MIMEO MIMEO #3: HOT OFF THE PRESS

Mimeo Mimeo is a forum for critical and cultural perspectives on artists’ books, typography and the mimeograph revolution. This periodical features essays, interviews, artifacts, and reflections on the graphic, material and textual conditions of contemporary poetry and language arts.

We are especially pleased with this issue, our first devoted to the work of a single author. In Simultaneously Agitated in All Directions, Daniel Scott Snelson discusses the relationship between structuralism and the poetries of the mimeo era by presenting a detailed analysis of Form (a Cambridge-UK magazine published in 1966) and Alcheringa (a journal published by Boston University in 1975), two exemplary gatherings that brilliantly illuminate the historical, material and social circumstances under which theory informed art (and vice-versa) in the early works of some of today’s most celebrated experimental writers.

This issue includes a special insert, The Infernal Method, written, designed and printed by Aaron Cohick (NewLights Press). The Infernal Method, is an essay about legibility in printing, about manipulating process to attain multiple registers of legibility in books. Images and the physical specs can be seen at the NewLights IDE(A/O)(B)LOG(Y/UE):

Reserve your copy today by sending $10 (plus $3 for shipping in the US, $5 for shipping to Canada or $10 for shipping overseas) to: Kyle Schlesinger | UHV A&S | 3007 N. Ben Wilson | Victoria, TX | 77901-5731.

Using Paypal, direct payment to kyleschlesinger [at] gmail [dot] com.

And don't forget to check out our recently restored blog: http://mimeomimeo.blogspot.com/
Paypal orders can be placed via the Mimeo Mimeo blog as well.

THE JARGON SOCIETY

Richard Owens and Jeffery Beam have done a terrific job editing the long-awaited Jonathan Williams feature in Jacket 38 (late 2009). Includes important new writings about Williams by friends such as Erica Van Horn, Simon Cutts, Richard Deming, Bob Arnold, Harry Gilonis,  Robert Kelly, Thomas A Clark and Laurie Clark, Thomas Meyer, James Maynard, Jed Birmingham, David Annwn,  James Jaffe, Michael Basinski, Dale Smith, and Robert Bertholf as well as reprints of significant texts by Robert Duncan, Charles Olson, Guy Davenport, and many more. My essay, "The Jargon Society" is available at: http://jacketmagazine.com/38/jwd02-schlesinger.shtml

BERKSON ON VERMEER

Cuneiform author Bill Berkson has a new essay on Vermeer up at artcritical.com: http://artcritical.com/berkson/BBVermeer.htm

NEW FROM CUNEIFORM PRESS: TED BERRIGAN by BILL BERKSON AND GEORGE SCHNEEMAN

Ted Berrigan, a collaboration between Bill Berkson and George Schneeman, is now available from Cuneiform Press. Ted Berrigan is an homage to the poet and painter's mutual friend produced as a unique book in real-time at George's studio on St. Marks Place on March 5, 2006. The book is comprised of eight spreads where image and text fuse, bleed off the page and cross the gutter, as well as an afterword by Berkson and a note from the publisher. Handsewn, the dimensions are true to the original. Edition limited to 500 copies. 

$20 plus $3.50 shipping in the United States, $10 overseas. 

Make checks out to Kyle Schlesinger and post to:

UHV / Arts and Sciences 

3007 N. Ben Wilson

Victoria, TX 77901-5731

No, Dear

No, I won't be able to make it back to the city for this reading, but I'm damn proud to have a poem in this sweet new magazine. Details on the event follow:


No, Dear Magazine Issue 4 - Reading & Celebration

Friday, November 13th, 7-8:30pm
Pete's Candy Store
709 Lorimer Street, Brooklyn

Pick up a copy of the new PANTS issue featuring the following poets:
Emily Brandt
Ben Fama
Katie Fowley
Meghan Guss
Matt Reeck
Christopher Hirschmann
Kyle Schlesinger (not reading on Friday)
Marty Northrop
Emma Alabaster
Ekoko Omadeke

No, Dear is a hand-sewn print poetry publication featuring the work of New York City poets. Founded in 2008, No, Dear comes out twice a year. 

FOUND

PART-TIME STRIPPER

Today I finished stripping and sanding this beautiful old Hamilton type cabinet and applied a light stain. Refurbished rollers arrived  from Pamarco via. UPS, and the FedEx guy dropped off some essentials from Talas. Next step will be to redistribute the type (much of it is covered in sawdust and spider eggs!), identify and label the odds and ends. 

TRADING SPACES

Rather than use the long-lost Mimeo Mimeo Blog as an inferior template for a website, my co-editor Jed Birmingham and I have decided to make this a 'live' blog that will serve as an extension of the print periodical. We'll attempt to update it every day with materials, questions, and reflections that pertain to artists' books, typography and the mimeo revolution. Jed has made a number of spectacular posts this week: http://mimeomimeo.blogspot.com/

Here on the Cuneiform Blog, the focus will narrow slightly as I attempt to focus on issues, ideas, people and projects that pertain directly to Cuneiform Press.

