What is a Book? Poems for Al-Mutanabbi Street 2011
Ama Bolton, UK

     

I wrote the first of these poems after hearing Dr Saad Iskander on BBC Radio, and later printed it as a broadside for the Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition. I joined the project because it gave me a chance to do something instead of feeling powerless. Beau's enthusiasm and confidence are infectious! The next six poems were written in response to his call for artists' books. I had already started printing when the final poem was harvested from a CNN interview with Dr Ismail Serageldin, the Librarian of Alexandria. I could not leave it out, so I printed another three pages. I made book-cloth from my own hand-dyed fabrics. The flutter-book is a Japanese book-structure that I have used often since learning it at Bron Bradshaw's studio in Somerset, UK, where I have been a member of her book arts group since 2003. Text inkjet-printed and titles letterpress-printed from wooden type on Lana Colours paper. 18-page flutter-book with pomegranate-dyed book-cloth covers. Size 15x19cm. Edition of 26 A-Z