left:grain
elevators, Minneapolis :: right: train tracks, Minneapolis. photos credit Noah
Lorsung
the
practise of printing poetry or lyrics on an unfolded sheet of
paper for popular
distribution began in the 16th century; even the
Declaration of Independence
of the United States was printed on a
broadside--that is, the large, flat sheet
of paper that would typically
have been printed with the pages of a book and
then cut down.
it
was a way of diffusing information generally and in a larger,
cheaper format
than books. as printing became cheaper with the
advent of industrial printing
in the late 19th century, the wider
availability of books put broadsides out
of fashion.
book
artists, poets, and printers still use broadsides as a way
of producing objects
that many people can afford and enjoy.
the
size constraints of printing on one sheet of paper make the
medium a uniquely
approachable one for people who might not pick
up a book of poems (or be able
to afford a letterpress-printed book).
each
month, YES press prints the words of a poet on our postcard
broadsides. find
out how to submit your work for consideration here,
or see our monthly poems' full text below.
May 2008: Stephanie N. Johnson
February 2008: Cassandra Cleghorn
October 2007: Molly Sutton Kiefer
September 2007: Shana Youngdahl
text + graphics belong to us ::
please email us if you'd like to use them ::
poems are copyright their particular authors ::