Book Review: A Poetics of the Press: Interviews with Poets, Printers, & Publishers

Steve Miller

Edited by Kyle Schlesinger Interviews with Rosmarie Waldrop, Keith Waldrop, Tom Raworth, Lyn Hejinian, Alan Loney, Mary Laird, Jonathan Greene, Alastair Johnston, Johanna Drucker, Phil Gallo, Steven Clay, Charles Alexander, Annabel Lee, Inge Bruggeman, Matvei Yankelevich, Anna Moschovakis, Aaron Cohick, and Scott Pierce Ugly Duckling Presse co-published with Cuneiform Press. Trade Paperback Nonfiction. $30 5.75″ × 8.75″. 384 pp. ISBN 978-1-937027-74-2. Order

I have never marked a book up. No marginalia for me. My books tend to stay pristine. But almost immediately there were moments in each of the 16 interviews with book makers that spoke to my head, my heart, my experiences, to a passion for books, and to poetry. I guess that’s why editor Kyle Schlesinger titled this collection A Poetics of the Press. I filled my fountain pen with violet ink and began marking up passages. [Read more]

About the Author

Steve Miller

Steve Miller founded Red Ozier Press in Madison, WI, in 1976 — a fine press devoted to publishing handmade books of contemporary poetics and art. In 1979 the press moved to New York City, where Ken Botnick joined the operation. The Red Ozier archive was purchased by the New York Public Library just as Miller joined The University of Alabama in 1988. There he taught letterpress printing and hand papermaking and was Coordinator of the MFA in the Book Arts Program. In 2011 the Book Arts Program received the Institutional Award from the American Printing History Association. He is now Professor Emeritus. His Red Hydra Press work includes ongoing collaborative book projects with Cuban artists. Miller received the 2012 Distinguished Career Award from the College Book Art Association. He is past chair of the Penland School of Craft Board of Trustees.