''Sensitive Skin'' was a magazine created and edited by B. Kold and Norman Douglas. Started in 1991, the first four issues were titled ''Peau Sensible'', which is French for "Sensitive Skin". Subsequent issues were titled in English. In 1994,

John Farris John Lee Farris (born July 26, 1936) is an American novelist, screenwriter, and playwright (with occasional short stories and poetry) who first achieved best-seller status at age twenty-three and is most famous as the author of ''The Fury'' ( ...

, Patricia Winter, and Darius James joined the editorial team. That same year, Mr. E. Oso took over editorial duties for the final issue. The magazine is based in

Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...

. ''Sensitive Skin'' magazine included short fiction, screenwriting, poetry, reviews, drawings, essays, and photographs by both established and emerging writers and artists, mainly from New York. The publication also partnered with

The Living Theatre The Living Theatre is an American theatre company founded in 1947 and based in New York City. It is the oldest experimental theatre group in the United States. For most of its history it was led by its founders, actress Judith Malina and painter/p ...

to host release parties and benefits. ''Sensitive Skin'' published downtown New York writers including

John Giorno John Giorno (December 4, 1936 – October 11, 2019) was an American performance poetry, poet and performance artist. He founded the not-for-profit production company Giorno Poetry Systems and organized a number of early multimedia poetry experim ...

Herbert Huncke Herbert Edwin Huncke ( ; January 9, 1915 – August 8, 1996) was an American writer and poet, and an active participant in a number of emerging cultural, social and aesthetic movements of the 20th century in America. He was a member of the Be ...

Jack Micheline Jack Micheline (November 6, 1929 – February 27, 1998), born Harvey Martin Silver, was an American painter and poet from the San Francisco Bay Area. One of San Francisco's original Beat poets, he was an innovative artist who was active in the ...

Joel Rose Joel Rose is an American novelist. Career His novels include ''The Blackest Bird'' (2007), '' Kill the Poor'' (1988), and '' Kill Kill Faster Faster'' (1988). He also authored the urban historical, ''New York Sawed in Half: An Urban Historical'' ( ...

, Lynn Tillman,

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is an American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. Novelist Dennis Cooper has des ...

, David Rattray, Chris Kraus, David Ulin, Sparrow, Mike Topp,

Ron Kolm Ron Kolm (born 1947) is an American poet, writer, editor, archivist, and bookseller based in New York City. Known as "one of the mainstays of the downtown (literary) scene,"''A Concise Companion to Postwar American Literature and Culture'' edited ...

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television (band), ...

Bob Holman Bob Holman is an American poet and poetry activist, most closely identified with the oral tradition, the spoken word, and poetry slam. As a promoter of poetry in many media, Holman has spent the last four decades working variously as an author ...

, Wanda Phipps,

Maggie Estep Margaret Ann "Maggie" Estep (March 20, 1963 – February 12, 2014) was an American writer and poet, best known for coming to prominence during the height of the spoken word and poetry slam performance rage. She published seven books and rel ...

and

Taylor Mead Taylor Mead (December 31, 1924 – May 8, 2013) was an American writer, actor and performer. Mead appeared in several of Andy Warhol's underground films filmed at Warhol's Factory, including ''Tarzan and Jane Regained... Sort of'' (1963) and '' T ...

, among many others.

Online version

After a sixteen year hiatus, ''Sensitive Skin'' was relaunched as an online magazine on June 18, 2010, by Bernard Meisler (publisher and managing editor) and Tim Beckett (webmaster and editor). The first issue contained work by

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. After forming Suede, she co-founded the Britpop band Elastica before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as an artist. Early years ...

, Andrew Huebner, Jose Padua, Tim Beckett, Steve Horowitz, Bob Bannister and Bart Plantenga. Steve Horowitz joined as music editor for issue two, and Rob Hardin joined as an associate editor for issue three. In subsequent issues, Sensitive Skin has published writing by

Samuel Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexuality, and society. His ficti ...

Craig Clevenger Craig Clevenger (born 1964) is an American author of contemporary fiction. Born 1964 in Dallas, Texas, he grew up in Southern California, where he studied English at California State University, Long Beach. He is the author of three novels, '' ...

, Marc Olmsted, Emily XYZ,

Darius James Darius James (aka Dr. Snakeskin, born 1954) is an African-American author and performance artist. He is the author of ''That's Blaxploitation: Roots of the Baadasssss 'Tude (Rated X by an All-Whyte Jury)'', an unorthodox, semi-autobiographical h ...

Gary Indiana Gary Hoisington (July 16, 1950 – October 23, 2024), known as Gary Indiana, was an American writer, actor, artist, and cultural critic. He served as the art critic for the ''Village Voice'' weekly newspaper from 1985 to 1988. Indiana is best k ...

Sharon Mesmer Sharon Mesmer (born in 1960) is a Polish-American poet, fiction writer, essayist and professor of creative writing. Her poetry collections are ''Annoying Diabetic Bitch'' (Combo Books, 2008), ''The Virgin Formica'' (Hanging Loose Press, 2008), '' ...

Nick Zedd Nick Zedd ( James Franklyn Harding III; January 25, 1956 – February 27, 2022) was an American filmmaker, author, and painter based in Mexico City. He coined the term Cinema of Transgression in 1985 to describe a loose-knit group of like-minde ...

