Women the Children the Men by Roberta Metz (1979)

Women the Children the Men

Roberta Metz Swann

Laughing Bear Press

Woodinville, WA

(c) 1979

This is an interesting book but not necessarily meant at a positive. I like the poems, for the most part, but the presentation is somewhere between confusing and just blank OFF. I do understand that it is a chapbook and there are various limitations in that, but to shrink some poem's font size to a reading needing to use a magnifying glass to read it is a bit absurd. 

As it is/was (published in 1979 so the very existence of the book in my hand is both present and past tense) the chapbook is 63 pages and the paper stock is a grade up - perhaps - from transparencythin. I suppose some secret sauce might be revealed in the Laughing Bear Newsletter I have linked above. 

I do credit the production of this book for using different typewriter fonts (1979, so I am imagining the use of one of those semi-circular "heads" one could pop onto one of those new-fangled typewriters of the period) but shrinking the font size of a poem to fit it on a single page when it's already over 60 pages doesn't seem practical to me. {yes, I am also a publisher}

Our Mother Blooming by Jim Bodeen (1986)

Our Mother Blooming

Jim Bodeen

Blue Begonia Press

Yakima, WA

(c)1986

Jim Bodeen is a poet. And a printer. And a publisher. And a fixture in the Yakima, Washington artistic community. 

This handsome oversized book is a fine example of his work. I have included the publisher's page since it includes the time of year when the book was completed : "...as the first crocus emerged through the snow in last February". 

Handsewn. This is everything I love about chapbooks; the care to detail is exquisite. 

Apologies by Tony Mancus (2019)

Apologies 

Tony Mancus

Reality Beach, NY

(c)2019

Reality Beach is a foregone conclusion. It doesn't seem to have made it into the 2020s. I am aware of it because I was gifted (at Christmas 2025 - by a masked Santa) with this book. 

I know and admire the work of Tony Mancus. However, the presentation of this book does not fill me with awe. It does not feel that much effort was put into the production of this book. I hope that Tony finds a different home for these poems. It would be unfortunate if this was their final destination. 

4 poetry booklets from the 2021 Ledbury Poetry Festival (2022)

 

After Everything

Ruzanna Voskanyan

The Trapeze Heart

Volha Hapeyeva

Probable Landscapes

Danae Sioziou

Preludes

Eleni Cay

         I admit I am not up on my international poetry festivals and never heard of this one but someone who seems to have attended no longer had the interest in keeping these and tossed them all into a donation bin which I then scooped up. Handsome booklets. Obviously part of a well oiled operation. Each booklet has poetry in original language and then English. 

         Great addition to my collection

24: I mean this thing [by multiple poets] (2011)

24 : I mean this thing

6X6 series 

Ugly Duckling Presse

New York City

(c)2011

This copy has a flat tire (if you will). The pages are bound by a large rubber band but this one, the band broke so the pages are loose and free. This issue contains poems by Bill Cassidy, Helen Dimos, Par Hansson, Aaron Kunin, Kyle Schlesinger, and Rebecca Wolff. 

I have been intrigued by and have followed the trajectory of Ugly Duckling since they were founded. They are so worth supporting. 

The African Repository Volume 2 number 4 (June 1826)

 The African Repository

volume 2 number 4

Washington City

(c)1826

I thought I had mentioned this one before but apparently not. Found it in a thrift store on the bottom shelf of a book rack. A historic gem. The publication started in 1825 with the stated purpose of sending African descendants back to Africa (because they couldn't possibly be American citizens). This one is June 1826. It is rate and it is not pristine (but honestly who could hope for that?)

It was edited by R. R. Gurley (Ralph Randolph Gurley) who was also listed as Agent for A.C.S. (African Colonization Society)

eckClogs multiple authors (2015)

 

eckClogs

Magus Magnus

with Tony Mancus, Casey Smith, and Gowri Koneswaran

Furniture Press Books

(Towson, MD)

(c)2015

This was a collaborative effort by the poets involved both in the text for the outdoor presentation/performance and the cover art which itself was created by all 4 artists. 

