This post was written by Jessica Schneider, 2015-2020 Office Director, 2011-2013 Information Center & Bookstore Manager, and 2010 Information Center & Bookstore Assistant.
Jim Cokas’ Tuolumne Meadows Poetry Festival broadsides can now be found on the Mono Lake Committee online store! If you missed your chance to purchase one of the pieces currently hanging in our gallery while you were in the Mono Basin, shop online and we will ship the prints to your front door. These broadsides also make the perfect gift for that person who has everything. Curious about broadsides?
Jim explained the concept of a “broadside” while hanging his show in the Mono Lake Theater & Gallery this past fall. Broadsides were common in medieval times, when announcements were posted on the broad side of buildings. These announcements were printed using the technique of letterpress (these days most commonly used for fancy wedding invitations), a method of printing from letters or type in relief, so the letters are literally pressed into the page. Letterpress broadsides have since been replaced with modern printing methods, but this classic form has been adopted by poets today as an artistic display of their words.