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In its first year, the Book Initiative hosted inaugural lectures by Isabel Hofmeyr and Jill Lepore. Since then, we have co-organized transcribe-a-thons with the Colored Conventions Project and Alexander Library, sponsored graduate student field trips to area libraries and letterpresses, granted graduate student fellowships to Rare Book School, sponsored an undergraduate class in bookmaking as well as co-sponsored a rare book exhibition. Recent events include talks, bookbinding studios, and scavenger hunts with Javiera Barrientos, Jesse Erickson, Denise Gigante, Melina Moe, Heather O’Donnell, Matt Rubery, Andrew Stauffer, Corinna Zeltsman, Kari Kraus, Matthew Kirschenbaum, Tia Blassingame, Jonathan Senchyne, Priyasha Mukhopadhyay, Ryan Cordell, Christy Pottroff, Olivia Moy, Katherine Ruffin, Miles Grier, Nicholas Dames, and Isabel Duarte-Gray. As of fall 2023, the Scarlet Letterpress is open to print student projects, dissertation and honors thesis title-pages, protest posters and more.
Interested in hearing more from us?
Email us at book@cca.rutgers.edu to subscribe to our newsletter!
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
The Rutgers Book Initiative’s Scarlet Letterpress’s First Birthday.
Join us in printing aging- and fall-related poems!
Friday November 8 | 10:00 am and 2:00 pm
Murray Hall 309 | College Avenue, New Brunswick
Paper Making Workshop with Rejin Leys and Professor Brad Evans’s Class “Writing Forests”
Join us in recycling printed waste matter into new, usable paper, demonstrated by Rejin Leys for Professor Brad Evans’s students in his class “Writing Forests.”
Friday November 15 | 12:10 am and 1:30 pm
Murray Hall 309 | College Avenue, New Brunswick
Past Events
Past Events
Halloween DIY Decor Event
October 4th, from 10am to 5pm
Join the Scarlet Letterpress in Murray 309 and 302, where we will be welcoming in the fall season with DIY decor. Print Halloween poems, spells, or seasonal cards, or bring old books back to life by recycling the pages of expired volumes into ghost- and pumpkin-garlands. Stop by for any amount of time to get crafty and learn a bit about how the RIB uses “waste” books and meet our new printing presses. All materials will be provided. Please share the word and feel free to invite undergraduates, children, or just yourselves! Reach out to the Rutgers Initiative for the Book (book@cca.rutgers.edu) with questions or for more information.
The Second Colloquium on Independent Publishing
Come hear Dante Gonzalez present his “Edición, Literatura y Pensamiento en Lenguas Originarias” (event in Spanish) and the subsequent conversation “Independent Publishing and the Sociology of Literature” with John Thompson, Ana Cecillia Calle, and Gustavo Guerrero, with a response by Marcy Schwartz.
Thursday April 18 | 1:00 pm and 4:30 pm
Academic Building West Room 6051, 15 Seminary Place, New Brunswick
Self-Publishing Workshop.
Come learn about the world of spirit duplication. Bookseller and historian of radical publishing Brian Cassidy will provide an overview of these technologies and their use in early zines. Then try your hand at making your own ditto and hectography copies! All are welcome!
Wednesday April 17 | 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Scarlet Letterpress | Murray Hall 309, 510 George St., New Brunswick
If you have any questions, email us at: book@cca.rutgers.edu