This week I’ve continued to spend a lot of time on slips slips - we’ve sent out over 100 mailings to folks, brought stacks of copies to various bookstores and cafes around NYC, and launched our contributor profile series on the newsletter. None of it feels like nearly enough, but it’s a start. So today, you get another primarily visual post - albeit one with strong connections to what we’re trying to do with slips slips.
Earlier this year, I wrote about an incredible exhibit of imaginary books at Manhattan’s Grolier Club. I didn’t imagine that I’d see anything else there that could rival it - but sure enough, a few weeks ago my co-editors Hope and Kristen were utterly enthralled by a show that made us positively seethe with information and productive jealousy toward the incredible publications showcased within.
It’s called After Words: Visual and Experimental Poetry in Little Magazines and Small Presses, 1960-2025, and it runs through July 26. I purchased the catalog (of course), but I’m going to to my damnedest to revisit it before it closes - to see these delicate but powerful paper artifacts all gathered in one place was an incredible experience on both a sensory and intellectual level. I wanted nothing more than to smash the vitrines, snatch up the exhibits, and abscond to a remote cabin where I had no distractions to prevent me from soaking in each of them, one at a time.
I was familiar with many of the names involved with the works on display, but I have no interest in being didactic about it at the moment. Instead, I’ll just leave you with photos of some of my favorite samples, so you can join me in my reveries of imagining what lies within the unseen pages.
If anything here especially lights you up, please remember that submissions are open for slips slips Issue #2! I would absolutely adore seeing more concrete/visually poetry in the mix. Get to it!