As you can see from this photo, even though letterpress printing can be cruel, whimsical and painstaking, the results are well worth the effort and bring smiles to the faces of everyone who has survived the process. This past weekend, our education outreach coordinator finished teaching a two week “Broadsides for Poets” workshop at the Evanston Print & Paper Shop. Three industrious and talented participants picked great poetry for their broadsides and really made the most of the class.
Everyone formatted their text digitally, then added imagery appropriate to their poems. The broadsides were printed on French papers using polymer plates and Vandercook proof presses.
Christopher’s broadside featuring Shakespeare’s 17th sonnet.
Becky’s Billy Collins broadside, featuring a diagram of an eclipse and a flock of geese.
Oliver, having finished printing his three-color broadside, cleans up the press.
Here’s Oliver’s trimmed, final broadside juxtaposing his own work with that of the poet Rumi.
Beautiful work from everyone! Here at Slow Industries, we look forward to seeing what the next group of workshop participants come up with. It’s always a pleasure.
Tags: broadsides, evanston print and paper, Letterpress, poetry, poets, poster, print, workshop
