Leonard’s two novels, The Favourite Game and the brilliant comic Beautiful Losers, are published by
McClelland and steward in Canada and by Viking Press in the United States. Also published are six volumes of
Cohen’s poetry : the best-selling Spice Box of Earth, Let Us Compare Mythologies, Flowers for Hitler, Parasites
Of Heaven, Selected Poems, and Energy of Slaves. The U.S. editions of both of the novels have had
several printings and Beautiful losers, in particular, has sold hundreds of thousands of copies.
Cohen first gained recognition for his writing in Canada in 1964 through a national Film Board of Canada
documentary entitled Ladies and Gentlemen ... Mr. Leonard Cohen. Since then a CBS-TV program, "Camera
Three," and a film of one of Cohen's European tours, entitled Bird On A Wire, have been devoted to him. The
latter film, a revealing view of Cohen's touring troupe and the emotional upheaval that accompanied them
throughout Europe, serves as some indication of the special spot which Cohen and his songs hold in the hearts of
his fans.
For all this, however as a writer Cohen was more of an artistic than a popular success until he began to make
records. He had just returned from an extended stay abroad and was caught unaware of the expanded expressive
possibilities that had developed within pop music in the mid-sixties. During a stopover in New York he heard
Judy Collins perform in a club and realised that he could write unconpromised material for her and others like
her. His classic "Suzanne" and "Dress Rehearsal Rag" appeared on Collins In My Life album and Cohen's
reputation as a songwriter had been made. John Hammond, Sr., Vice President, Talent Acquisition, Columbia
Records, thought Cohen himself should be heard doing his songs and signed him to an exclusive recording
contract with the label. His debut LP Songs Of Leonard Cohen, was released in December, 1967. Before the
completion of the album Cohens only flirtation with music was as a member of a strictly amateur country group
in Montreal called The Buckskin Boys. Thirteen years later, he was busy assuring himself of a spot as one of the
premier singer-songwriter-poets on the music scene. Today, Cohen discovers that poetry, fiction and music
continue to be interconnected. what he begins as a story may later reveal its true medium as a song, and vice
versa. He had also written music for film. and his songs were used with great effectiveness in McCabe and Mrs.
Miller, the movie directed by Robert Altman. Cohen has recorded a total of five albums for Columbia, the most
recent of which is entitled New Skin For The Old Ceremony, released in October 1974. Following the
completion of the LP, Cohen embarked on one of his rare tours of the United States, proving that he has lost none
of his charismatic stage quality since his last concerts in America five years earlier.
Between albums, Cohen works on a new novel as well as other projects. Although much of his work, recorded and written, revolves around romantic themes, Cohen’s concerns extend beyond charting the affairs of the heart. He recently returned from the front of Sinai in Israel, where he performed for the troops. As an inhabitant of many countries and a universal artist, it is not surprising that Cohen expresses regret at not having the opportunity to entertain both sides.