CONSTRUCTING A CHAPBOOK 101

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Chapbooks from Nose in Book, so far

This year I've had the honour and pleasure to make two chapbooks: It Hurt, That's All I Know by Nelson poet, Jane Byers; and I just finished packing up and shipping out my latest project, Our Own Stunned Heads, a serial poem chapbook by Victoria, BC poet, 
Stephen Bett.

With Jane Byers and her chapbook, It Hurt, That's All I Know

I operate Nose in Book Publishing out of my basement lair in Ootishenia. Before I get to the putting-together stage in these pictures I've spent some time putting the words into book form. I love that part of the process—where to break a stanza, should the page numbers be up to the right or bottom centre, font size, what to do about the cover—but the last bit, as chronicled here, is so very satisfying. 

Stack of covers and text, ready to go

First cut takes excess paper off the sides. I want a fold, but not too big.

Cut the top and bottom to size. It's important to keep changing the blade.

Score the cover with bone creaser to facilitate folding

Fold in the flaps 

The cover, ready to receive the text

Insert the text block 

Use an awl to punch three holes in the spine 

The actual sewing takes less than a minute

Tie a knot 

Snip off excess thread

Voilà!

Not quite done. Now the books go into the press for at least a day.

They emerge nice and flat

Books everywhere

Last one!

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SUMMER AND FIRES AND POEMS AND BOOKS — OH MY!

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BORDER FAIRY TALE

There was a time a trip across the border

for a meal or a night out was no big deal.

Now you can arrive with every document you own —

driver’s permit, passport, birth certificate, marriage license,

sworn affidavit that the kids are yours —

and still you may be denied.

What to do about the fire that jumped the border

at Pend d’Oreille, no declaration whatsoever,

no documents from either side,

just another refugee from the north

headed south for the winter.

Wrote that poem a few Augusts ago, for the poetry postcard exchange that's now in its 11th year. Some things don't change.

We haven't had rain in I don't remember when, there are water restrictions and campfire bans all over the province, and both the sun and the moon appear as balls of orange in the sky. It's ever so smokey in these parts, thanks to forest fires in various parts of the province as well as Washington State south of us. 

One of the fire-fighting helicopters heading for the airport

Consequently, I'm happy to be spending time in the basement where I play with paper. I've been busy sewing journals for the Columbia Basin Studio Tour this weekend when Ted and I will both have our studios open to the public. Here's a great article about  the tour in the Castlegar News.

If you're in the area we'd love to see you. If you're too far away, here's a glimpse of what you're missing!

Ted has been busy turning and oiling and creating a display for his beautiful creations 

Where it all began. In 2001 I saw this little Coptic bound book at the gift shop at the Quarry Arts Centre in Whangerei, New Zealand, and I had to learn how to make one. I was taking a paper-making class at the time. Until then, I'd always thought of paper as something you wrote on. I just looked up the book artist online — her name is Mary MacArthur — and lo and behold, she's in Canada! I just sent her a thank-you note. Check out her website, aptly called Those Great Little Books.

The first of these happened at an artist collaboration event in NZ in 2001. I call them "haiku-scapes", although the little poems aren't technically haiku. More like senyru. 

Some of my books. No two the same!

The guestbook is made from PR postcards 

Examples of other kinds of binding

My work station

How to make a book

My book press. And there's a lot of paper hiding behind that Mexican Amate paper I love.

Nose in Book's publishing display

In other news, Big Pond Rumours has three of my poems in its latest E-Zine and you can read them here. Editor of the micro press, Sharon Berg, is currently fundraising to buy a new, heavy-duty printer so she can continue to produce chapbooks without killing her printer. If you have a few dollars you can send her way, here's the link. 

And now, back to work! Thanks, as always, for reading.

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POEMS THAT SING

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This Poem
     Adeena Karasick
          Talonbooks

Today, in Victoria, a quill of poets sat around Val's huge table and talked poetry. We read and discussed poems by each other and poems we liked by somebody else. 

"Bring a poem you love and tell us why," said George, ahead of time. How the heck can you possibly have a favourite poem? Mine changes from week to week. The poem I chose to read as my (current) favourite? A selection from Adeena Karasick's This Poem, published in 2012 by Talonbooks. 

It's really a long poem, so obviously I only read enough to whet appetites, but wow, what a book! What a poem! It dances with words: sings nouns; juggles verbs; flirts with adjectives. The way she plays with language is incredible. Just listen to this:

     It is sick of your unzipped files

     your empty typologies

     (your references, preferences, profiles all pulsing and

     compressed) –

                                                      and just wants you to be its

                                                         bloggy woggie goggle boy

     at Avenue C.

     Oh for goodness sake, this poem just wants to let its

     fricative flag fly

     all milfy and delicious

             (mille feuille)

                                            And says verfremd me.

     'cause it's all ghetto-glam, googley-eyed and gangsta

                                                     is also working on a 4G network

     Counting its corollaries

     managing its waste. Living beyond its mean-

     ing; comes equipped with

     a bibliontological all-access pass

     And is going public.

She has words exposing themselves, falling over themselves, laughing at themselves, tripping, laughing, sighing and singing. Loud, glorious, beautiful singing. But don't just take my word for it. Listen to her perform some of it here.

George Bowering, our fearless leader, got to see his brand new chapbook, Los Pájaros de Tenacatita, published by NIB Publishing aka Nose in Book, aka me. Naturally, George got the first one. I will soon have the rest of them sewed and you can email me if you want one! Or get one from the man himself.



You can see what a serious lot we are. Work, work, work.



One more thing. Don't know who's reading this blog, but numbers are going up and it's perfectly okay to leave a comment! 

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