Saturday, October 17, 2026

Journal of Return by Richard Shelton (1969)

 

Journal of Return

Richard Shelton

Kayak Press

(c) 1969

When I was in The Country Bookshop in Plainfield, VT I went directly to their poetry section and in particular, to their boxes of chapbooks. The was among the first to catch my eye. I was familiar with the name "Richard Shelton" and when I looked at the back cover, I KNEW I knew Kayak Press. 

It wasn't until I decided to begin writing about my Vermont findings that I realized that this was the first book of Shelton's to be published. It is something of a hybrid, a poetry book with numerous color prints by George Nama. The collaboration makes for a beautiful book, At the time that this book came out Kayak Press was 5 years old. George Hitchcock had indeed wedding the talents of two individuals that simply is stunning to take in. Kayak printed 1,000 copies of this book. I am glad to have gotten just one. 

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