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Puck's Arena
The Book as Performance Winston Pei The Book as Performance Winston Pei

Puck's Arena

My introduction to artist’s books, and altered books in particular, started with an undergraduate field trip to the Bruce Peel Special Collections at the University of Alberta, and one work in particular.

At first glance, it seems innocuous enough, perhaps even a bit boring or common? But if there was ever a time to apply the broader advice to not judge a book by its cover, this would be it.

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Frankensteining Frankenstein
The Book as Performance Winston Pei The Book as Performance Winston Pei

Frankensteining Frankenstein

At the When Words Collide festival in 2021, towards the end of a workshop on Altered Books, I mentioned that the next project I was pondering was something to do with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, riffing off the central theme of the story to assemble a copy of the book made up of parts of different editions.

My small but mighty audience was intrigued, and we decided to plan a workshop around that idea for WWC 2022…

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Happy Towel Day 2022!
Bookish Calendar Winston Pei Bookish Calendar Winston Pei

Happy Towel Day 2022!

Last year, for our inaugural Towel Day here at the Butterflies & Aliens Library, it made sense to share the book series from whence came the Towel Day name.

But as much as I love The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to honour Adams this year I thought I’d shout out his lesser known Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its sequel The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul.

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The Art of the [_____]: A Life in [_____]
Book Life Winston Pei Book Life Winston Pei

The Art of the [_____]: A Life in [_____]

I just finished reading a great book, but I don’t want to tell you what it is.

Or rather, I don’t want to share the full title or the name of the author of it, just yet. I think the full title distracts from what the book is really about, which is the part of the title I am sharing as the title of this post: The Art of the [_____]: A Life in [_____].

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Loved to pieces
The Book as Performance Winston Pei The Book as Performance Winston Pei

Loved to pieces

In the digital world, lack of attention is what often gets a website “deaccessioned” or “weeded” from the world wide web. But ironically, in our equally beloved world of physical books, a lack of attention, of a certain kind, is actually better for a book’s longevity…

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