Ryan Kaune is a Pittsburgh-based printmaker who has created handset letterpress designs for poetry in our Editors’ Choice series, including The Salt Marsh House by Ann Wilberton and These Bodies by Maria McLeod. Lefty Blondie Press spoke with Kaune about her creative process, the challenge of marketing yourself, and the latest book everyone should read:
LBP: How did you discover your passion for letterpress printing?
RK: I’ve always had an interest in making and I’ve dabbled in a number of craft hobbies, but my interest in letterpress really began while I was pursuing my MFA at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Handset letterpress is special. It’s rewarding to create beauty from chaos—building an image or text from teeny-tiny type and spacing and leading and ornaments, and then printing what you’ve made on antique machines. Creating something new from something old. Printing in this way is history, and every time I touch the type, I tap into that history. It’s very satisfying.
LBP: How do you approach a new project?
RK: When I’m working on a broadside, I approach the project in service of the writer. I want my design to serve their words and their vision, not just my own. I lead with the writer in mind, and that keeps me interested and engaged. I want them to feel like they can trust their work in my hands.
LBP: What does your work space look like?
RK: I’m slowly building my own letterpress studio in the basement of my house. It’s a wild mess! For a long time it was just my two lonely presses down there, but over time I’ve acquired type, ink, ornaments, spacing, etc., all the tools of the trade.
When I moved back to Pittsburgh, I began an apprenticeship with Lindsay Schmittle, who runs Gingerly Press, and I’m still learning from her. Her mentorship and guidance has been instrumental in helping me build my own aesthetic and studio.
LBP: Do you have a creative routine?
RK: I need deadlines. It’s easier for me to work backward than forward. It’s always been this way, and I’ve always wished it otherwise, though I’m getting better at accepting this about myself. Once I have a deadline, whether that’s self-imposed or assigned, things fall into place and I trust I’ll get where I need to be.
But my process is simple. I sketch ideas in a journal and then start building my form. There’s a lot of trial and error involved because I don’t use any digital processes in my work.
LBP: Do you work on more than one project at a time?
RK: The amount of work that I can do really depends on the amount of type and spacing that I have available. Letterpress has its limitations when you’re working with actual type and ornaments.
What I should be working on trying to get my name out there a bit so that I can get more clients. Marketing myself and my work is out of my comfort zone.
LBP: Do you work in any other mediums?
RK: I used to write fiction. Maybe I’ll get back to that someday.
LBP: Any book recommendations?
RK: I’ve been telling everyone to read The Vaster Wilds by Lauren Groff.
LBP: What can poetry do?
RK: We need artwork that reminds us of our humanity and the wide range of our experience. It doesn’t have to be precious, but I hope art makes us feel something other than cynicism and defeat.
Submit your work to the Lefty Blondie Press Editors' Choice Broadside Series
Open to self-identifying women or non-binary poets of any age & any publishing history!
October 1 - January 15
Submit up to 3 poems, all in one document
Start each new poem on a new page within the single document
No limit on form or topic, though 40 lines or less work better for the broadside format
Previously unpublished poems preferred
Previously published may be considered if author owns copyright and includes acknowledgement in Bio section of submission form
Simultaneous submissions accepted. Please notify us immediately if your poem is accepted elsewhere.
The poet of the selected poem will receive 5 (five) author copies & lots of praise, adoration, and promotion through social media, literary festivals, independent booksellers, & any other collaborations LBP seeks out.
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