Our book launch was canceled, so I'll just make a quiet little blogpost announcement:
It began with an impulse purchase of an art mask sculpture from artist JJ Horner's yard sale, before going through five or six years of collaboration work with photographer Jia Oak Baker. Now Gravity & Spectacle has been published as a gorgeously square book of poems and photographs by Tolsun Books.
This project was supposed to come out about two years ago, but we kept pushing back the deadline because it just wasn't good enough. We finally got to a point where we were proud enough to publish it right when the pandemic hit.
"Jia Oak Baker's stunning photographs of a discarded punk-rock-skateboard-video-prop-mask, and Shawnte Orion's sardonic, pop culture-infused poetry make the strange world of Gravity & Spectacle. It is a slanted ode to Phoenix and its surrounding deserts, both gorgeous and absurd, stoic and wry, gravitational and spectacular, a "love letter to the fireplace" of a hometown seen through the lens and the pens of two of its inhabitants."
We had to upgrade and pay extra for high quality gloss pages so they could handle all the photographs. We were still nervous and hoping everything would look right, because we couldn't order a preview copy first... but the Tolsun team (special thanks to David Pischke) did an amazing job with the layout and design. Jia and I were so excited to see that this book came out better than we could have imagined. We can't wait to bring it to readings in some of our favorite cities whenever we are allowed.
But in the meantime, you can order a copy from Tolsun Books, Small Press Distribution, and even Amazon.
Or if you'd like to get a signed copy from me, just send $20 (free shipping)
through PayPal https://www.paypal.me/ShawnteOrion
or Venmo https://venmo.com/ShawnteOrion
I'll make more posts about the background (including the J.J. Horner art), blurbs (infinite thanks to Rosemarie Dombrowski, Sean Bonnette, and Matt Hart), and sidestories of the book in the coming days.
If you need a sneak peek, take a look at these sample poems and photographs that were showcased by A Dozen Nothing in February at https://adozennothing.com/2020/02/01/shawnte-orion-jia-oak-baker-february-2020/
It's such a great book! Unusual, ispired, witty, sharp, poignant and funny — all at once.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea it had such a long incubation process. The results, however, do reveal attention to every detail.
Congratulations on a great work of visual & literary art.
Thank you so much. It's wonderful to hear that the wait was worthwhile.
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