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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
