Babylon Songs Book Release
First Bite Press announces a limited edition collection of poetry, Babylon Songs. We are launching this book on Kickstarter with a selection of handmade, limited edition prints and broadsides. Sign up on our Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page to get notified when we go live and to learn more about this limited edition poetry collection.
Babylon Songs presents the unsung voices of women, both real and mythical, from our present and past. Written by Colleen Harris with linocut illustrations by Sandie Levent, the collection is divided into three sections: “A Prelude to Madness,” “These Inconvenient Women,” and “Perishable Truths.” Each section of the collection combines Harris’ lyrical poetry form of storytelling with relatable and reflective dialogue that feels like a personal exchange between the poetess and her reader.
We also designed a selection of beautiful limited edition ephemera based on the poems from this collection. By offering these individual letterpress printed items as rewards and add-ons, we hope more people will be able to support our bookmaking and enjoy the poems and illustrations in their own personal collections. The nine different reward tiers range from $5 to $350. The first 10 supporters of the Babylon Songs Kickstarter Campaign in the first week will receive an early-bird reward of a limited edition book. More details below.
The First Bite Press Team for this book: myself, Sharon Kallenberger, Christine Wolf, Colleen Harris, Sandie Levent, Barbara Basbanes Richter, Fera Rose, Caroline Bailey, & Luna Laliberte — all have a hand in some aspect of this project. We hope you consider supporting the production of this fine press book!
The prototype binding of Babylon Songs sits on a full sheet of the two-color endsheet handprinted for the book. Read more about the Japanese bookcloth and pearlescent paper used in the book.
One of the linocut illustrations by Sandie Levent. This image begins the poetry section entitled “A Prelude to Madness.”
Early-Bird Supporters
The first 10 backers who purchase the full edition of Babylon Songs during the first week of the campaign will receive a free, limited-edition hand-bound book: The Sirens Three by Walter Crane.
This companion piece perfectly complements the themes of myth and womanhood found in Babylon Songs. Originally published in 1885, this special edition of Crane’s poem features a curated selection of his own historical drawings of women in Greek mythology. Sign up here.
Any questions about Babylon Songs or the Kickstarter campaign to fund it? Please reach out!
Walter Crane’s illustration of the three sirens from his poem, The Sirens Three, published in 1885.
