Hand Made Art Books of My Poetry

I've been honored to have four limited edition and signed hand-made artist books -- as well several broadsides -- of my poems published with a lot of love from the Pajaro, California-based C&C Press. The artists, Sher Zabaszkiewicz and Matt Cohen, created C&C Press to recapture the beauty, subtlety, grace, and craftmanship that hand-made artist books have embodied over the ages.

As the artists in the C&C Press' website say, "We began to realize that the artist's book operates best when a synergy is struck amongst its parts, creating a harmonious interrelationship between text, image, structure and design. That realization has forever change the way that we look at art and the artist's book."

Since 2005, Sher and Matt have published amazing collector's artist books of my work, numbered and signed, including "Seven," "Two Women/Dos Mujeres," "Making Medicine," and several broadsides of poetry and sayings. They operate out of a 2,100 square foot building housing a family business owned by Matt's parents. The space, some 30 minutes south of Santa Cruz, CA, includes a platemaking machine, foundry and wood type, various shears, drying racks, and more.

Sher and Matt have used materials like old T-shirts of mine to create the paper--which is also hand made--for these projects. They have travelled across the country to various university libraries, book fairs, and other institutions selling these amazing artists books at collector's prices.

In 2005, we had the first exhibit and presentation of their work at Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore. We hope to have another event featuring the latest artist's book of mine, "Making Medicine." In the future I will present them with more unpublished poems to complement their unique and powerful masterpieces.

To find out more about what Sher and Matt do, please go to their website at www.candcpress.com. They are working with other writers and artists on various projects as well. Please consider ordering these amazing books for your collections.

"Witnessing Whiteness" -- A New Book by Shelly Tochluk

My friend, Shelly Tochluk, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of the Elementary Education Department at Mount St. Mary's College near downtown LA where she trains teachers in the LA area. She has been active for years bringing consciousness of racism and race issues to various communities. She now has a book that attempts to address "whiteness" in the US with testimony by various cross-cultural leaders, activists and artists, male and female.

She's also on the leadership team of AWARE-LA -- Alliance of White Antiracists Everywhere-Los Angeles.

Shelly's book is "Witnessing Whiteness: First Steps Toward an Antiracist Practice and Culture," published by Rowman & Littlefield. Here's what Shelly has to say about this important book:

"Witnessing Whiteness" invites people, especially those of European ancestry, to consider their relationship to white privilege and the lingering shadows of racism. In an easy to read style, this book helps people understand why race is still a relevant issue, how race influences white people’s daily lives, and how to develop the beginnings of an antiracist practice.

This book includes personal testimony from well-respected cultural workers across race, such as Luis Rodriguez (author of Always Running), to offer dialogue that illustrates how whiteness embeds itself in our psyche, lingers through continued social conditioning, and affects cross-race interactions. This book is accessible and intended for all people, but speaks directly to educators and trainers at various levels.

For more information, visit the book website: www.witnessingwhiteness.com

Shelly's book release celebration is scheduled for February 23, 2008 from 5 to 9 PM. The evening will include poetry, dialogue, and exploration of the steps toward an antiracist practice and culture. It will be held at The Donahue Center, Mount St. Mary's College, 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles, CA 90007.

On March 2, 2008, Tia Chucha's Centro Cultural & Bookstore will be hosting a book reading and talk for "Witnessing Whiteness." Call 818-898-1479 for more information.