This was the first effort of 'Illuminated Editions' side project of Furniture Press, which was the brainchild of poet, archivist, and publisher Christophe Casamasima.

The cover is nearly double the size of the handsewn text. The text itself was created by all 4 poets for a performance and installation at the Canal Park Event Day in Washington DC on Sept. 20, 2014. My copy is number 98 of 100 printed copies. 

There was a denseness of purpose to this project that I won't attempt to swim in but knowing these poets and the publisher as I do, I have no doubt as to the intensity of forethought and the execution of the event on the day this was performed. 

Too bad I wasn't there to take it all in. 

A Short-Cut to Correct Pronunciation 1946 Section Two by Estelle Hunter (1946)

A Short-Cut to Correct Pronunciation 1946

Section Two

Estelle B Hunter

The Better-English Institute of America

Chicago, IL

(c)1946

Okay, this is NOT a chapbook. This is a staple bound text book seemingly for people wanting to or needing to learn how to pronounce English better within a year of the end of the Second World War when a flood of "acceptable" immigrants arrived in the US. I was intrigued and appreciative of the cover paper stock. It is actually tactual. I like the way it feels. 

Lost River by James Tate (2003)

 Lost River 

James Tate

Sarabande Books / Quarternote Chapbook Series #2

Louisville, KY

(c) 2003

36 page staple bound chapbook. If you are familiar with the author's work, this is in your wheelhouse. 

Myself, I am getting a bit anxious about how I am reading poems that are more like short stories, with some poetic words sprinkled in, which is not something that interests me personally. (It's my blog and I will whine if I want to.)

Poetry bleeding into prose poetry without calling itself prose poetry because it isn't really that either.  

The Good House by Rod Smith

 The Good House

Rod Smith

Spectacular Books

New York, NY

(c)2001

Okay, you are going to ask so I will start with that explanation. This cover was hand-painted by the artist "Larsen" so I refused to attempt to lay the cover flat therefore damaging the actual cover so, I copied it thusly and I am such the luddite that I don't know how to adjoin them better than this. 

This alone makes this collection of poetry so so so so very interesting. Tall and thin. Awesome and absurd. 

The Fox Who Loves Me by Dan Gutstein (2022)

 The Fox Who Lives Me

Dan Gutstein

Primary Writing Books 

Washington, DC

(c) 2022

Phyllis Rosenzweig is the publisher of this and other books under the capable umbrella of 'Primary Writing Books' which has published work by a number of DC luminaries since starting up in 2011. 

This is an odd one in the sense that it was part photo album, part love story. Well done. 

Horror Vacuui by Alastair Johnston (1986)

Horror Vascuui

Alastair Johnston

Jungle Garden Press

Fairfax, CA

(1986)

There just isn't anything like getting a surprise item in the mail from the author themselves, which is how I got to hold, admit, and now write (perhaps intelligently) about this specimen of letterpress excellence. 

Jungle Garden Press was started by Marie C. Dern in Berkeley, CA during 1974. Berkeley, like Iowa City, and other college towns of note, became a hub of creative expression and liberation. All the books published during its run (1974-2006) were letterpressed and hand stitched. When asked about her process and intentions, Marie C. Dern with Jungle Garden Press in San Francisco said: “My intention in printing and bookmaking is to elucidate a text by the shape, binding, design, typography, and drawings of books, to make the experience of reading beautiful to the touch and the eyes as well as the mind, and to make the text understandable to the reader in the way I interpret it.” Jungle Garden Press was well known in the Graphic Arts community and their archives are stored at the University of Utah special collections space in Salt Lake City. 

According to Mr. Johnston, he was asked to provide a mss. for publication and whipped this together in short order. Some of the poems seem almost LANGUAGE poetry-esque although I am not certain Mr. Johnston would agree. 

