William Levy; Heathcote Williams; Germaine Greer; Susan Jansen; Lynne Tillman; Jim Haynes; Willem de Ridder
London and Amsterdam: Joy Publications, 1969-74.

A complete set of Suck, touted as the first European sex newspaper tasked with creating “a new pornography which would demystify male and female bodies”. Launched in London in 1969 before moving to Amsterdam to avoid England’s anti-obscenity laws. Heathcote Williams in his Suck manifesto declares “SUCK is Group Sex, Police Sex, Animal Sex, Teeny Sex, One Armed Bandit Sex, Geriatric Sex and Cosmic Sex”, highlighting the nothing is off-limits approach of the editorial board. Though Suck was no mere porno rag, as Australian feminist writer and Suck co-founder Germaine Greer told the academic journal Women’s Studies International Forum, Suck was “a new kind of erotic art, away from the tits ‘n’ ass and the peep-show syndrome.” Greer’s involvement helped push a wave of radical feminist pornography, though she fell out with her co-editors and resigned after they published a photograph of her naked with her legs over her head, not because of the nudity, but the context of its publishing, which is outlined in Greer’s resignation letter printed in the final issue. Greer’s involvement was not the only tip to a radical cause with noted contributors including William S. Burroughs, Valerie Solanas, Michael McClure, W. H. Auden, Guillaume Apollinaire, Maurice Girodias, and many others. Primary editors were William Levy, Heatcote Williams, Germaine Greer, Susan Jansen, Lynne Tillman, and Jim Haynes, with art direction by Willem de Ridder.