New Letterpress Chapbook by Arthur Sze

Every line of poetry is a horizon. It opens worlds, near or far; it's a seam, a beckoning, an edge where everything intersects; a traversal.

Some poets are masters of horizon lines ~ the edges of light, loss, existence. One of those is Arthur Sze. His poetry has opened myriad new vistas for me, both as a reader and as a writer. His use of penetrating, layered, kaleidoscopic imagery shakes me awake, and I open to a vast, intricate world of simultaneous existences, events, emotions. Sze’s poems unfold new visions and meanings with each reading, and I discover something new about the cosmos and my life in it. 

I am deeply honored to work with Arthur Sze to create a new chapbook of his poems called Starlight Behind Daylight—a collection of twelve pieces that resonate singly and collectively, that engage us on the knife-edge of now. Grouped in three sections of four, these poems converse with each other and with us. They bring into focus the simultaneities, the shifting possibilities, of life on earth together. 

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“Emily Hancock and I went back and forth discussing the poems that have been assembled in *Starlight Behind Daylight.* They consist of six poems from my latest book, *Sight Lines,* and six new poems that are in deep conversation with them. The process by which they came together was a true and exciting collaboration, and the ensuing poems move between snow and fire, darkness and light, emptiness and fruition.”

— Arthur Sze

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The limited edition chapbook will be hand-set in Centaur and Arrighi types, letterpress printed, and hand-sewn here at St Brigid Press. (Price TBA.) More information and photos will be forthcoming as the project progresses. To receive our email newsletter with updates, and/or to reserve a chapbook, please email us — info@stbrigidpress.net

Until next time, all best wishes to each of you as you traverse the horizons before you!

Emily

Emily Hancock
St Brigid Press
Afton, Virginia

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The header image of the Cat’s Paw Nebula courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/IPAC (https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22567)

Photo of Arthur Sze by Forrest Gander.

Text by Emily Hancock and Arthur Sze.

Copyright 2019. All rights reserved.

Old Poems, New Forms

During some Spring Cleaning at the Press a few weeks ago, I rediscovered a sweet small project that had somehow gotten buried by other works-in-progress. 

“Overnight on Abiding-Integrity River”

an unfolding poem

Ancient Chinese poetry has long been an enjoyment of mine, particularly poems translated by David Hinton. And a favorite author that Hinton translates beautifully is the early T’ang Dynasty poet Meng Hao-jan (689-740 C.E.).

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The source: a wonderful collection of poems translated by David Hinton.

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The poem: a transporting little poem by Meng Hao-jan that's been resonating since the 8th century.

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The miniature: creating a new form for this old poem.

One of Meng’s crystalline four-line poems struck me as a lovely candidate for a miniature book. At 2-inches square and a half-inch thick, this unfolding journey is small in size but large in scope. Meng’s linked, sensory lines seemed to naturally suit themselves to a linked, tactile format.

I set the poem in metal type, printed it on my trusty foot-treadled Golding press, and cut-and-assembled the paper pieces by hand to form the book. It’s a very limited edition — just 21 books. $15 each.

If you'd like a little ancient new book of poetry, click here.

Many thanks,

St Brigid Press

Wind Chimes

On the heels of this week's snow and sleet, the wind has come howling in. Today at the Press we're feeding the woodstove, catching up on reading and writing, and going over proofs of Wind Intervals, the new chapbook of poetry by Jeff Schwaner.

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“What is the sound of a loosening of leaves
like forgetting hands just before they drop
to our sides?”

— Jeff Schwaner, in the title poem "Wind Intervals"

One of our favorite poets, Jeff brings to his work a deeply engaging mixture of observation, introspection, and connection. We are honored to be publishing his next chapbook of seven poems, carefully selected and printed by Emily Hancock.

Recently, we invited Jeff to the Press to record some of his poems. Let these whet your whistle for the rest of the book!

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Wind Intervals will be published in two formats, a Standard Edition and a Special Edition. We are currently taking pre-orders of both.

STANDARD EDITION

• 150 numbered copies
• hand-set in Bembo types (cast by the Bixler Letterfoundry in NY)
• two original illustrations
• letterpress printed on our 1909 Golding Pearl treadle press
• Mohawk Superfine text paper
• Hahnemühle Bugra covers
• hand-bound at the Press
• $24

SPECIAL EDITION

• 35 signed and numbered copies
• hand-set in Bembo types (cast by the Bixler Letterfoundry in NY)
• two original illustrations
• letterpress printed on our 1909 Golding Pearl treadle press
• Revere Book mouldmade text paper
• St Armand handmade covers
• hand-bound at the Press
• $35

To pre-order a copy, please email Emily Hancock at stbrigidpress@gmail.com, or fill out the form below.

Mark your calendars ~ the official book launch for Wind Intervals will be April 28th, at 7pm at Black Swan Books in Staunton, Virginia! (Pre-orders will ship that day.)

Thanks Friends, and hold onto your hats!

St Brigid Press

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Printing With Plants

Hi Friends of St Brigid Press!

We're rolling along in our production of our new chapbook, Reverie, which launches next Sunday the 20th at Black Swan Books (3pm to 5pm, if you're in the neighborhood!). At the moment, we are enjoying illustrating the pages with original nature prints from the grasses that grow in the meadow at the Press.

Here's a sneak peek at today's print process, working with the lovely little meadow flower, Pennsylvania Bittercress.

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Just last week, our field began to bloom with the tiny white petals of Cardamine pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Bittercress. 

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We decided the Bittercress would make a delightful accompaniment to the first poem in the book.

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Next we hand-mixed a sweet spring green color, gently pressed the Bittercress into the ink, and carefully transferred the inked cutting to the page of poetry.

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Lifting off the Bittercress, reveals its subtle image. Next up: clover and wild onion!

