As of this writing, Berlin’s short stories have been translated into 7 or 8 languages and won every literary prize going, not to mention half a dozen rave reviews in the New York Times in 2016. They followed this with her collection SAFE & SOUND and, like they say, the rest is history. With an unerring eye for great writing, Poltroon published a short story by Lucia Berlin, “Legacy,” in 1983. Other works soon followed by poets such as Darrell Gray, Tom Clark, Larry Fagin, Robert Gregory and Philip Whalen. They began a publishing program with three books by English poet Tom Raworth, LOGBOOK, illustrated by Frances Butler (featured in the Grolier Club’s “Seventy for the Seventies” show), THE MASK (Poltroon Modern Poets, volume 1) and NICHT WAHR, ROSIE? with cover calligraphy by Arne Wolf, which won the Award of Excellence in the AIGA “Just Type” Show. Johnston experimented with text and format in two modest works of concrete poetry: CAFE CHARIVARI CHARLATAN CHROM and A PARTIAL PRIMER FOR PEDESTRIANS. They collaborated on several explorations of text and image which were forerunners of what became known in the following decades as “Artists’ Books.”īutler’s CONFRACTI MUNDI RUDERA confused the art world but quickly went out of print as dealers snapped up the copies. Butler was an artist working in academia whose star was rising in the world of textile design, engineered clothing and running yardage which she manufactured at Goodstuffs in Emeryville, California. Johnston’s background was in writing and typography he had apprenticed in commercial as well as fine press printshops.

Poltroon Press was founded Apby Frances Butler and Alastair Johnston in Berkeley, California.

The Immortal Game by Mark Coggins