The Night Hunter

A collaboration with Manhattan-based Z’roah Press, whose mission is to offer the reader not only the visual experience of a book, but also to encourage engagement with texts on a haptic, experiential level. The Night Hunter is a poem which describes human impact on the austere Arctic landscape: “The ice shelf bears the mark of sled and knife...” The lines of the poem, which repeat in accordance with the strict pantoum form, are printed on the paper-covered boards of the palm leaf book. On the reverse, the repeat pattern of the verses is reflected by a series of hand-drawn lines, printed polychrome. The binding utilises simple hand-made and recycled elements: driftwood boards, with dogbane cordage and a soapstone closure. The deluxe edition is accompanied by a carved wooden board with a rawhide pouch nestled into the top. The pouch holds objects of carved soapstone, a horse bone, and a piece of metal shaped like a primitive knife. Perhaps the hunter would have held similar things. By holding these objects, the reader comes to know something of the life of the hunter; by placing them in the depressions of the board, they participate in the telling of the story. The knowing from the language and the knowing from the physical sensation are different, but each is powerful in its own way.

book details

Publisher: Z’roah Press, New York, 2011. Design and production: book artist Roni Gross and sculptor Peter Schell. Text: Nancy Campbell. Letterpress and multimedia; letterpress printed on Bugra paper from handset Caslon Antique metal type. The deluxe edition limited to eight copies is housed in a cloth-covered box made by Ana Cordeiro. In the standard edition (10 copies), the book without the board and pouch is housed in an enclosure made from Cave Paper.