At last night's meeting, we had two new members join our ranks. The wonderful Carol Schroeder and Lucy Maddox will be helping us plan our 2010 festival. We have quite a few new ideas (and a bit more time to plan and organize it). We are thinking of having a theme beyond books in the general sense--this year we would like to celebrate book arts.
Now if you are unfamiliar with the term "book arts," let me explain. What we mean by book arts is the making and printing of books, not just writing and reading them, books as physical objects. We would have a special focus on antique letterpress printing, bookbinding, illuminated manuscripts, and other specialty areas like that. Books as art, not simply a means to an end.
This theme comes in direct contrast with the current wave of technology in digitizing books. Digital books and e-readers are admirable in their efficiency, of getting words and information to the reader as quickly as the digital package can be downloaded. We hope to touch upon this area during the festival as well, maybe with a sort of demonstration of this new technology. But it will be a small part of the festival and will serve mostly as a point of contrast with our main theme.
So, in our highlighting of book arts, we are now hashing out an idea for setting up a sort of publishers fair in which regional small press, limited edition publishers can bring their wares and expertise for sharing (and selling, as well). It is an idea we have borrowed from such events as Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland and Oak Knoll Festival in New Castle, Delaware. Although we hope this will be a major feature of the 2010 Chestertown Book Festival, we still plan to have a variety of readings and talks in multiple downtown venues, like last year. Our next monthly meeting will be March 16 and I will have more updates then. Any ideas for us? Let us know at chesbookfest@gmail.com.
Now if you are unfamiliar with the term "book arts," let me explain. What we mean by book arts is the making and printing of books, not just writing and reading them, books as physical objects. We would have a special focus on antique letterpress printing, bookbinding, illuminated manuscripts, and other specialty areas like that. Books as art, not simply a means to an end.
This theme comes in direct contrast with the current wave of technology in digitizing books. Digital books and e-readers are admirable in their efficiency, of getting words and information to the reader as quickly as the digital package can be downloaded. We hope to touch upon this area during the festival as well, maybe with a sort of demonstration of this new technology. But it will be a small part of the festival and will serve mostly as a point of contrast with our main theme.
So, in our highlighting of book arts, we are now hashing out an idea for setting up a sort of publishers fair in which regional small press, limited edition publishers can bring their wares and expertise for sharing (and selling, as well). It is an idea we have borrowed from such events as Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland and Oak Knoll Festival in New Castle, Delaware. Although we hope this will be a major feature of the 2010 Chestertown Book Festival, we still plan to have a variety of readings and talks in multiple downtown venues, like last year. Our next monthly meeting will be March 16 and I will have more updates then. Any ideas for us? Let us know at chesbookfest@gmail.com.