While we're on the subject, I should mention that Mimeo Mimeo #3 (an imprint of Cuneiform Press) will be available in early November. 

Mimeo Mimeo is a forum for critical and cultural perspectives on artists’ books, typography and the mimeograph revolution. This periodical features essays, interviews, artifacts, and reflections on the graphic, material and textual conditions of contemporary poetry and language arts.

We are especially pleased with this issue, our first devoted to the work of a single author. In Simultaneously Agitated in All Directions, Daniel Scott Snelson discusses the relationship between structuralism and the poetries of the mimeo era by presenting a detailed analysis of Form (a Cambridge-UK magazine published in 1966) and Alcheringa (a journal published by Boston University in 1975), two exemplary gatherings that brilliantly illuminate the historical, material and social circumstances under which theory informed art (and vice-versa) in the early works of some of today’s most celebrated experimental writers.

This issue includes a special insert, The Infernal Method, written, designed and printed by Aaron Cohick (New Lights Press).

Reserve your copy today by sending $10 (plus $3 for shipping in the US, $5 for shipping to Canada or $10 for shipping overseas) to: Kyle Schlesinger | UHV A&S | 3007 N. Ben Wilson | Victoria, TX | 77901-5731.

Using Paypal, direct payment to kyleschlesinger [at] gmail [dot] com.
Also available from Small Press Distribution

And don't forget to check out our recently restored blog: http://mimeomimeo.blogspot.com/

TED BERRIGAN

Ted Berrigan is a collaboration between poet Bill Berkson and painter George Schneeman that pays homage to their mutual friend. Like so many of George's collaborations with poets (Ron Padgett; Anne Waldman; Lewis Warsh; Allen Ginsberg; Dick Gallup; etc.) Ted Berrigan is a somewhat improvisatory, one-of-a-kind book produced in real time at George's studio on the Lower East Side. 

I am very pleased to announce that this book is at the press now and will be available in time for "A Tribute to George Schneeman" at the Poetry Project on November 11th. Produced in an edition limited to 500 copies, the dimensions of this oversized hand-bound book are true to the original (13 inches tall x 10 inches wide). Includes afterwords by Berkson and the publisher.

Pre-order a copy today by sending a check for $20 (includes postage) made out to Kyle Schlesinger to:

Kyle Schlesinger

Cuneiform Press / UHV

3007 North Ben Wilson

Victoria, TX 77901-5731

You can also use PayPal to direct funds to kyleschesinger at gmail dot com

YORKTOWN, TX

This is a photograph of the only traffic light in Yorktown, Texas. Make a left, and on your left, between the feed store and the bric-a-brac, you'll find the old printery of Mr. John Janacek. Janecek started the printing newspapers over fifty years ago. He began with letterpress, eventually moved on to offset, computers, and everything in between. He's also an authority on Czech history and culture in Texas. The shop was a maze of amazing stuff, just enough space to sort of slip between machines and boxes piled high. The beautiful old tin ceilings were damaged by fire some years ago, and I could see where the rain was coming in. 

He has a couple of C&Ps, an Intertype, casting box, small offset press, trimmer, perforator, composing stones, lots of dies, rules, slugs, and leads. After an hour or so, we took a spin up the road to his home, where I met his wife and saw pictures of their nine children. On the 40-plus acres of property, there were a number of sheds and barns, some containing more type and letterpress odds and ends. I came away with a few cases of type, and a couple of Mr. Janacek's publications. 

Mr. Janacek asked me to come visit after reading an article about my interest in printing in the local newspaper. His thought was that I might be able to use these presses in my typography classes, but I'm afraid that the insurance company would frown on platen press operation in the classroom, to say nothing of the Intertype. If anyone wants to establish a printing museum in Texas (I'm serious) this might be the place to start.

UDP AUTUMN EVENTS

Tuesday, November 3, 7:30pm
RELEASE PARTY
Rachel Levitsky, Neighbor 
Rick Snyder, Escape From Combray
Garrett Kalleberg, Malilenas
With music under the command of Jeffrey Joe Nelson
@ Soda Bar
629 Vanderbilt, Brooklyn, NY
Free

Wednesday, November 18, 7:30pm
6X6 PARTY
Presenting readings from 6X6 #18 & #19
with live music by Frank Hoier
@ Shelton Walsmith Studio
267 Douglass St., Brooklyn, NY
Free

Thurdsay, December 3, 7:30pm
RELEASE PARTY and PERFORMANCE
Kristen Kosmas, Hello Failure
(No. 1 in UDP's new Emergency Playscripts Series)
@ Old American Can Factory
232 3rd St. at 3rd Ave., Brooklyn, NY
Free

JULIA DRESCHER READING IN LA

c/o: Harold Abramowitz

JOHANNA DRUCKER AT CBA NYC

Artist Talk with The 2009 Bishop Faculty Fellow

Writing and/the Wor(l)d: Johanna Drucker

Friday, November 6 at 6:30PM

Every year the Center for Book Arts invites an artist/instructor from outside of New York to teach a master class and to give a formal lecture in New York City.  The Sally R. Bishop Master Faculty Fellow for 2009 will be Johanna Drucker, who is internationally known as a book artist and experimental, visual poet.  In addition to her artistic work, Johanna Drucker has published and lectured extensively on topics related to the history of typography, artists' books, and visual art. She is currently the Martin and Bernard Breslauer Professor in the Department of Information Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA.

