Claire Moncla, Creative Director [email protected]
Please Plant This Book
“Staggering, gorgeous, essential.” – Kaveh Akbar, author of Calling a Wolf a Wolf
First published in March 1968, Please Plant This Book was a unique project. Richard Brautigan's fourth poetry collection was actually eight poems printed on eight seed packets and placed in a glued folder. Six thousand copies were offered for free distribution, with permission to reprint the collection explicitly granted as long as the new printing was also free.
Fifty years later, on the anniversary of the original publication, author Francis Daulerio, illustrator Scott Hutchison, and publisher The Head & The Hand are releasing a reinterpretation of this pioneering collection. New poems and illustrations have been printed on high-quality, resealable seed packets and filled with eight varieties of GMO-free heirloom seeds. Each bundle includes Cherokee Purple Tomato, German Chamomile, Berlicum Carrot, Detroit Dark Red Beet, Tokyo Long White Onion, Lemon Bee Balm, Genovese Basil, and Henry Wilde Sunflower. Each variety has a specific poem on one side and an illustration on the other, and the collection is interwoven with themes of mental health and allusions to Brautigan’s life and work. All proceeds from the project will be donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. “I hope this publication will draw new attention to his body of work while also raising money for the foundation,” Daulerio said.
Writing the new edition’s forward, Brautigan’s daughter, Ianthe Brautigan, had nothing but positive reviews on the reinterpretation. “The poetry in this edition of Please Plant This Book reminds me of the continuing magic of the effect of my father’s writing in the world. Who publishes a book that can be planted? My father,” Ianthe wrote. “It’s such a Brautigan idea and a reminder that poetry can be seen as a metaphor for hope—and that the seeds of hope can be planted and bloom in the future.”
About the Author: Francis Daulerio is a writer and teacher from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Arcadia University, and his first collection of poetry, If & When We Wake, was released in 2015. More information can be found at FrancisDaulerio.com.
About the Illustrator: Scott Hutchison is an artist and musician from Selkirk, Scotland. He studied illustration at the Glasgow School of Art, and is the lead singer and guitarist for the indie rock band, Frightened Rabbit. More information can be found at FrightenedRabbit.com.
About the Publisher: The Head & The Hand is a nonprofit publisher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Our goal is to create innovative relationships between authors and the work they produce. We look for writing that shows a connection from the head to the hand and publish stories that have the power to spark change and entertain.
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