A Winter’s Tale (of sorts)
¶ Much afoot here as things begin. The focus in January has been on preparing to sell and ship books, including preparing t0 add about two dozen ‘pre-hare’ titles to the website, limited-edition letterpress titles that I retained when I sold my previous trade publishing imprint. The first two Varying Hare titles—my essay On the Use of that Questionable Term ‘Handmade’ and the Frederic Goudy letter I Hope Yet to Produce Good Work—should also be available to ship out in February. To everyone who reserved a book, thank for your patience. I’ll be back in touch to arrange for payment and shipping soon.
I’ve also started to work in earnest on the 2026 titles. I am presently handsetting the type for the poetry collection Fourteen for the Hare, with the first half-dozen poems now standing on the imposing stone, set and proofed; I hope to release this book before the advent of blackly season. I’ve also been editing and planning for the book Resistance in the Manner of Thoreau, a book I’m doing with contributors Amos Kennedy and Jeff Cramer that reflects on Henry David Thoreau’s essay Civil Disobedience. Production of this title will likely start in early summer aiming for a late 2026 release. Also on the docket for late 2026 is the first issue of my broadside annual Rusticus and the next instalment in my ‘Henry’ chapbook series (which is not yet, at this writing, announced elsewhere on the website).
As I write this I am knee-deep in various impediments to my progress. There are of course all the normal problems of starting over and starting up, things like cashflow challenges, decision fatigue and the considerable time and effort that must be spent to get various administrative systems established and working. But the bigger hump to be got over at the beginning is getting the all my gear—gear that likes to be kept in motion, but which has sat idle for the past year—back in fighting form. Most of this work is routine, but some of items of equipment present more complex tangles. Neither of my Linotype linecasters (machines that allow me to mechanically compose and cast metal type) is presently operational. My workhorse 1930s-vintage Model 31 (the Goluska machine) had a major cast iron lever fracture during a cast last February, putting it out of commission. With my building project and shop move looming, the sometimes complex task of tearing down and repairing the machine simply had to wait. In January, finally settled in the new shop, I stripped the broken part off the machine and enlisted the help of a skilled local welder and metal fabricator to make it whole again. In the meantime, my second Linotype, a practically new 1960s-vintage Model 5 (the Oberon Press machine) got bashed around badly by the shipper when it was moved from Ottawa last spring. It requires some welding repairs as well, and, more critically, the distributor clutch must be rebuilt or replaced. With any luck, I’ll have the Goluska machine back running before the end of February. Once the first machine is up and running again, I’ll circle back and rehabilitate the second one so that I have a backup.
When I started to maker a plan for the Press of Varying Hare back in 2024, I realized I needed to add a good jobbing press to my shop, something with automatic paper feeding that would be capable of handling longer print runs and more rapid work. The press I settled on was a 1950s-vintage 10 × 15 Heidelberg Tiegel platen press, often called a ‘windmill’ because of its spinning paper-feed mechanism. I’m looking forward to the challenge of becoming proficient with this new press. The machine I bought needs some love and care in order to get it dialled in and ready for production, and so I’ve been ordering some replacement parts and pecking away at that rehabilitation work. It’s going to be a great addition.
That’s what I've been up to in January. That, and moving copious amount of snow. We’re having a real old-school winter this year.
Thanks again for your interest in my work.
Exit, pursued by a hare.