College to launch new letterpress print shop

Okanagan College Media Release

This fall marks the launch of a new endeavor at Okanagan College with the opening of “The Bunker,” a letterpress print shop with more than 20,000lbs of vintage printing presses and metal type.

After three years of planning, renovations, equipment installation and set-up, the presses will be rolling this year with students of the Writing & Publishing Diploma setting type and pulling proofs by hand.

In conjunction with the launch of the print shop, Okanagan College’s literary imprint, Kalamalka Press, has been restructured and revamped, with forthcoming titles now to be printed letterpress by students in the shop.

Kalamalka Press’ new editor is Okanagan College professor and author Kevin McPherson Eckhoff and English professor Jason Dewinetz, proprietor of Greenboathouse Press, will be heading up design and production.

The first book from the new Kalamalka Press will present the winning manuscript of the inaugural John Lent Poetry/Prose Award, Ariel Gordon’s How to Make a Collage.

Over the course of the 2012-13 academic year, students will set the type for the book by hand, proof and correct the type, print the sheets and bind the books as part of their Writing & Publishing studies. This intricate manual work, which introduces students to a wide range of production processes, is offered as a complement to the computer-based training that students receive throughout the diploma program, which includes classes in writing, editing, communications, typography and design.

The print shop will be launched as part of Orientation Day on Tuesday, Sept. 4, from 2-4 p.m., with a printing demonstration and display.