about chax press

Chax Press publishes writing that does not take things for granted — things like "what is a poem,""what is an author," or "what does it mean to read?"

From this beginning point, the work of making books, and the work of reading them, becomes an adventure. Walt Whitman said, "Reading is a gymnast's act." We strive to make books that reward such exercise in stunning ways.

Whether working with handset type, Vandercook proof press, carved wood blocks, linen threads and fine papers, or with computers, Chax Press books celebrate the changing shape of American poetry by presenting experimental works with humanist commitment.

We also bring our work to the public in ways other than in books, sponsoring poetry readings, writers- and artists-in-residence, exhibitions, and more events that encourage a public investigation as to the nature and importance of contemporary poetry and book arts.

beginnings, education, and support

Chax Press was founded in 1984 in Tucson by Charles Alexander, immediately after his move from Madison, Wisconsin. The first project was to complete French Sonnets, by Jackson Mac Low, which had been started by Alexander's earlier press, Black Mesa. More than 50 books have followed between then and the present, including several published during our three years (1993-96) in Minneapolis, where Alexander served as Executive Director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

The work of Chax Press is directly related to Alexander's work as a poet and his participation in specific currents of contemporary American poetry, primarily movements that have included Black Mountain Poetry, Language Poetry, and the works of many independent writers invigorated by these two movements, if not a part of them. Yet the work of Chax Press is fiercely independent and can not be classified according to any limited poetic identity. In general, Chax Press publishes experimentalist works that share a strong humanist commitment.

Our education in the book arts was precipitated by Alexander's presence at the 1978 Charles Olson Festival in Iowa City, where he spent time in the company of Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, and Edward Dorn, writers whose works continues to be influential on the decisions guiding Chax Press. At the same time, Alexander was developing a continuing relationship with Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he later printed broadsides for readings by Robert Duncan, Lyn Hejinian, Pauline Oliveros, Joel Oppenheimer, and many other writers.

Alexander's training in letterpress printing, hand papermaking, and bookbinding took place between 1979 and 1983 in Madison, Wisconsin, under the direction of Walter Samuel Hamady, proprietor of The Perishable Press Limited, one of the most ambitious and creative private presses in America. Hamady was also, at the time, Professor of Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The culminating act of that education was participation in the 1982-83 seminar that resulted in the first national museum-scale exhibition of books by artists, titled Breaking the Bindings: American Book Art Now. Charles Alexander was the lead writer for a committee that wrote the introduction to the catalogue, published by the Elvehjem Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin.

We have been supported through the years, and continuing into the foreseeable future, by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Tucson/Pima Arts Council, Foundation Cariñoso, De Grazia Foundation, the Fund for Poetry, the Ryan Companies Foundation, the Kaye Family Fund, and by many private grants and donations.