Ugly Duckling Presse: 25th Anniversary Celebration

Join us in celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of one of U.S. poetry’s most influential publishers!

Known for their beautiful editions, Ugly Duckling Presse began its life in as a xeroxed zine and slowly transformed into a Brooklyn-based nonprofit small press led by a volunteer collective that has brought out more than 250 titles to date. Throughout its history, UDP has favored emerging, international, and “forgotten” writers, and its books, chapbooks, artist’s books, broadsides, and periodicals often contain handmade and letterpress elements, calling attention to the labor and history of bookmaking.

5 pm: Gallery Opening for Ugly Duckling Presse: The First 25 Years—This exhibit presents a wide variety of printed materials, ephemera, posters, newspapers, broadsides, chapbooks, letterpress prints, artist's books, and special editions produced by UDP since 1993, beginning with The Ugly Duckling zine. The exhibit includes Joel Schlemowitz's award-winning experimental documentary "Loudmouth Collective/Ugly Duckling Presse" (2003), which chronicles the activities of UDP and its collaborators in the early 2000s.

6 pm: Conversation with UDP editor Matvei Yankelevich

7 pm: Poetry readings by UDP authors Corina Copp, Joshua Edwards, Lewis Freedman, Jennifer Nelson, and Simone White