Clotted Sun Poetry Portfolio with Chris McCabe

Chris McCabe, who is a Poet, a friend of the family, and Head Librarian at the Poetry Library (Royal Festival Hall), asked us to help him make a book that would represent his site-specific commission for West Norwood Cemetery; part of the Curious art trail. Chris had found twelve poets interred at the cemetery, and chosen a two-word phrase from one of their poems to be engraved on a stone and left at their plot.

We discussed several ideas for representing this in print and binding, and Chris had the idea of a set of cards, documenting the stones and the poet’s location. We made an edition of 50 small portfolios, employing the fore-edge flap as a title page to keep the flow of opening the portfolio as close to a book as possible.

Instead of photographing engraved stones, we documented them without engraving and used blind debossing to impress the words physically upon the reproduced stones.

As well as doing the foiling, debossing and binding of the portfolios, we drew the title decoration, based upon the imposing Victorian stone gateway at the Cemetery.

Chris is selling these for £40. Contact him here. Remember; there are only 50 of these available!