Stewart Home Kevin Llewellyn Callan (born 24 March 1962), better known as Stewart Home, is an English artist, filmmaker, writer, pamphleteer, art historian, and activist. His novels include the non-narrative '' 69 Things to Do with a Dead Princess'' (2002 ...

, Jonathan Shaw,

Melissa Febos Melissa Febos is an American writer and professor. She is the author of the memoirs ''Whip Smart'' (2010) and ''The Dry Season'' (2025) and the essay collections ''Abandon Me'' (2017), ''Girlhood'' (2021), and ''Body Work'' (2022). Early life and ...

Erika Schickel Erika may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Hayasaka Erika (''Megatokyo)'' * Erika (''Friends'') * Erika (''Pokémon'') * Erika (''Underworld'') * Erika Itsumi ''(Girls und Panzer)'' * ''Erika'' (film), a 1971 Italian thriller film * Eri ...

Max Blagg Max Blagg is a British-born poet, writer, and performer from England. Blagg has performed in New York City since 1971. He is currently a visiting lecturer in poetry at The New School in New York City (continuous from 2005). Life Max Blagg was ...

John S. Hall John S. Hall (born John Charles Hall, September 2, 1960) is an American poet, author, singer and lawyer perhaps best known for his work with King Missile, an avant-garde band that he co-founded in 1986 and has since led in various incarnations. ...

Rob Roberge Rob Roberge (born 22 June 1966) is an American writer, guitarist, singer, and writing and narrative theory professor researcher and developer. Life Rob Roberge was born in Bridgeport Connecticut. He studied writing at Emerson College and Vermont ...

Marty Thau Marty Thau (December 7, 1938 – February 13, 2014) was an American rock 'n' roll entrepreneur and music producer. He was best known as the founder of indie punk— new wave label Red Star Records in 1977, and for being the manager of the New Yor ...

Marguerite Van Cook Marguerite Van Cook (née Martin, born 1954) is an English artist, writer, musician/singer and filmmaker. Early life and education Van Cook was born in Portsmouth, England. She attended Portsmouth College of Art and Design, Northumbria Universi ...

, James Greer, and

Lyn Lifshin Lyn Lifshin or Lyn Diane Lipman (July 12, 1942 – December 9, 2019) was an American poet and teacher."Lyn Lifshin." in ''Contemporary Women Poets''. Detroit, MI: Gale, 1998. ''Gale In Context: Biography'' (accessed October 10, 2022). Lifshin wa ...

, art by Al Kresch,

Charles Gatewood Charles Robert Gatewood (November 8, 1942 – April 28, 2016) was an American photographer, writer, videographer, artist and educator, who lived and worked in San Francisco, California. Biography Early years Gatewood was born November 8, 1 ...

Chris Molnar Chris Molnar is a writer, editor, filmmaker and publisher. He is the co-founder of The Writer's Block bookstore in Las Vegas, and editorial director of Archway Editions, the literary imprint of powerHouse Books distributed by Simon & Schuster. ...

James Romberger James Romberger (born 1958) is an American artist known for his depictions of New York City's Lower East Side. Romberger's pastel drawings of the ravaged landscape of the Lower East Side and its citizens are in many public and private collecti ...

, Ted Barron, Shalom Neuman,

John Lurie John Lurie (born December 14, 1952) is an American musician, painter, actor, director, and producer. He co-founded the Lounge Lizards jazz ensemble; has acted in 19 films, including ''Stranger than Paradise'' and '' Down by Law''; has composed ...

, Ruby Ray and Hal Hirshorn, video by Kevin Rafferty and music by

Ralph Carney Ralph Carney (January 23, 1956 – December 17, 2017) was an American multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer. While his primary instruments were various saxophones and clarinets, Carney also collected and played many instruments, often un ...

Elliott Sharp Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical music, contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, author, and visual artist. A central figure in the Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimenta ...

Ryan Choi The Atom (Dr. Ryan Choi) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison, the character first appeared in ''DCU: Brave New World'' #1 (August 2006) as the fourth superhero charact ...

, Steve Adams, Kurt Wolf, Timber and Dan Becker, and interviews with

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

(by

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

) and

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

. In December 2011, Sensitive Skin Books was launched. Titles released so far include ''East of Bowery'', with a text by Drew Hubner and photographs by Ted Barron, ''Barefoot in the Heart'', an oral history of

Neem Karoli Baba Neem Karoli Baba () or Neeb Karori Baba () (born Laksman Narayan Sharma; – 11 September 1973), also known to his followers as Maharaj-ji, was a Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman. Biography Early years Lakshman Narayan Sh ...

edited by Keshav Das, ''Backwards the Drowned Go Dreaming'' by Carl Watson, and ''Music: Drawing Down the Muse'' by David West. Bernard Meisler won an Acker Award for publishing Sensitive Skin in 2014.Acker Award
/ref>

References

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External links

Sensitive Skin Magazine

Sensitive Skin (Live)!: Magazine celebrates 8th edition

Bernard Meisler in conversation with Mark McCawley

interviewed in Jeremiah's Vanishing New York 1991 establishments in the United States 1994 disestablishments in the United States Defunct literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1991 Magazines disestablished in 1994 Magazines published in California Online literary magazines published in the United States Online magazines with defunct print editions Visual arts magazines published in the United States