OUR LOVE OF BOOKS AND BROADSIDES

The Editions arm of our organization has become integral to who we are and what we do. With help from NEA grants, we have been able to produce limited-edition fine print books and broadsides for our Poets in Print reading series each year since 2008! We have been privileged to work with prestigious writers and poets such as Diane Seuss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Kaveh Akbar. We first worked with Kaveh in 2017 after the release of his debut full-length collection, Calling a Wolf a Wolf. Since that time, Kaveh has been a New York Times best-seller, a 2024 National Book Award Finalist, and the recipient of numerous awards. We were thrilled to work with Kaveh again this spring to produce his long poem, The Palace, and have him join us for the April Poets in Print reading. This latest book project was funded by an Arts Project grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and includes two woodcut images created by artist Jenny Pope. A book of this nature takes many months to produce – layout, hand typesetting, proofing and final text printing, the creation and printing of the artwork, and finally hand binding the books. Projects like this are also an excellent opportunity for our interns, who are involved in nearly every aspect of production. They set type, print pages, assist with binding, and participate in hanging exhibitions by the artists, as well as hosting readings. These are important experiences that they carry with them into their professional careers.

Traci Brimhall, an early poetry coordinator and editor for our Poets in Print series, is now a professor at Kansas State University, and served as the Poet Laureate of Kansas. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Poetry, and she is the recipient of numerous awards. This year, she was named the Poet in Residence for the Guggenheim Museum. Traci has participated twice in our Poets in Print reading series: in 2010 with a broadside by Kip Deeds, and in 2018 with a broadside by Caroline Allen. Now, our goal is to produce a limited-edition book of her poems in 2026. Your support will help this dream become a reality! 

Like other arts organizations, we rely largely on grant funds and donations for our modest operating budget. As Federal and State arts funding decreases, we need to look to our community partners to continue valuable programming, such as Poets in Print, which introduces local, emerging, and nationally recognized poets and artists to Southwest Michigan. 

There are many ways that you can help us celebrate 20 years of Turning the Page and continue our work, including:

·      Purchase a limited-edition book or broadside. Take a look at our available Editions and broadsides.

·      Sponsor an online Poets in Print Reading or one poet at an in-person reading for $400 HERE.

·      Help sponsor the production of Traci Brimhall’s book of poems.

Donations of any size are always appreciated. We thank you for your partnership!\