Plague Poems is a multi-year project first conceived and commissioned in April 2020, as we were locked down and the Covid-19 pandemic was quickly growing in scale and consequence. This project considers upon and reflects our experiences of this extraordinary global situation, each part wrapped in a glimpse of death as a reminder that this contemplation is nothing new.
Featuring seven books by seven poets; Annemarie Ni Churreáin (Town, (S)worn State(s)), John FitzGerald (Darklight, Haiku na Fierme), Supriya Kaur Dhaliwal, Elaine Feeney, Eleanor Hooker, Gerard Smyth (We Like it Here Beside The River, After Easter) and Jessica Traynor (Liffey Swim, A Modest Proposal, Carbon).
Designed and letterpress printed by Jamie Murphy, assisted in the studio by Ellen Martin-Friel. The Magister types were designed by Aldo Novarese (released 1966), cast here by Rainer Gerstenberg in Frankfurt. Jamie woodcuts are enlarged details from The Danse Macabre designed by Hans Holbein the Younger, first cut in wood by Hans Lützelburger c.1523-1525. The text paper is Fedrigoni Arena, the inserts, covers and dust jacket are Fedrigoni Materica. Seven books printed in an edition of 125 sets. Enclosures executed by Elize de Beer in Cork.
