Editing Charles Bukowski (section)

=== Early writing ===
When Bukowski was aged 23 (March-April 1944), his short story "Aftermath of a Lengthy Rejection Slip" was published in [[Story (magazine)|''Story'' magazine]]. Two years later, another short story, "20 Tanks from Kasseldown", was published by the [[Black Sun Press]] in Issue III of ''[[Portfolio: An Intercontinental Quarterly]]'', a limited-run, loose-leaf [[broadside (printing)|broadside]] collection printed in 1946 and edited by [[Caresse Crosby]]. Failing to break into the literary world, Bukowski grew disillusioned with the publication process and quit writing for almost a decade, a time that he referred to as a "ten-year drunk". These "lost years" formed the basis for his later semiautobiographical chronicles, and there are fictionalized versions of Bukowski's life through his highly stylized alter-ego, Henry Chinaski.<ref name="Bukowski, Charles" /> However, Bukowski never fully gave up writing and had occasional pieces published during this period. The “ten-year drunk” was part of the Chinaski Legend, similar to [[Jack Kerouac]]’s Duluoz Legend. 

During part of this period he continued living in Los Angeles, working at a pickle factory for a short time but also spending some time roaming about the U.S., working sporadically and staying in cheap [[rooming house]]s.<ref name=Miles /> In the early 1950s, he took a job as a fill-in [[letter carrier]] with the [[United States Post Office Department]] in Los Angeles, but resigned just before he reached three years' service.

In the spring of 1954, Bukowski was treated for a near-fatal bleeding [[ulcer]]. After leaving the hospital he began to write poetry.<ref name=Miles /> The next year he agreed to marry small-town Texas poet Barbara Frye, but they divorced in 1958. According to [[Howard Sounes]]'s ''[[Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life]]'', she later died under mysterious circumstances in India. Following his divorce, Bukowski resumed drinking and continued writing poetry.<ref name="Miles" />

Several of Bukowski's poems were published in the late 1950s in ''Gallows'', a small poetry magazine published briefly (the magazine lasted for two issues) by Jon Griffith.<ref>''"Sheaf, Hearse, Coffin, Poetry NOW"'' by E.V. Griffith (Hearse Press, 1996), pp. 23</ref> The small ''[[avant-garde]]'' [[literary magazine]] ''[[Nomad (magazine)|Nomad]]'', published by [[Anthony Linick]] and Donald Factor (the son of [[Max Factor Jr.]]), offered a home to Bukowski's early work. ''Nomad''{{'}}s inaugural issue in 1959 featured two of his poems. A year later, ''Nomad'' published one of Bukowski's best-known essays, ''Manifesto: A Call for Our Own Critics''.<ref>Debritto (2013), p.90.</ref>