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THE SUBURBAN POEMS
by
JOHN STARRS
The Suburban Poems, by John L. Starrs, was first published and printed in 1991, at Green Window Press, Chicago, by Pam Barrie
and Mary Kennedy. The types were Goudy Modern and Goudy Open.
The text paper was Nideggen with tipped in maps on Gasen Natural,
and the covers were hand-made Indian Village Sea paper and Twinrocker Slate.
The regional maps were researched at the Newberry Library,
drawing on the work of 17th century mapmaker Nicolas de Fer,
with lettering by Tom Greensfelder. The binding was completed with
help from Aidrey Niffenegger and other members of Chicago Hand
Bookbinders.
The project was partially supported by a grant from the City of
Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, and the Illinois Arts
Council Access Program.
Completed in December, 1991, the first edition was a numbered and
signed edition of 150 copies. This second edition used copy number
65 as its source.
The Suburban Poems had its beginnings in "The John and David
Show", in which John's poems about the suburbs were countered by the
urban pieces of David Hernandez. The poems were translated from
performance into written form with the help of grammarian Diana Wendt,
whose advice "we ain't always taken [sic]." The poems assumed their
present less-than-rigid geographic arrangement over several months,
during which they aprawled and subdivided according to their own logic.
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