The Pacific Northwest is a little slice of oyster heaven where 4 different species are grown in abundance.
Portland, Oregon is currently home to an abundance of young poets who are making their mark on the national stage.
Bookseller, publisher and artist Charles Seluzicki has joined these two phenomenons in his latest publication, Oyster Suite, a set of 4 broadsides featuring original unpublished oyster-themed poems by Carl Adamshick, Matthew Dickman, Michael Dickman, and Michael McGriff. The broadsides are printed letterpress in an edition of 100 (80 copies are gathered into sets of which 65 are for sale) and illustrated with drawings by Seluzicki.
The poems are:
“Oyster Bar” by Adamshick,
“Untitled Oysters” by Michael Dickman,
“Sucking and Swallowing” by Matthew Dickman, and
“Drinking at the Rusted Oyster” by Michael McGriff
At $60 a set I can’t imagine these won’t be swallowed soon.
Also of note: Tavern Books has recently published a book of poetry by Charles Simic that is illustrated with full color reproductions of charcoal and mixed media drawings by Seluzicki. The book is titled Prodigy and was printed in a trade edition of 200 copies. A limited edition signed by both the author and illustrator is forthcoming.