WHAT: 

2009 Bishop Faculty Fellow Talk: Johanna Drucker

WHEN: 

Friday, November 6, 6:30 pm 

HOW MUCH: 

$10 / $5 members (suggested)

WHERE: 

The Center for Book Arts

28 West 27th Street, Third Floor

Between Broadway and Sixth Avenue

Subway: N, R, W to 28th Street; F, V to 23rd Street; 1 to 28th Street

www.centerforbookarts.org

For more information please contact: Corinna Zeltsman, 212-481-0295

MOVING DAY

I'm expecting an 18 wheeler to pull up to the new home of Cuneiform Press sometime between two and three this afternoon. Yesterday I made the rounds at the hardware store picking up a few necessities as well as some supplies to clean it up later in the week. Moving a press is never easy, but it can be a nightmare if one isn't prepared. Paul Moxon has a pretty good checklist of dos and don'ts in his Vandercook maintenance handbook.

There's a gravel driveway leading up to the workshop from the street, and one small (4.5 inch) step we'll have to tackle. Since the truck is too long to back into the drive, and we don't have a loading dock, my first choice is to use a hydraulic lift to wheel it up the slightly inclined drive. I bought two 4 x 8 ft. sheets of plywood to make the surface smooth and level, as well as two smaller sheets to make a wee ramp. 

If the driver isn't willing to let us use the lift, plan B is to put skids on the press's feet and roll it up using three wooden dowels. This technique usually takes three people, or two fit pros. In order to do this, I bought a Johnson bar, some sturdy bolts, and a couple of six foot 2x4s. Scott Pierce (Effing Press) is bringing a jack that may come in handy (thanks Scott!). This will take a little more time and energy than using the lift, but should be no trouble. 

Of course, the weather report calls for rain, so I also bought a 9x12 foot tarp and a bunch of shop towels. Water is a press's worst enemy, but in some cases (like today) perhaps unavoidable. Chris Martin (Dos Press) will be driving up from Lockhart to lend a hand as well (major thanks Chris!) and Dale Smith should be dropping in with the kids.

Once we've got that Vandercook in its proper place, the next step is to figure out what to print....

FUTURE HOME OF CUNEIFORM PRESS

This morning I signed a lease on a new home for Cuneiform Press. Level concrete floors, nice wide doors, even a couple of skylights. Dan Morris has generously housed my Vandercook (major thanks Dan!) at The Arm in Brooklyn throughout the summer, and if all goes according to plan, it will be up on skids, out of his hair, and in the back of an 18-wheeler this afternoon by 2 o'clock headed for Austin. 

Dan and I picked this press up together in Massachusetts in the spring when I bought it from Michael Waltuch of the legendary Whale Cloth Press. I know the motor needs some work, and it will take a little time to get it polished, tuned, and ready for action. I'll post some progress notes here, as well as information on forthcoming books, ephemera, and events. I'll also be offering one-on-one lessons for people in the area who want to learn the art and craft of letterpress printing. 

Ahoy Austin!

MIMEO MIMEO 3: The Danny Snelson Issue...

Mimeo Mimeo 3, the Danny Snelson Issue, is going off to the jobber next week. 

You can order a copy today by sending a check for ten bucks plus two -fifty in postage to: 

Kyle Schlesinger

5003 Eilers Avenue

Austin, TX 78751

Or paypal kyleschlesinger at gmail dot com

HECHO EN TEJAS

From time to time, I do job-work for people and organizations I stand behind for little or no money, and this is one of them. Hecho en Tejas is an anthology of Texas Mexican Literature edited by Dagoberto Gilb that is in the process of being adapted and adopted by public high school English teachers throughout the state. Believe it or not, local literature isn't part of the school curriculum down here, but that's about to change thanks to the coordinating efforts of Centro Victoria. Using fonts from several type foundries in Mexico City, including 'Borges,' I worked on the prototype this afternoon and well past sunset. Here's the title page.

RAY (1928-2009)

Ray Federman was one of the first people I met when I got to Buffalo in the autumn of 2000. Retired from his long career as a professor at UB, he came back for regular visits, and remained very much at home there. He was one of the most charming, generous, and hilarious people I've known. My first published book review was of his Voice in the Closet. I'll see if I can dig that up in the next couple of days. He'll be missed.

A COUPLE OF NEW POEMS IN EOAGH

A couple of new poems appeared in Tim Peterson's hulking new issue of Eoagh, online at: http://chax.org/eoagh/issuefive.html