Literary Nonfiction. Typography. Art. Penny Griffith writes: "Alan Loney—poet, writer and hand printer—is a fine communicator and a superb craftsman who has found fulfillment since moving to Australia from New Zealand in 2001. Fortunately, Alan has reconsidered his earlier decision to no longer create hand-printed works, and this thoughtful essay asks many questions about what is involved in being committed to the `old technology'. MEDITATIO is a graceful reconsideration of the role of typography in relation to art, the reader, and the world of the book and reading. As Steve Clay notes in his introduction, this book is sure to take its place among landmark titles such as Clifford Burke's Printing Poetry (1980) and Harry Duncan's Doors of Perception (1983). This book is essential reading for book artists, printers and poets alike."

Author City: Malvern East AUS

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.