Printer's Ball Gets Digital

By Betsy Mikel in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 29, 2010 8:40PM

The Printer's Ball is tomorrow night.

A literary festival usually conjures up the image of publishers and authors sitting behind tables stacked with books; not the most exciting way to spend a Friday night. But what about a literary festival taking place inside of a giant city of cardboard and books? Or schmoozing at a literary festival with ladies wearing dresses made of books? The Printer’s Ball is becoming known for its creative ways to celebrate literary culture and feature thousands of magazines, books, and other publications. This year, the sixth annual Printer’s Ball is getting really wacky. Instead of cowering from the big bad Internet because of its effect on publishing and print, the organizations behind the event are embracing it. The theme “Print Loves Digital” recognizes how new technologies have revolutionized even the most anti-digital mediums like letterpress and screen printing.

According to head honchos Fred Sasaki (of Poetry), Nell Taylor (of Chicago Underground Library) and Sarah Dodson (of MAKE: A Literary Magazine) in an interview Knee-Jerk, each Printer’s Ball is inspired by the following things: garden parties, the people and organizations involved, arts and crafts time at summer camp, Chicago itself, free samples at the grocery store, the “use everything” event programming model and prom. At its heart, the event makes it exciting to learn about different aspects of the publishing industry, from the most basic process of making paper to the sophisticated art of pairing beer with magazines. And since pretty much everyone who is hot in the Chicago literary scene will be present, it’s a perfect networking and learning opportunity for new writers.

Tomorrow’s Printer’s Ball will showcase live readings, music, and performances and host letterpress, offset, silk-screening, rubber-stamping, and paper-making demonstrations. After the jump, check out a sampling of events going on throughout the night.
DEUSEXPAGINA, a live experiment in literary quantum mechanics and wholly fabricated reviews of wholly fabricated books

"Pandora's Star Box," a poem-film by Carrie Olivia Adams

The Next Objectivists typing the poetry of the multitude. Poetypists will compose in public and turn "raw or/e" into poetry chapbooks to be distributed on-site

Public Media Institute’s Mobile Screen-printing Cart

View the whole schedule for more events. See anything interesting? Go check it out, especially because all Printer's Ball events are free.

Printer’s Ball, The Ludington Building, 1104 S. Wabash Ave., July 30, 6 p.m. - 11 p.m., free
Carrie Olivia Adams Chicago Underground Library Fred Sasaki Knee-Jerk MAKE: A Literary Magazine Nell Taylor Poetry Magazine Printer's Ball Public Media Institute Sarah Dodson

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