Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Small Press is Big

For decades Buffalo has had a burgeoning small press scene fueled by poets turned publisher out of inspiration and necessity. Last years inagural Small Press Book fair and the recent relocation of sunnyoutside from Boston to Buffalo shows that Buffalo is a thriving and welcoming scene for independent publishing and "the book".
The University at Buffalo's Small Press in the Archive is an ongoing series of lectures highlighting current activities and the impressive collection at UB's Poetry and Rare Book room. Next up in the series is Kyle Schlesinger Lecture "The Letterpress in the Mimeo Revolution," Monday October 29 at 12 noon in The Poetry Collection, 420 Capen Hall.

Small Press in the Archive Lecture Series dedicates itself to the study of poetry outside the traditional literary historical plot. The lectures in this series draw on materials in The Poetry Collection, at SUNY Buffalo in order to explore community/discourse formations, the status of ephemera and the making of genre, the conditions of literary production, transatlantic cross-pollinations in and between specific magazines, the careers of poets, the role of book art, and how the little magazine functions in the making of the avant-garde.

Blazevox is another prolific Buffalo based publisher of "post avant poetry and fiction" and will feature a book launch party for Michael Kelleher's “Human Scale” and “Hello Helicopter” by Kyle Schlesinger at Rust Belt Books, 202 Allen St. on Sunday Oct 28(after the Bills game for those who cannot multi-task.) Great food is rumored to be included in this free event.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Book Art Shows, Conferences and Seminars

Over the next couple of months there are quite a few events around the US dedicated to the book arts, here are just a few:

October 5-8 — Oak Knoll Fest, New Castle Delaware

October 11-13 — American Printing History Association Annual Conference
Transformations: The Persistence of Aldus Manutius. At UCLA

October 26-28 — The Connection: Arts and Crafts Conference, at the Roycroft- East Aurora NY

November 2 — Production not Reproduction: The Influence of Offset Printing on Artists' Books at the Center for Book Arts New York City

November 10 — BABYLON LEXICON is New Orleans' annual exhibition of artists' books and book inspired art. The show opens in conjunction with the NOLA Bookfair