Michael
Peich of Aralia Press has compilied an extensive checklist of
Dana Gioia's fine press books, pamphlets, broadsides, and poetry
ephemera entitled Dana Gioia & Fine Press Printing
(The Kelly/Winterton Press, 2000).
"I
am attracted to his work because Gioia's crafting of a poem
is similar to the construction of a finely crafted book of poetry.
William Everson remarked that '. . . the finest instincts of
a printer are always going to be exercised and lavished upon
the production of poetry.' Since every poem is different in
subject and physical appearance, the typographer must adjust
each poem to fit the page in a way that will preserve the poem's
integrity. The designer, like the poet, engages in the creative
act; every element of a book's production is carefully considered
before it is added to the design. The final synthesis of the
disparate elements of a text is a physical object created for
the reader's enjoyment. If the designer has succeeded, the reader
will engage the poetry without distraction in what appears to
be a simple, unadorned, but beautiful book. Literary fine printing
appeals to readers precisely because it unites talented poets
with sensitive designers."
—Michael
Peich
from the introduction to
Dana Gioia & Fine Press Printing |