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Thanks for joining us!

If you can't make it to the look launch on March 20th, but are interested in purchasing this limited edition book, please see HERE.

Printing a Poem on the Handpress

One of our chief passions here at the Press is traditional letterpress printing — using some of the techniques, equipment, and materials that have been used since Johannes Gutenberg and his team first developed moveable type and printing presses in Europe around 1450. 

We enjoy being a part of that long historical lineage, learning the skills and passing along the wonder of the printed word. Our latest project, a little chapbook of poems called “Reverie,” has given us the opportunity to produce a book entirely on the circa-1915 iron handpress, affectionally named “Ben” (for Ben Franklin, of course). 

Here is a series of photos that will walk you through the printing of one sheet of one poem for this one book. By the time we finish the edition, we will have enacted this same process about 1,260 times. Good thing we love what we do!

All best to all, 

St Brigid Press

"Ben," our circa-1915 iron handpress.

This is the poem we're printing today...

...locked up securely on the bed of the press.

Next we hang the paper-to-be-printed on the tympan.

Folding the frisket over the tympan...

...which protects & holds-in-place the paper to be printed.

Next, we charge the roller with ink...

...and carefully roll it over the type to ink the letters.

Then, we fold the tympan & frisket (with the paper sandwiched between) over the press bed...

...and roll the bed under the platen (heavy iron piece with "waffle weave").

Now we pull the bar, transferring downward pressure so the paper finally meets the inked type underneath.

We roll the press bed out again, and begin to lift up the tympan & frisket.

Opening the frisket cover to find...

...a poem has been printed! Hooray!!

News from St Brigid Press!

Greetings from the blustery Blue Ridge Mountains!

Though the warm sun is drizzled all over us today like honey, the empty trees and biting breeze signal winter’s steady approach, here in the Rockfish River Valley. At St Brigid Press, we’re also moving into a new season of work, hunkering down with several longer chapbook projects and a new series of prints. 

Speaking of books, we are thrilled to announce that Emily Hancock’s collection of haiku & carvings, Soundings, recently won a prestigious award at the Oxford Fine Press Book Fair in England. This volume, letterpress printed and hand-bound here at the Press, took home the Oxford Guild of Printers’ 2015 Prize for Best Fine Press Book under £50. 

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We are very honored to receive this award. Hopefully some day we can travel to Oxford in person to attend this yearly gathering of fine printers and bookbinders — the oldest fair of its kind in the world.

Created in a limited edition of just 85 books, Soundings is nearly sold out. If you are interested in reserving a copy, please let us know. For more information and photographs, click HERE.

Our current stock of holiday cards and gift tags is likewise dwindling. See available items HERE.

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In the meantime, peace and pace to you all!

With thanks,

St Brigid Press 

A Garden in Winter...

"Always maintain a kind of Summer, even in the middle of Winter."

~ Henry David Thoreau

Poet, professor, and gardener Stan Galloway takes Thoreau's sentiments to heart in his beautiful poem, "Winter Garden," which is just out now as a limited edition letterpress broadside from St Brigid Press. Savor these selected lines:

clouds purple where dusk and storm meet                                       glazed December snow pellets

I take the box from under the stairs                                               partial packets of last year's seeds

without a shovel or a line of string                                           start to garden, finger each envelope...

Galloway goes on to describe different kinds of seeds in this poem-dream, which inspired the Press' Emily Hancock to conjure them from carved blocks, then illumine them by hand-watercoloring each one.

The result is a lovely collaboration of word and image. Hancock hand-set the poem, letter by letter, in the historic Koch-Antiqua typeface, then printed poem and carving in dark grey ink on fawn-colored Stonehenge paper.

Last weekend, we were thrilled to be a part of the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival. Galloway, the festival's organizer, debuted the poem and broadside to the gathered on the first evening.

Each print, one of a limited edition of 80, is hand-numbered, double-matted with archival mats, backed with archival board, and safely encased in a clear archival bag. To read the poem in its entirety, scroll to the bottom of this page. To order, visit our secure online Store.

Warm your winter days with a print of Galloway's poem; let it dream you toward the light, the rising life, of spring.

All best to all,

St Brigid Press

THE POEM:

"Soundings" ~ a new book of haiku from St Brigid Press

We are pleased to announce the publication of Soundings, a new book of haiku by Emily Hancock. Inspired by the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Hancock makes her home, this lovely book collects over 30 of her poems and 3 original linoleum block prints.

Designed, hand-set, letterpress printed, and hand-sewn here at the Press in a limited edition of 85 books. Pre-order a copy HERE; books will be shipped on November 10th.

If you are in the area, please join us for the official Book Launch Reception and Signing ~ this Friday, November 7th, at 5:30pm at Stone Soup Books (908 W. Main St., Waynesboro, Virginia).

With thanks, and all best!

St Brigid Press

Everything Falls In Place

We are honored to announce the release of a letterpress printed broadside of Jeff Schwaner's poem "Drop Everything."

A moving meditation on the small moments that make up our lives, and the intimacy of truly knowing another being, "Drop Everything" is a poem of quiet beauty and power. Author of numerous volumes of outstanding poetry, Jeff Schwaner lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

We had the pleasure of setting his poem by hand, letter-by-letter and line-by-line, to manifest its loveliness in metal, ink, paper, and to share it with you. It is composed in Centaur type, a venerable typeface designed in 1914 by Bruce Rogers, and accompanied by accents in its companion italic face Arrighi. The paper is sumptuous "Holyoke," a very thick, cream-white cotton paper. Each broadside in this limited edition of 45 is numbered.

For more information about the poem (including the full text) and its author Jeff Schwaner, click HERE.

To order, click HERE.

With thanks, and all best, St Brigid Press