You may have noticed that there hasn't been much activity on the Leafe Press publishing front lately; not that it's ever been a prolific press, but there's definitely been a lull, and there's a reason for that. John and I have been working on two books due to come out in September. They're full-sized books, and both involve collaborations with a number of people. So progress has been slow, and that's before the books have been printed and the marketing and distribution begin. But I don't want to sound at all disheartened. These are wonderful books, and I can't wait to unveil them. They are:

1,000 Views of Girl Singing - a collaborative project run from John's blog, and involving 47 contributors from around the world. A mix of visual art, music, translations and poetic transformations. And with a cover worked on by ten artists orchestrated by Rebekah May.

Fragments of a Forgotten Genesis, by Abdellatif Laâbi.A book-length poem by this major Moroccan poet. It will be the only version available in either French or English. Laâbi lives in Paris, the translators, Gordon and Nancy Hadfield, live in Denver, and Bob Rissman, who designed the cover, lives in California. So getting everyone's contribution coordinated takes time.

Publishing full-scale books is certainly a different proposition to pamphlets, and I do miss the immediacy and personal connection (as publisher) of the latter. So once these two big books are up and running, I intend to buy a new printer, a guillotine and a stapler, and start cranking out pamphlets again.