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The Alchemy of the Artist’s Book workshop

Date/Time:
at - at
Location:
Elephant Grass Printmakers' Studio, 240 St. George St. (Second Floor) Annapolis Royal, NS
Link:
https://www.facebook.com/share/19suqLPSvV/
Calendar:
Member event

Workshop description:

In essence, the artist’s book is a sculpture. Often kinetic and interactive, artists’ books are energized by the interplay of form and content. Their infinite variety can not only revitalize and expand our perception of “books” generally, it can also transform our understanding of the basic codex—stacked sheets bound on one side—revealing a surprising, sculptural object hidden in plain sight.
How does one combine diverse materials, ideas, images, words, and structural possibilities into an organic, cohesive whole? In this intensive weekend workshop, we will explore some of the many possible forms an artist book can take, learning to let our materials and intuition guide this mysterious—and satisfying— process. Through discussion, learning a few basic book forms, creating models and quick one-of-a-kind projects, planning editioned work, and dabbling in letterpress and relief printmaking, participants will leave this workshop with many options for continuing to explore artist’s books on their own or in future workshops.

Instructor Bio:

Basma Kavanagh is a Lebanese Canadian artist whose multidisciplinary practice includes writing, drawing, printmaking, artist’s books, textiles, land-based explorations, and performance. She has taught and practiced book arts in various hinterlands since 2010. Basma has been an artist in residence at the Penland School of Craft, the Banff Centre, and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. Her work has been supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, and the Manitoba Arts Council. She lives and works in Nova Scotia, within Mi’kma’ki.

Workshop details:

10am-4pm, Saturday and Sunday November 29 &30 (12 hours total)
Elephant Grass Printmakers, 240 St. George St. (2nd Floor), Annapolis Royal
Cost: $200 for EGPS members, $220 for non-members
Materials available for purchase. Max. 8 participants
For more information, or to register, contact elephantgrassprint@gmail.com

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Experience Levels

The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia (WFNS) uses the following terms to describe writers’ experience levels:

  • New writers: those with less than two years’ creative writing experience and/or no short-form publications (e.g., short stories, personal essays, or poems in literary magazines, journals, anthologies, or chapbooks).
  • Emerging writers: those with more than two years’ creative writing experience and/or numerous short-form publications.
  • Early-career authors: those with 1 or 2 book-length publications or the equivalent in book-length and short-form publications.
  • Established authors: those with 3 or 4 book-length publications.
  • Professional authors: those with 5 or more book-length publications.

Please keep in mind that each form of creative writing (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, writing for children and young adults, and others) provides you with a unique set of experiences and skills, so you might consider yourself an ‘established author’ in one form but a ‘new writer’ in another.

The “Recommended experience level” section of each workshop description refers to the above definitions. A workshop’s participants should usually have similar levels of creative writing and / or publication experience. This ensures that each participant gets value from the workshop⁠ and is presented with info, strategies, and skills that suit their experience. 

For “intensive” and “masterclass” workshops, which provide more opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback, the recommended experience level should be followed closely.

For all other workshops, the recommended experience level is just that—a recommendation—and we encourage potential participants to follow their own judgment when registering.

If uncertain about your experience level with respect to any particular workshop, please feel free to contact us at communications@writers.ns.ca