As I’ve said, when I went to VCCA, I had a huge to do list. One of the things on that list was to handmake a microchap of poems – I plan on selling it while I’m on tour next year and also running a special where you get one free if you purchase all three of my books. (More on this later, I’m still working out the details!)
A while back I wrote a series of poems about Amy Winehouse. I’ve always been a huge fan of her music and her second album, Back to Black, will forever be one of my favorites and I listened to it on repeat when my first marriage fell apart so those songs and these poems weave together a lot of emotional topics: her untimely death, disordered eating, dysfunctional relationships.
I wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the poems – they didn’t fit in my forthcoming collection but there weren’t enough for a chapbook. After thinking about it for a while, I decided I would handmake a microchap of the Amy Winehouse poems. Of course, I just had to figure out how to do that…
I spent an afternoon figuring out how to format the pages correctly. Then I spent $500 on supplies – paper, an awl, book binding needles, heavy duty thread. Once I had the supplies I spent another afternoon printing all the pages. I decided I wanted to make 100 copies. Which seemed ambitious but still doable. Famous last words? Maybe…
I arrived at VCCA on Monday afternoon and after dropping off my luggage in my room, I headed to my studio with my supplies. I immediately began working on the microchap. First step: hand tearing every page – I really liked the rough edge and this was the only way to get it. But each microchap was 18 pages. And I wanted to make 100 copies… Even someone not great at math can see this was going to be a long process. But I was excited and so I set to work.
I only worked for about two hours before it was time to stop and head to dinner, but even two hours of hand tearing pages can make your hands ache. Still, I was excited to finally be making the chapbooks!
Every day I worked on this project for at least 3-4 hours. Soon, with tired hands, I’d torn all the pages and was ready for the next step.
The next step: punching the holes for the binding. Well, that’s not exactly a true statement. Yes, that was the next physical step in the process but the next real step was to watch a YouTube video on Japanese book binding so I would know what I was doing. I watched this video to learn how to do it. The hole punching part is pretty easy so once I had that down, I set about punching holes in 1,800 pieces of paper. And 200 cover sheets.
Hand punching isn’t hard, but it takes time and your hands pay a toll, especially the hand that pushed down the awl to punch the hole. For me, that was my dominant hand and so by the time I finished, my right palm was definitely aching. But I kept smiling because I loved how everything looked.
Finally, after all the pages were punched it was time to begin the fun part – binding them. I watched the video several more times, pausing at each step to ensure I got it right. Once I got the hang of it, I started cranking them out.
It took me an entire week to make all 100 microchaps, usually spending 3-4 hours each day working on it. But I love how they turned out.
The last step was, of course, hand numbering them.
I’m so pleased I decided to handmake the chaps, I love that each one is a little bit different, that none are perfect. I’m also grateful I had the time and the space to do this project at VCCA. While there I had a private studio with two desks so I could leave all of my book making supplies on one desk and migrate to the other to work on other stuff – usually taking a break when my hands needed a break. At home I would have had to take over the dining room table to keep my desk clear and that’s not ideal, especially since it took me a week to complete this project!
As I stated, I’ll be selling these next year, both on my book tour and online. I’ll have more details about that soon!
This story is really moving, Courtney. And the pictures of what you created–I shared them with Tony and the kids. (Coincidentally, I just told the kids Amy Winehouse’s story recently when we heard one of her songs on the car radio.) Brie said, “We have to buy one!” Please let us know what they’re up for sale!
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[…] I’m also offering a book bundle that includes all three of my full length collections and a copy of my handmade microchap, Back to Black: Poems About Amy […]
[…] book, I’m also offering a book bundle that includes all three of my full length collections and a copy of my handmade microchap, Back to Black: Poems About Amy […]