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ISBN 0-9733952-4-9
Chapbook edition of 100
$25

So Earnest to Have a Green Point creates a theoretical dialogue between early-twentieth century poets and visual artists. Thompson responds to the artwork itself, as well as engaging with the ideas common to both writers and visual artists. What is a "true" depiction? Can words or shapes name things in the world? Is a poem or painting a reflection of an experience or an event in and of itself?

These well-crafted prose poems are written with intelligence and lyrical beauty. Whether responding to the paintings of Fauvists, Cubists, or Expressionists, the musicality of the language brings to mind the rhythms and cadences found in the poetry of Gertrude Stein, H.D., and Kenneth Koch.

Thompson's collage-like writing creates layers with fragmentary references from Shakespeare to John Cage, creating a sort of palimpsest—a reminder that we never sit down to an empty page or canvas, that there is nothing original, only elaborations on traces that have already been heard and seen. And in a sense, illustrating that all writing (and visual art) is a conversation, an integration of past and present, which in turn creates something new.

Chapbook is a limited edition of 100, signed and numbered by the author. Text paper is Neenah columns in classic natural white, and the cover stock is St. Armand Canal paper in Sisal cucumber.