CELEBRATE POETRY MONTH WITH KBAC BROADSIDES!
April 20, 2021
"How to Make Rhubarb Wine” engraving by Jeff Abshear for a poem by Ted Kooser
Go to the patch some afternoon
in early summer, fuzzy with beer
and sunlight, and pick a sack
of rhubarb…
These are the first lines of the poem "How to Make Rhubarb Wine" by former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, which was printed as a broadside with an engraving by KBAC Executive Director Jeff Abshear. This was the first “shiny thing” the crow in me carried back to my nest, when I first became involved with the Kalamazoo Book Arts Center many years ago.
What is so special about poems printed from hand-set type paired with an illustration? Maybe it’s the human touch at work: poet, artist, typesetter, printer.
Maybe it’s the striking images of a ship, a blue jay, a still life with coffee mug, or those pink lips, that draw you in to read the poem and decide it’s something you must have!
It could be the allure of one of these well-crafted titles by contemporary poets:
“In Which She Considers the Water, Flint, Michigan, 2016”
“Love Poem Without a Drop of Hyperbole in It”
What better excuse do you have to lose yourself by meandering through the virtual gallery of KBAC broadsides than to celebrate National Poetry Month? What will you find? A collection of 115+ selections featuring the work of award-winning poets and gifted artists—some of whom you may even know and almost all of whom have come to Kalamazoo to work with KBAC and read in its Poets in Print series.
Consider this your official invitation to celebrate: take a tour, find your "shiny thing," and buy a piece of super affordable original art!
—Amy Ferguson, a lover of rhubarb, is an avid fan of book arts and the KBAC.
Gallery Hours
Monday - Friday10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
or by appointment
The KBAC is committed to inclusion of all members of the community regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, age, or ability.
Thank You!
KBAC’s educational and artistic programming is made possible through the generosity of these organizations, other private funders, and people like you.
