Asheville BookWorks announces final Vandercooked Poetry Nights reading and printing, Oct. 13

Press release from Asheville BookWorks:

Asheville BookWorks, a community resource for print and book arts, will be hosting its final evening of the Vandercooked Poetry Nights reading series on Saturday, October 13, 2018. The last series event will feature 3 poets and 3 artists: poets Nickole Brown, Rose McLarney, and Anna Lena Phillips Bell will read; and artists Laurie Corral, Gary Hawkins, and Anna Lena Phillips Bell will produce broadsides. Printing will begin at 7:00 p.m. The reading will begin at 7:30 p.m. Hosted by BookWorks founder and director Laurie Corral, and poet Landon Godfrey, the event is free and open to the public.

Now in its final season, Asheville BookWorks has held several Vandercooked Poetry Nights per year since 2013, presenting prominent poets and letterpress artists. At Vandercooked events, everyone is invited to print a broadside of a featured poet’s poem on a rare Vandercook printing press. Master printers introduce visitors to the history and operation of the printing presses.

Nickole Brown is the author of Sister (Red Hen Press), Fanny Says (BOA Editions), and To Those Who Were Our First Gods (forthcoming from Rattle). Rose McLarney is the author of Its Day Being Gone (Penguin Books), The Always Broken Plates of Mountains (Four Way Books), and Forage (forthcoming from Penguin). Anna Lena Phillips Bell is the author of Ornament (North Texas Press) and artists books under the imprint To Do in the New Year.

Series co-creator Landon Godfrey said, “We’re honored that this group of 3 poets and 3 artists will fill the final event of the beloved Vandercooked series with memorable literature and art. The entire series has been a special part of the Asheville arts and entertainment world, and we will miss it.”

Because the Vandercook printing press has become a rare object, Vandercooked Poetry Nights allow the public to experience an important but increasingly elusive printing technology. More than 30,000 Vandercook presses were manufactured in Chicago between 1909 and 1976; however, today fewer than 2,000 remaining Vandercooks have been identified in a worldwide census, catalogued by Paul Moxon. Easy to operate, Vandercook presses have been adopted by artists and writers to control their own publications and to produce handmade objects.

For more information about the poets and the upcoming events of Vandercooked Poetry Nights, please visit http://gallery.ashevillebookworks.com/category/vandercooked-poetry-nights, or call (828) 255-8444.
Started in 2004, Asheville BookWorks is home to a vibrant book arts and printmaking community where learning and discourse are fostered through classes, exhibits, and an artists-in-residence program, all sharing in common an intense appreciation of print, book arts, and creativity. More information is available at www.ashevillebookworks.com.