Wayzgoose Weekend Nears!

On Saturday 26 October 2013, Gaspereau Press will host its fourteenth annual Wayzgoose and open house. This event celebrates literary culture and the printed book and attracts bibliophiles, authors and readers from across the Maritimes and beyond. Most events take place in the Gaspereau Press printing works in downtown Kentville, Nova Scotia.

This year’s wayzgoose features four guest artists: typographer and printer Jason Dewinetz (Vernon, British Columbia), wood engraver and printer George Walker (Toronto, Ontario), printer Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (Gordo, Alabama) and Hillary Savage (Machias, Maine). These four printers will be onhand in the Gaspereau Press printing works throughout the day on Saturday, demonstrating their craft. The event also features readings by Gaspereau Press authors Sue Goyette (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and Dana Mills (Wolfville, Nova Scotia).

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Literary Salon (10:00–12:00). An informal gathering which provides published and unpublished writers with an intimate opportunity to meet our featured authors and discuss the craft of writing. Hosted by Susan Haley and featuring authors Sue Goyette and Dana Mills. This event takes place at the Wickwire House Bed & Breakfast, 183 Main St, Kentville.

Printshop Chicanery (10:00–12:00). Wayzgoose morning is usually spent setting up equipment and preparing for the open house, but we open our doors to the keeners who want to lend a hand and visit with the guest artists and staff while they prepare. Offcut paper and books will also be available for sale. This event takes place at the Gaspereau Press printing works, 47 Church Avenue, Kentville.

Open House at the Gaspereau Press Printing Works (2:00–5:00). Take a glimpse into the fantastic world behind the production of the printed book. Jason Dewinetz, George Walker, Amos Kennedy, Hillary Savage and Thaddeus Holownia will join the Gaspereau Press staff offering demonstrations in printing, bindery, typecasting and papermaking. This event takes place at the Gaspereau Press printing works, 47 Church Avenue, Kentville.

A Wayzgoosy Evening (7:00–9:30). An evening of readings by Sue Goyette and Dana Mills and the Lochhead Memorial Book-Arts Talk presented by Jason Dewinetz of Greenboathouse Press. This event takes place at the Saint Paul & Saint Stephen United Church, 440 Main Street, Kentville.

All events are free and open to the public.



BACKGROUND

What’s a wayzgoose? Literally, ‘wayz’ is an old word for stubble grain, and a wayzgoose is a wayz-fed goose. In the early days of printing, the owner of a printing establishment would hold an annual dinner for his employees in the late summer or early autumn as a way of demonstrating his gratitude, his grandness, or both. The featured dish at this meal was traditionally a stubble-fed goose, or wayzgoose. These days the term is usually used to describe gatherings of book artists. Over the past decade, the Gaspereau Press wayzgoose has evolved into an important annual community event which celebrates the book as a dynamic cultural force, focusing on the relationships among the many people who contribute to the production of the literary books.

Gaspereau Press is a nationally-celebrated literary publisher and trade printer located in Kentville, Nova Scotia. It is one of the few publishers in Canada that actually manufactures its books in-house, controlling every aspect of the production from editing and design through to printing, binding and distribution, employing a broad range of contemporary and antiquated production methods. Given its unique position as a printer and publisher, and its commitment to the tradition of typography, fine printing and book making, Gaspereau Press developed the idea of holding an annual community event that would bring writers, artists and the general public into direct contact with book-arts practitioners from across the country and with the tools of the trade: type, ink, paper and the printing press. Its first wayzgoose was held in 2000.

Jason Dewinetz is a typographer and printer. His design and production for Greenboathouse Press has earned him several national book design awards. He currently teaches English, Creative Writing and Publication Design at Okanagan College in Vernon, BC.

George Walker is a wood engraver and book artist. For over twenty years he has exhibited his wood engravings and limited edition books internationally. He is an Associate Professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. His latest book is The Life and Times of Conrad Black: A Wordless Biography, published by The Porcupine’s Quill.

Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr., is a letterpress printer and builder of artist’s books lately of Gordo, Alabama (but rumoured to be moving to Detroit), who travels the globe teaching people how to print on traditional letterpresses with metal and wood type.

Hillary Savage is a journalist and letterpress printer living in Machias, Maine, where she recently graduated from a book arts program at University of Maine at Machias.

Sue Goyette has published a novel and three poetry collections, most recently Ocean. She has won the Pat Lowther Memorial Award, the Atlantic Poetry Prize, the CBC Literary Prize for Poetry, the Earle Birney Prize and the Bliss Carman Award, and has been shortlisted for the Governor General’s Literary Award. Goyette lives in Halifax where she teaches creative writing and works part-time at the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.

Dana Mills’ stories have appeared in Geist, subTerrain and The New Quarterly. His story “Steaming for Godthåb” was shortlisted for the 2008 Journey Prize. His debut story collection is Someone Somewhere. He lives outside Wolfville, Nova Scotia.



For more information, contact:
Gary Dunfield
T: 902 678 6002
E: info@gaspereau.com