Wax. Centre out, top in, bottom out, centre in. Tie, cut. This is the method of book binding I’ve been using on Kate Kennedy’s Ledges, the 2023 Deborah Wills Chapbook Contest winner. My job isn’t to be a reviewer or critic but Ledges is a good chapbook.
I’ve been binding these books because I am interning as the Publishing Assistant at High Marsh Press, which means a lot of things. As I mentioned, I’ve been binding books. I’ve also been answering/sending emails, writing thank-you notes, mailing out orders, speaking to local book shops, and managing social media. I’ve been avoiding licking envelopes (water seems to work fine). One time I tabled at a zine fair. I didn’t think to bring a tablecloth which garnered me some gentle ribbing from my fellow zine sellers, but people seemed to enjoy seeing my live book binding demonstration. Even if it was on a naked table.
The degree of freedom I’ve had in the internship has been awkward to navigate at times. I worry about posting irrelevant things to the instagram account, and about not posting enough. I sometimes find myself bracing to be scolded before meetings with my supervisors, and perhaps I should be (I’m not the best at writing emails).
Geordie Miller and Keagan Hawthorne are my supervisors. Both are new fathers, which means a lot of things. Morning meetings have guest appearances—smaller people who can only speak in poetry (“more puffin / new, new book. duck / quack. what’s that / what’s that. quack.”). Toys and granola bars populate surfaces below knee-height. Phone calls can be made without a phone line, and the other end of the line always seems to hang up whenever I come on the line. Meetings are liable to be called short or pushed back. Time is a precious thing when you are a parent, it seems. I guess my professional development is sometimes secondary to the development of a young child. Go figure. I was instructed by Geordie and Keagan to disparage them in this write-up, and this is probably as close as I can get to that.
“notes from a small publisher”. I think that was the prompt I was answering. I have trouble staying on track sometimes. Book binding is good for that. The thread holds things together. One of the beautiful aspects of Kate Kennedy’s chapbook is its fascination with objects — though High Marsh Press defines its presence mostly online, I would describe my internship in a similar way. The letterpress in Keagan’s home is an enchanting and mythical creature. 14 pt type feels much smaller when you are handling it in person than on a computer screen. Seeing a poem backwards and composed of hundreds of carefully arranged tiny metal pieces has given me a new appreciation of the words and letters I use. Leading refers to actual pieces of lead, not the verb you might use to describe a rider walking their horse. I remember the rundown Keagan gave me the first time I “dissed” type (distributed type that had been arranged into a poem back into the proper case). The phrase “out of sorts” comes from printing. The drawers you distribute in are called “cases” like lowercase and uppercase (don’t call them drawers, some people get persnickety about it). The indent on the bottom of the type is called the “nick”. Be careful not to get d’s and b’s, q’s and p’s, u’s and n’s, I’s and l’s mixed up. . .
One of the things I have been guided to do is write short handwritten “thank you” notes to go in the envelopes alongside sold copies of Ledges. I don’t have extraordinary penmanship, but I get out my nicest pen and try to have a nice moment with it. I do think the chapbook is a beautiful object. I’ve always been drawn to books (truth be told this opportunity has been a dream come true), and a locally made, hand-crafted one just feels special. It has convinced me of the value of creating with care.
I should have finished writing this ages ago, and I fear I may start waxing poetic. Or sentimental. I think I’ll wrap it up there. Tie, cut.
Freddy Hyun Smith is a Kind Heart Award winning poet, performer, and student at Mount Allison University, where he is an Editor-in-Chief at 7 Mondays. He also co-edits Skeleton Beetle and wears waterproof shoes, just in case. His accolades include the 2024 Poets of Tantramar Contest (awarded the MTA category), and the George School Children’s Center Kind Heart Award (2003).
