BOOK 3/7 FOR MINIATURE BOOK SOCIETY

I’m a new member of the Miniature Book Society and I was nominated to post 7 books for MBS’ Facebook page. "Miniature" books are sized at 3-4 inches or less. I’ll be replicating the posts on this blog for the next 7 days.

DAY 3/7  My favorite miniature book covers

MBS

I’m sharing books—some handmade—by some of today’s contemporary poets. My third book is THE STARS LOOK VERY DIFFERENT TODAY: A DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE put together shortly after his death. It was curated/published by Poems-for-all, arguably the leading contemporary poetry publisher in the miniature book format, with books at about 1.75” x 2”.  This video of how poet/poetry lover/ex-bookseller Robert Hansen creates his books is enchanting and recommended.  Poems-for-all has an idealistic vision for the press to distribute tiny books of poetry worldwide like Johnny Appleseed in his day; his website notes, “Little books of poetry, scattered like seeds,” and Missouri’s Poet laureate Karen Craigo says about it, “I love the comparison, since lovers of poetry know how some words can take root in us and, to continue the metaphor, bear fruit forever.” (Craigo’s comments are at a review HERE). It’s worth noting that these books aren’t sold but distributed however the authors and publisher are able; you can get free copies by simply contacting Robert through his website https://poems-for-all.com.

In addition to the Bowie cover, I post 2 interiors shots. I’m also posting the cover to the latest Poems-for-all book I just received, IN A STATION OF THE METRO just because it presents my favorite couplet in literature (most poets will never write a mere 2 lines that warrant a book!):

IN A STATION OF THE METRO

By Ezra Pound

The apparition of these faces in the crowd:

Petals on a wet, black bough.

Poems-for-all also shows how a superb use of graphics can elevate modest production values (stapled card stock), so I’m showing covers from a random sampling of their books—all vivid and pleasing to the eye! Finally, as we all like seeing books as collections, too, I end with a photo of how I shelve my Poems-for-all books: I took a desk drawer organizer, upended it on its side, and created a bookcase!

P.S. I add a photo of me reading one of their books with one of their tiny bookmarks!

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Today I nominate any new member of MBS. I love seeing all the books already shared, AND I’m also interested in the *gateway* books—those that made you discover mini books or the first books you’re collecting. Some of the books I’m posting, for example, were created before I knew that miniature books were a thing. So I nominate MBS New Member #3.

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This is a challenge for contributing to the spread of reading culture. The method of participation is to post a favorite book, one book per day, for 7 days. You upload some images with a short explanation about the book and invite one FB friend to participate in this challenge.