There are some well known names attached to this project. Walter Hamady (founder of Perishable Press Limited) suggested the title. The book was designed and printed by Marie (Christensen) Dern. It was bound by Shelley Hoyt. The cover paper was painted by Victoria Weiss-Bohlman. The color drawing which appears on the page facing the title page was done by Carl Dern. 

Outside of something created by Perishable Press Limited, I can not imagine a more lovely and well conceived book than this one. It's astounding and I graceful to have it in my collection. 

 

A Brief Guide to French History

Lily Deveze

Carcassonne, France

(c)

A very condensed history of France. I didn't know, for example, that France wasn't called that until the 10th century. It's not like a Cliff Notes version of history but it isn't bad either. 

A Guide to the Desert and Sea of Baja California by Greg Meyer (1992)

A Guide to the Desert and Sea of Baja California

Greg Meyer

self published

Santa Cruz, CA

(c)1992 

The booklet is untrimmed. It's a labor of love by Mr. Meyer. Illustrated throughout by he himself. What is intriguing is that the cover is plastic. I applaud the effort. 

From Frost to Phoenix by Crystal Clark (2018)

 From Frost to Phoenix

Crystal Clark

The Poet's Haven 

Massillon, OH

(c)2018

tiny format chapbook. Poetry is fine. The publisher seems to have disappeared online. The author lives in southeast Michigan. She can turn a phrase. Hope to read more from her in the future. 

Brief History of the American Labor Movement (1957)

Brief History of the American Labor Movement

United States Department of Labor

Washington, DC

(c)1957

Staple bound "booklet". It's 85 pages so it's not a chapbook but it is staple bound and it is important in this era of "new gilded age" to remember that Labor is how billionaires came into being in the first place. Black and White images throughout. 

Lost Dogs by Mary-Lou Brockett-Devine (2024)

 Lost Dogs 

Mary-Lou Brockett-Devine

Comstock Review, Inc.

(c)2025

The cover actually makes sense with the title. 

Contest winner. Staple bound chapbook. The work here reflects a family connected to the sea. Fine poetry. 

A Bag of Hands by Mather Schneider (2018)

 

A Bag of Hands 

Mather Schneider

The Rattle Foundation

Studio City, CA

(c)2018 

I should have learned this lesson long ago when my daughter, who could speak but hadn't started reading yet, pointed out an unforgivable error in a children's book. There was a page in which the text read "five violins" but there were only 3 violins shown on the page. She was not having it. 

As a publisher I have attempted to wed book titles and content with a cover image that "worked" with everything else for over 25 years. This cover does not succeed.  

This chapbook was the 2018 Chapbook Prize Winner but that doesn't excuse this apparent slap-dash cover image. The poetry is okay but I can't separate the cover image from the content. 

I am certain my opinion has no bearing in the career of this writer or Rattle, just stating it for the record. 

The El Lissitzky truth

 A long time ago now I happened across a statement - a proclamation really - by the artist and printer El Lissitsky who stated that "The book must be the unified work of the author and the designer. As long as this is not the case, splendid exteriors will constantly be produced for unimportant contents, and visa-versa. 

He wrote this in 1931. I have been writing this chapbook blog for over a decade and I seldom mention the cover art nor whether the cover the poetry and the presentation work together as a unified effort. 

I will strive to do better in the future. Many of the books I have mentioned have had covered that did not convey anything about the poetry, nor have any connection with the title of the book at all. Beyond my "save a tree" pronouncements throughout the blog over the years, I ought to have pointed out the often glaring contradiction that some publishers have offered for books that they deemed worthy of publishing. 

Other books have been master classes in detail. 

I will be adding commentary about the entirety of the "package" for now on. 

beginning with the next one : A Bag of Hands by Mather Schneider. 

Nancy Holt: Massachusetts (2021)

 

Nancy Holt: Massachusetts

College of Visual Arts& Performing Arts

Dartmouth College

(c) 2021

This is an exhibition booklet for the artist's thesis work containing photos and a blueprint of a structure and artistic representations. There was a similar artist concept book from a different artist what was ruined by water. The artist died in 2014. This seems to have been a retrospective piece.