I’m excited to announce that St Brigid Press will be publishing a beautiful letterpress edition of a selection of my poems, Wind Intervals, in late April — just in time for National Poetry Month.
The book will be hand-set in Bembo type, printed on a beautiful and rugged 1909 Golding Pearl treadle press on the other side of Afton Mountain at St Brigid’s not-entirely-top-secret headquarters, guarded by trees, a gregarious dog and stunning mountain views.
There will be a Standard Edition, hand-bound at the Press and limited to 150 numbered copies ($24), and a Special Edition, limited to 35 numbered and signed copies, printed on Revere Book mouldmade text paper and hand-bound with St Armand handmade covers ($35).
You can hear me read two of the poems from the book here on the St Brigid Press site.
The book’s publication date is April 28, 2017. We’ll gather at Black Swan for a book launch and reading. If you pre-order with St Brigid and cannot make the trek to Staunton, I’ll gladly sign copies at the launch before they are shipped.
As you can imagine, creating a letterpress book involves considerable work, including setting each letter (and space!) by hand in metal type. On a Golding press, the type is actually suspended type-side down for printing (which somehow seems right for my poetry!) after being locked tightly into place by wooden blocks and metal quoins.
I will keep you updated as work on Wind Intervals proceeds! Check out the St Brigid Press site for more information on the book, additional photos of the book creation process, and to hear two of the poems.
Translations from the English 
Beautiful! And a fascinating process I could probably get thoroughly engrossed in. Or thoroughly frustrated by… (When I first learned that Anaïs Nin typeset some of her own books, I got the wild idea that this was how I could publish my own book, but… I think my enthusiasm would wear off after the first couple hundred pages. 🙂 Looking forward to this one, JS!
At one time I considered taking up printing. But then I realized that it would require patience, which I was in short supply of back then. 🙂
Having done this myself in another life, I can tell you that you get a full appreciation for the workings of a single line of verse — maybe even more than the poet!
Thanks SJ! Emily’s design and paper choice is great. I got to check out the paper for both editions.
Reblogged this on O at the Edges and commented:
Jeff Schwaner writes poems I wish I’d written, and lines I drool over, which is bad for both books and keyboards. Combine Jeff’s poetry with Emily Hancock’s printing, and you have two works of art in one. A rare treat!
Marvelous news! Huge congratulations!
How gorgeous. I love letterpress work.
Yes–can’t wait to visit the press now that printing has begun.
This will be another gem of yours to add to my bookshelves and to cherish.
A printing press!! How cool is that!
It is very, very cool.
Congratulations, Jeff!
Thanks, man!