Faith & Writing Festival, 2024-Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Painting by Chris Overvoorde in Prince Conference Center

Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI

Chapbook Construction Workshop

I signed up for a 1/2 day workshop the day before the Festival began. This was a new addition to the Festival and I liked it. My workshop was called “Chapbook Construction.” I had read about chapbooks and purchased one from Malcolm Guite and thought it would be fun to learn more about them. In the course we were even able to make a chapbook and that sounded super fun.

Chapbooks are basically books made of folded paper(s) that writers put together themselves. They are most often made as gifts, or they may be small printings that are sometimes sold. The professor, Bob Hudson, said that any collection of folded pages, any kind of binding, is a chapbook. I told him it reminded me of church secretary work—making bulletins and newsletters.

You can see some of the folded paper he had us do. If you fold tight and enough times you can actually make 128 pages with one piece of paper. Postage stamp size, but still. We used a tool called a “bone folder” to make a sharp crease in the folds. Especially if you fold a lot of times, you end up with the “fore ends” (I think that’s the word he used) of the pages uneven. He showed us how he uses an exacto knife to trim those edges. I wondered if my sister-in-law knew some or all of what I was learning because, if I remember correctly, she took a bookbinding course several years ago.

In the class, we used a saddle stapler to bind the example we made but the professor had many samples of chapbooks with different bindings. The one done with sewing using waxed thread looked the best to me. He had one example of a book of haikus bound with a Japanese binding, which seemed quite appropriate

He sent us home with a chapbook he’d made that included all the content he taught us. I think it would be fun to try it, and maybe collaborate with some members of my family. My husband, sister, and granddaughter all do some painting and drawing; my sister-in-law does quilting (you can make cloth covers) and bookbinding. Could be fun.

Art Gallery Attempt

I became Facebook friends with Mary Jane Pories a while ago. Mary Jane was the best friend of my suitemate Lisa during my freshman year at Calvin. Mary Jane was known back then for some stand-up comedy she did at the “Spring Fling,” which was a kind of talent show held at Calvin. Students would perform different kinds of talent. Spring Fling was when we started getting to know Glenn Bulthuis, who became a beloved musician for people my age who have a connection to Calvin or Grand Rapids. Mary Jane gave a talk called “From Gefilte Fish to Banket,” which was quite a hit in its time.

As you can see on her website, Mary Jane used her talent for comedy and improvisation and built a career with it. Now, Mary Jane also paints. She often posts photos of her art on Facebook as well as information about where it’s being displayed. I saw one post where she said her paintings would be displayed in the Spring. I asked if they’d still be there when the Festival was held and she said they would be. I saw Mary Jane as we were in line at the workshop registration so I told her I thought I’d try to go see them that afternoon. She told me the gallery was on the third floor of a building downtown and you have to push a buzzer to get someone to let you in.

I found the building, part of a complex, I think of a Benedictine order. First when I got there it was during their posted lunch hour break. So I sat in the car a little over a half hour. Then I pushed the buzzer about 4 or 5 times, leaving a few minutes between, and even called and left a message, but no one ever answered. I pushed the other buzzer which seemed to be connected to some offices in the lower floors. Two different people came and talked to me. They said it looked like the sister was there—they saw her car—but they couldn’t really help me. Finally I gave up. It was a beautiful day and the buildings were pretty so I didn’t mind it that much.

I figured I wouldn’t tell Mary Jane because it would just make her feel bad. But Thursday night, before the plenary session, Mary Jane and her wife came by and I did tell her. She felt so bad about it that she messaged me to meet her the next morning and she’d give me a little “special something.” She gave me one of her paintings. I thought that was so sweet!