December 15, 2012, Saturday - 2012 Winter Book Celebration, Lessons for Our Time, at MCBA

Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm

Location: Minnesota Center for Book Arts, 1011 Washington Avenue South

Join us to celebrate the publication of the 2012 Winter Book, Lessons for Our Time.

2-5pm: Publication reception at MCBA's studios
Peruse the book, meet the artists and production team, and enjoy tea and light refreshments. Free and open to the public; RSVP to The Shop at 612 215 2520.

7pm: Concert
Lessons and Carols for Our Time, a concert performance in collaboration with vocal ensemble Cantus and Winter Book editor Patricia Kirkpatrick.
Tickets: $20 to $25; purchase through the Cantus box office at 612 435 0055. Seating is limited.
The concert will be held in the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas, on the University of St. Thomas campus:
85 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul MN 55105.

Lessons for Our Time is a contemporary artist's book inspired by the medieval tradition of the Book of Hours. It becomes the twenty-second in MCBA's perennial series celebrating the handmade book. Produced in a unique collaboration with the vocal ensemble Cantus, the book includes texts by Elena Cisneros, Emily Dickinson, Saymoukda Vongsay, Walt Whitman, Tomas Transtromer, Louis Jenkins, Joy Harjo, Thomas McGrath, Paul Gruchow and others, edited by Patricia Kirkpatrick. Under the direction of MCBA Artist and Adult Programs Director Sara R. Parr, Lessons for Our Time was produced in two editions, each letterpress printed by master printer Erin Maurelli and members of MCBA’s artist community. All illustrations are by Anna Boyer, with handmade paper by Mary Hark assisted by Angela Richardson and Leah Willemin. Text and titles are set in Elena, by Nicole Dotin of Minnesota-based Process Type Foundry.

The Chapbook Edition ($45), numbered 1 through 300, is composed of soft white Zerkall Book pages and covers of handmade flax paper dyed with cochineal by Mark Hark. The edition was hand-sewn in a crossed structure longstitch binding by volunteers under the direction of Erin Maurelli and Sara R. Parr.

The Deluxe Edition ($595), lettered A through Z and signed by editor Patricia Kirkpatrick, was bound by master binder Jana Pullman. The case-bound book consists of soft white Zerkall Book pages, burgundy Bugra endpapers and warm gray Asahi Japanese bookcloth. The book is accompanied by a suite of five prints on gray and blue Pescia papers with ochre, gray and blue matzuo kozo chine collé. All components are presented in a handmade box of warm gray and deep purple Asahi Japanese bookcloth, burgundy Bugra paper lining and gold stamping.

Background and bios:

Winter Book is the embodiment of MCBA's artistic vision: to preserve and promote the traditional crafts of bookmaking as well as the contemporary exploration of the book as art. Since 1988, Winter Book has engaged artists, designers, papermakers, printers, bookbinders and community volunteers in producing a handmade, limited edition artist's book. The artistry, sumptuous materials and craftsmanship of each Winter Book makes it an avidly collected series, included in museum and rare book library collections across the country and around the world.

Renowned for adventurous programming spanning many periods and genres, Cantus has been lauded as "the premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States" (Fanfare Magazine). Based in Minneapolis, the ensemble is known for impeccable vocal skill, engaging stage personality and heartfelt interpretations.

Patricia Kirkpatrick received the first Lindquist & Vennum Poetry Prize and her book Odessa will be published by Milkweed Editions in December 2012. She is the author of Century's Road (Holy Cow! Press, 2004) and two letterpress chapbooks. Her work appears widely in journals, among them Prairie Schooner, Poetry, and Agni Online, and in anthologies, including Robert Bly In This World (University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and She Walks In Beauty, edited by Caroline Kennedy (Hyperion Voice, 2011). She has taught at colleges and universities, worked as an editor, conducted workshops and residencies around the country, and for ten years was poetry editor for Water~Stone Review.

Pre-orders will be accepted beginning in mid-November 2012. To inquire about standing orders, please call The Shop at MCBA at 612 215 2520.

Special thanks to Smart Set (Minneapolis) and Wet Paint (St. Paul) for their generous support of Winter Book.