Century Poetry and Poetics New Series 2.1. Buffalo: State University of New York, 1982. 9-11. Print.
“Suppose deeply offers up.” Hambone 2. Santa Cruz, CA: 1982. 18-22. Print.
“River the Office My Own,” “Lord and Give the Necklace Child.” Gallery Works 5. Bronx, NY: 1981. n.p. Print.
Poems. Gnome Baker 7 & 8: 1981. n.p. [10 pages]. Print.
Nine pieces. Credences: A Journal of Twentieth Century Poetry and Poetics New Series 1.1. Buffalo: State University of New York, 1981. 16-20. Print.
“foal the water bush.” Boiled Owl. San Francisco: 1980. n.p. Print.
“An Exorcism of Representational Language” [review of Red Light with Blue Sky by Beau Beausoleil]. L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E 11. New York, January 1980. n.p. Print.

IV. About Gail Sher

Robert D. Wilson. "An Interview with Gail Sher." Simply Haiku. Autumn 2010.
Andrew Schelling. "Gail Sher: Collected Poetry 1982-2007: A Review Essay."
Kathleen Fraser. "Overheard." Poetics Journal, Women & Language, Number 4, May 1984. 98-105.

Audio-video recordings

Dharma Talks

Gail Sher: "To those of you who have been drawn to Suzuki-roshi and maybe even own and have started to read Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind or Not Always So, I offer these talks by way of making what he teaches more accessible. Roshi has a way of saying things that are unexpected yet touch a nerve of truth. 'Yes,' you say, 'this is so, but I’ve never been able to say it so clearly.' His ability to articulate what lies between knowing and not knowing, or almost knowing, but not being about to practice in your life, is amazing and wonderful. One feels seen on a very deep level and wants more but isn’t quite sure what 'more' means or how to get it. 'What we learn we should teach,' Roshi has said. Having studied both with him and with him in my heart for fifty years, it is time to help others who feel intrigued yet mystified by his mind. To you I extend, in Roshi's words, 'a warm hand' that perhaps can make a difference." All of the dharma talks are available online.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (September 13, 2020)
1. Beginner's Mind. Video.

Gail Sher interviewed by James Maynard, March 19, 2018. Audio | Text.

Selections from the wisdom-mind series recorded May 11, 2017.

Introduction. Audio | Text.
Mingling the Threefold Sky. Audio | Text.
The Twelve Nidānas. Audio | Text.
Figures in Blue. Audio | Text.
The Bardo Books. Audio | Text.
White Bird. Audio | Text.
Mother’s Warm Breath. Audio | Text.
The Tethering of Mind to Its Five Permanent Qualities. Audio | Text.
though actually it is the same earth. Audio | Text.

Gail Sher interviewed by Julia McCutchen on the Four Noble Truths for Conscious & Creative Writers, 2000. Audio.

Gail Sher interviewed by Connie Platt, KDTV Denver, on One Continuous Mistake, April 23, 1999. Video.

Gail Sher reads three poems at the Living Batch Bookstore, Albuquerque, 1986.

(As) on things which (headpiece) touches the Moslem. Audio | Text.
For Bart. Audio | Text.
The Lanyard. Audio | Text.

Gail Sher poetry reading and discussion, Niagara County Community College, 1985.

Introductory remarks. Video.
From Another Point of View the Woman Seems to Be Resting. Video | Text.
Discussion 1. Video.
(As) on things which (headpiece) touches the Moslem (1). Video | Text.
Discussion 2. Video | Text.
(As) on things which (headpiece) touches the Moslem (2). Video.
Discussion 3. Video.

Gail Sher poetry reading at the Poetry Center, San Francisco State University, September 30, 1982. Video | Text.