As I mentioned in my last post, I have some exciting news. I have a new broadside that has just been released by Gold Quoin Press, an offset fine arts press in Peoria, Illinois, designed, printed, and edited by Robert Rowe, Professor of book arts at Bradley University. “The Pomegranate” is in a limited edition press run of 100.

Last year when I was a writer-in-residence at the Prairie Center of the Arts, I had the wonderful opportunity to create a broadside series with artist Kate Renee. I think, in doing that, I got a bit of a collaborating broadside bug. The last day I was in Peoria and before I headed home to begin the fall semester of teaching at UNL, I had lunch with several Prairie Center people, including Robert. I spoke to Robert about my interest in book arts and showed him the whimsical broadsides I’d just finished and my recent chapbooks, describing the design process of the covers. I was given a tour of the Gold Quoin Press studio to see the offset printers, the plates, the book arts in the works, and other recent projects.

Fast forward to this summer: I submitted several poems to Gold Quoin Press and my poem “The Pomegranate” was accepted to be a broadside. I’d literally written the poem days before at the Prairie Center, which felt perfect. The perfect poem for the perfect project. Over the next few weeks, GQP sent design ideas. Once the design was finalized, printing began.

Once printed, we signed and numbered the press run of “The Pomegranate.”

That same day in the evening, I gave a reading at Poetry at the Moon, including a reading of “The Pomegranate.”

After the reading I even sold a few prints. Yay!

There you have it. To order a broadside, check out the webpage and paypal button or talk to me after a reading. They’re really lovely.