Description
Literary Nonfiction. Poetry History & Criticism. Typography. Foreword by Jenni Quilter. Of Loney's long-anticipated collection of essays, Johanna Drucker has written: "Few people have mused with such imagination on the topic of the book as Alan Loney does in this volume. His reflections distill a lifetime of practice and reading, of knowing books and living with and around them. His thoughts about libraries, writing, texts, the codex, printed books, the artist's book, fine press traditions, and bibliography are at once philosophical and poetical. Though writing in the tradition of Mallarmé, Jabès and Blanchot, Loney's sensibility is contemporary and original, informed by his practice as a printer and a profound engagement with books as expressive objects and objects of contemplation. I predict that this thoughtful, provocative, book will become a crucial reading on the codex. Loney's writing is wonderfully suggestive, but clear, fresh, and precise. He addresses issues much debated but rarely articulated so well and with such a skillful ability to open up the field for investigation and discussion."
Author Bio
Alan Loney had his first book of poems published in 1971 and began printing in 1974. He was co-winner of the poetry prize in the New Zealand Book Awards in 1977, Literary Fellow at the University of Auckland in 1992, and Honorary Fellow of the Australian Centre at the University of Melbourne 2002-2006. He was Convener of the Conference on the History of the Book in New Zealand at University of Auckland 1995. Loney has published 11 books of poetry, and eight books of prose with a recent emphasis on the nature of the book. Fine editions of his work have been issued by Granary Books, The Janus Press, Barbarian Press, Red Dragonfly Press, Pear Tree Press, INK-A! Press, and The Holloway Press. A short account of Loney's printerly life and a checklist of his first 50 printed books can be found in The Private Library, Winter 2007, and his most recent book of poems is Day's Eye (Rubicon Press, Canada 2008). He was Printer in Residence at the University of Otago for 2008, and an exhibition of his books was held in 2008 at the Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand. THE BOOKS TO COME brings together formulations of Loney's thinking about the relations between poetry and typography for the first time.
Author City: Malvern East AUS