Anything from Anywhere

In the summer of 2008, I went for a walk down to the banks of the Black Warrior River in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Underneath the old train trestle that spans the river, I unearthed several strange, abandoned objects: a license plate; a busted, rotting baseball; a huge, rusty bolt and a mysterious item that looked like a spigot head. I sent these items to each of four poets and asked them to come up with a manuscript based on the object they received. The result of their efforts are presented here, in "Anything from Anywhere". Four pamphlets, printed on handmade cotton and abaca paper I made myself, are housed in a clamshell box, covered in Canapetta book cloth. Illustrations and text were printed from photopolymer plates on a Vandercook printing press. The pamphlets can be arranged like a puzzle, so that the images on their covers fit together to form a cohesive, still life print of the group of objects. This collaboration was my effort to maintain a community of writer-friends, who have dispersed across this damned big country. It was also an effort to attach myself to my current locality, in all its strangeness. Printed in an edition of 60. $250

Heidi and Jane: A Curious Case

"Heidi and Jane: A Curious Case" is a new take on the Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A Strange Case". The original binding design was constructed with turquoise, handmade paper covers. Text and images were letterpress printed from photopolymer plates on a Vandercook #4 proof press in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The book unfolds so that the reader first encounters a pamphlet containing the story of Jane, a young overachiever who discovers a way to be two little girls instead of just one. The book then unfolds to reveal two decks of removable cards, with captioned illustrations of Heidi/Jane's shenanigans by comic book artists Minty Lewis and Damien Jay, Adam Weinstein and Emily Tipps. Printed in 2008 in an edition of 35. Out of print.

Thirst or Surfeit

"Thirst or Surfeit" is a book of poems by Elizabeth Robinson, the subjects of which are archaeological sites visited or researched by the poet. The binding is a flat-back case binding. Handmade paper inclusions of flax, linen and banana palm fiber are tipped on to the text pages, in place of traditional illustrations. The earthy handmade paper lends a kinetic, visceral quality to the book. Text was letterpress printed from photopolymer plates on a Vandercook #4 proof press. The illustration on the cover is a linoleum block print. Printed in an edition of 50 in 2007. $200

Orders

"Orders" is a book of short poems by Emily Tipps, proprietor of High5 Press. Letterpress printed from photopolymer plates on a Vandercook SP-15 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This book is a hand-bound single pamphlet, with pochoir illustrations. The cover is black Stone Henge paper, blind embossed with the title, author's name, and illustration. Endsheets are gray Bugra paper. The content of the poems is a reaction to the political atmosphere during the post-911 Bush administration, and more generally, to the flies governments everywhere expect the people to swallow. Printed in 2007 in an edition of 60. $50