Broadsides

Inspired by Black Oak Books in Berkeley, which at one time printed literary broadsides to mark special events held at their store — and enabled by my purchase of a large color printer, I set out to produce my own series of broadsides. With the permission of the authors whose work I was reproducing, I designed and printed these small edition pieces on my desktop printer; each was printed off-set on thick watercolor paper run though my laser jet printer.  Sometimes, it was a struggle to feed individuals sheets, but I managed, and the resulting works found favor.

In all, I produced 10 different broadsides. Each contain a poem on the front, except in one instance, a prose excerpt. The back contained the colophon. Each were signed by the author on the front, except for the H. P. Lovecraft piece, which is signed by Lovecraft editor S. T. Joshi on the reverse. Additionally, the Bei Dao poem is signed on the reverse by the poem’s translator, Eliot Weinberger. [The Chinese text of Bei Dao’s poem is printed as if a watermark behind the English-language text, though this effect is not apparent in the scan.]

Each of the broadsides were printed in 2000, except for the Mary Jo Bang triptych and the Lovecraft piece, which were printed in 2001. This page also includes scans of three unrealized projects. Proofs of two poems by Emil Petaja were approved of and signed by the author in 2000; regrettably, Emil passed away later that year and the project was abandoned. The broadside by Frank O’Hara was designed and a proof sent to the author’s estate. It was also shown to O’Hara’s friend Bill Berkson, who had known the poet and edited some of his posthumous works. Berkson liked it. However, the O’Hara estate declined to move forward with an edition.

Except for the unrealized projects and the Vikram Seth piece, each of the broadsides were issued in conjunction with an author event at The Booksmith. I was then running the events program at the store. Typically, the broadsides were either given away with the purchase of the author’s book, or sold at a modest price. A small number of each edition were also given to the author. [To take a closer look at ant piece, click on the title/author.]

A few copies remain of the August Kleinzahler, Bill Berkson, Aaron Shurin, Bei Dao, Mary Jo Bang. H.P. Lovecraft, and Barry Paris broadsides. If anyone is interested in purchasing one or more, please contact me. The cost is $25.00 apiece (including shipping), except for the Mary Jo Bang triptych, which sells only as a set for $60.00. (The Vikram Seth, Emil Petaja, and Frank O’Hara pieces are not for sale.)