Autumn Richardson
Correspondences: The Long Before
Limited Edition Pamphlet/Special Edition
‘Silence purifies. Listening purifies.
Listen. Lean forward. Write it down.
The unmasking.’
This second instalment of the Correspondences Series, entitled ‘The Long Before’, continues the poet’s chthonic descent and return through acts of reclusion and immersion within wilderness environments, where spiritual and physical submission to elemental forces can precipitate a recovery from the injurious nature of human experience.
‘The Long Before’ dwells on time spent in Ontario, Canada, vividly conjuring encounters with the vibrant other-than-human life of its fields, woods and rivers. As Tim Liardet notes, the poem is ‘full of longing, anger and memory, moving from acute observations of the natural world to an equally intense and reflective interiority’. Over the course of its pages, the snake is seen as both predator and guide, the subject of both fear and awe, its ‘avidly seeking’ form a hermetic key to uncovering truths from ‘anterior lives’.
‘The Long Before’ is beautifully presented in our Hyphae Series of limited-edition artist-made, thread-sewn pamphlets produced in-house using the finest papers and materials. Each edition is numbered by the poet and bears the Correspondences sigil uniquely designed by Autumn herself.
- Hyphae Series pamphlet.
- Clay endpaper & auburn thread.
- A6 ‘Nerodia sipedon’ print.
- Artist-made folder.
- Numbered.
- Limited edition of 30.
Price €25
A Special Edition has been produced that elaborates on some of the themes of the ‘The Long Before’ - including a fold-out disclosure enumerating the snake species found in Ontario, and four beautiful prints of Ontario snakes derived from John Edwards Holbrook’s North American Herpetology (1836-40). The Special Edition also includes a signed artwork printed on Acquarello paper, along with a unique poem card.
- Hyphae Series pamphlet.
- Moss endpaper & verdant thread.
- Fold-out list of Ontario snakes.
- A6 ‘Nerodia sipedon’ print.
- Signed acquarello artwork print.
- Four ‘herpetology’ prints.
- Unique A6 poem card.
- Artist-made folder.
- Signed and numbered.
- Limited edition of 14.
Price €50