Come out to the Arion Press in San Francisco and celebrate the latest letterpress book collaboration of Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale) and Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife): Morte de Smudgie.
We celebrate this work with a lively event featuring a discussion with Audrey Niffenegger and an exclusive video interview with Margaret Atwood. Come enjoy some nibbles and sips, and channel your inner Victorian. The “UNCOVERED: Artists of Arion Press” exhibition will also be on view.
Book excerpt: "When Nell and Tig’s cat Smudgie died, Nell dealt with her disproportionate sense of loss by rewriting Tennyson’s Morte d’Arthur with Smudgie in the leading role, supported by a full cast of noble cats in mediaeval robes and chain mail. This was a deeply frivolous thing for her to do, and the results were not felicitous."
This original short story was written exclusively for Arion and is paired with the 19th-century classic poem, “Morte d’Arthur”, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Book artist and bestselling author Audrey Niffenegger contributes three spot illustrations to the book and a four-panel, two-color landscape image. The 21-inch “funeral procession” of characters inspired by Atwood and Tennyson folds out, linking the two texts in the book both thematically and physically.
Arion has produced an edition of 250 copies for sale (order online or in person). Each copy of this artist book has been printed by letterpress using metal types custom cast on-site and then bound by hand.