A light pink booklet displays its cover, a large white snowflake spraypainted on top. The title and author are shown. A draft sheet of a typed poem has the word

Items related to Tomaž Šalamun’s Snow. West Branch, Iowa: Toothpaste Press, 1973. Student Works: Šalamun, Paul Engle Papers [msc 514], Special Collections & Archives.

Note from co-curator Lisa Gardinier:

This case is an unusually detailed look at the production of a 1973 chapbook of Tomaž Šalamun’s poetry translated to English. What typically survives in archives are the various drafts of literary texts and translations, but this is about the production of the actual book, as published by Allan Kornblum and Toothpaste Press. Besides the translation draft of “King of birds” — from the Paul Engle Papers and seemingly rejected for another purpose — we have the design and layout of the chapbook, and preparations for and response to its distribution and promotion.

 

Exhibit case filled with books and ephemera. The photo is too far away to see details of the items.

Display case containing books and ephemera related to Tomaž Šalamun’s Snow.

 

An open book shows the poem in final form. A mock-up of the book with handwritten notes appears in the display case. The notes are names of poems, including King of Birds.

Foreground: Mock-up page for “King of Birds” from Tomaž Šalamun, Snow. Toothpaste/Coffee House Press Records [msc 461], Special Collections & Archives.

A list of people who should receive info about the new book, an advertisement for the book, and a request for a snowflake stencil for decorating the front of the book.

Postcard inquiry about Snow, 1975. / Handwritten copy for promotional postcard, n.d. / List of people to whom the finished book should be sent, n.d. / Promotional postcard for Snow, n.d. / All from Toothpaste/Coffee House Press Records [msc 461], Special Collections & Archives.