Tom Virgin
Edwidge Danticat, writer
John Ermer, historian
Coconut Grove, Florida
https://www.extravirginpress.com
https://edwidgedanticat.com
This Is My Body, Of Food and Freedom
2023
(French Paper, Vintage Cave Paper, Katazome Paper, Lokta Paper, waxed linen thread, ink)
9.5 in x 6.25 in x .5 in
Artist Statement:
This Is My Body, Of Food And Freedom, 2023.
Written by Edwidge Danticat. Design, drawing, printing, and binding by Tom Virgin. Timeline by John Ermer & Tom Virgin. This Is My Body, Food & Freedom is printed on French Paper’s Starch White Speckletone using Adobe Caslon Pro. The cover is vintage Cave Paper. This book is 9.5 in x 6.25 in x .5 in. with 25 pages. The book is bound with a kettle stitch using waxed linen thread, reinforced with Okawara paper, and a Katazome paper spine wrap. Artwork includes three natural spreads with linoleum prints, and folios with a timeline that follows the essay through the book. The drop spine structure comes from Karen Hanmer. All pages are hand printed on a 1949 Vandercook 4 Proof Press and an early 50’s Challenge 15KP Cylinder Press using wood type, polymer plates, and linoleum plates. Photography is by Francesco Casale.
This book was supported in part by a 2019 Ellies Creator Award from Oolite Arts that enabled Virgin to invite distinguished Miami writers and artists to collaborate, in book form, on pressing community issues. Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and writes about her life there, and the life she built in the United States. Her autobiography, Brother, I’m Dying, was a 2007 finalist for the National Book Award, and a 2008 winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Edwidge Danticat is the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor of the Humanities in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University.