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Semple Press

@semplepress.bsky.social

Rachel Marsh: letterpress printer, writer, and designer, artists books, archive dweller, lichen enthusiast, PhD candidate at UWE and Bucks Mills (never bored) https://linktr.ee/semplepress

160 Followers  |  197 Following  |  54 Posts  |  Joined: 01.12.2023  |  1.9861

Latest posts by semplepress.bsky.social on Bluesky

Congratulations! πŸ™Œ

06.10.2025 23:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This is the information I’ve been looking for!

04.10.2025 10:51 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
SONNET FOR THE SECOND- LANGUAGE SPEAKER
What is a word? β€” Depends on who you ask.
For instance, in the rigid Flemish taal, so many things that feel like words don't pass, and my sprung language doesn't work at all.
My sentences are yet another place where stringent rule-embracers don't agree: to me, an error shows the second face of grammar. The mistakes are what I mean.
The thing I value most in any lineβ€” drawn, made, wrote, thought, in fantasy or factβ€” is flexibility: that, like a spine,
the art supports the mind by which it's maked.
What use is language flattened, dried in books?
Our language lives most when it is mistook.

SONNET FOR THE SECOND- LANGUAGE SPEAKER What is a word? β€” Depends on who you ask. For instance, in the rigid Flemish taal, so many things that feel like words don't pass, and my sprung language doesn't work at all. My sentences are yet another place where stringent rule-embracers don't agree: to me, an error shows the second face of grammar. The mistakes are what I mean. The thing I value most in any lineβ€” drawn, made, wrote, thought, in fantasy or factβ€” is flexibility: that, like a spine, the art supports the mind by which it's maked. What use is language flattened, dried in books? Our language lives most when it is mistook.

on the drying grass in the park under falling leaves with Pattern-book by @eireannmor.bsky.social

03.10.2025 19:30 β€” πŸ‘ 19    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0

Incredible article β€” thank you for writing it

03.10.2025 08:52 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Acrobat: ✨ This appears to be a long document. Save time by reading a summary
Me: No thanks β€” I’ll find connections that you, ai assistant, will not

Relieved to say that after closing the oh-so-helpful banner in acrobat waaaaay too many times, I finally found a way to switch off ai in preferences

01.10.2025 11:18 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Image: Acheiropoieta by Clifton Meador (2020). A picture of a woman from photographs in the collection, reworked in colour.

Image: Acheiropoieta by Clifton Meador (2020). A picture of a woman from photographs in the collection, reworked in colour.

The new call for entries for the Herzog August Bibliothek Artist’s Book Prize 2026 is now open. Create a new work in response to the collection. Prize: €6,000 plus a four-week residency at HAB in WolfenbΓΌttel, Germany. Application deadline: 31st December 2025. Info at:
www.hab.de/en/artists-b...

29.09.2025 10:38 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Huh! That just triggered a memory for me. My mum used to put these (dried) in flower arrangements. I never knew what they were till now. Thanks!

28.09.2025 12:11 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

But…. what if Peter Thiel _is_ the Antichrist? Isn’t this exactly the sort of thing he would say? #joke

24.09.2025 18:17 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

With many thanks to @terriwindling.bsky.social whose quotes from writers and folklorists on the walls of the Widdershins 3 exhibition at Green Hill Arts in Moretonhampstead provided an epiphany moment

24.09.2025 10:46 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Mary Stella Edwards and β€œThe Immortal Hour” - Ackland And Edwards Trust The importance of The Immortal Hour on Mary Stella Edwards poetry and connection to the natural world – and its relation to the faery realm

New blogpost alert: Mary Stella Edwards and β€œThe Immortal Hour”… or my theory on how the Celtic revival gave (imaginative) people in the last century the imagery to rethink their connections to the natural world

acklandandedwardstrust.co.uk/mary-stella-...

24.09.2025 10:44 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Haeckel eat yer heart out!

20.09.2025 20:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Small Publishers Fair
October 2022

The fair is coming up again soon 24-25 Oct 2025
Conway Hall, Red Lion Square London WC1R 4AL

#smallpublishers #artistsbooks #handprinted #smallpublishersfair2025 #screenprinting

18.09.2025 12:32 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Detail of a Letterpress print made with woodtype and metal type. Print favours shapes of letters and type overlaps over readability

Detail of a Letterpress print made with woodtype and metal type. Print favours shapes of letters and type overlaps over readability

I’ve been learning how to make #letterpress ink from #earthpigments and laked botanicals. It’s taken some time! Now working on a concertina artist book with #woodtype and #metaltype. The earth pigments come from my garden and local beaches, & (so far) #lakepigments from onion skins and blackberries

14.09.2025 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1

πŸ‘€ I spy the best end of Westward Ho! beach… great shot!

13.09.2025 20:06 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
The back of a beautiful keepsake produced by Rachel Marsh of Semple Press. Rachel’s special edition for participants - Mycelial Whispers, is letterpress printed in PaperWise (made from agricultural crop waste) dyed with oak gall modified with iron and soda ash.

The back of a beautiful keepsake produced by Rachel Marsh of Semple Press. Rachel’s special edition for participants - Mycelial Whispers, is letterpress printed in PaperWise (made from agricultural crop waste) dyed with oak gall modified with iron and soda ash.

A table full of envelopes and postage stamps being assembled.

A table full of envelopes and postage stamps being assembled.

A table full of postage stamps and envelopes being assembled.

A table full of postage stamps and envelopes being assembled.

The front of a beautiful keepsake produced by Rachel Marsh of Semple Press. Rachel’s special edition for participants - Mycelial Whispers, is letterpress printed in PaperWise (made from agricultural crop waste) dyed with oak gall modified with iron and soda ash.

The front of a beautiful keepsake produced by Rachel Marsh of Semple Press. Rachel’s special edition for participants - Mycelial Whispers, is letterpress printed in PaperWise (made from agricultural crop waste) dyed with oak gall modified with iron and soda ash.

Our World Book Night 2025 Talk to the Trees | Listen to the Trees artworks have been packed, addressed and stamped for 200+ recipients. Two boxes of post are leaving tomorrow. Next year will be mountains, details of the call will be in the September-October Book Arts Newsletter. Will you join us?

08.08.2025 17:08 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Collections in Dialogue: An Artist Co-Commission Call Out The British Library and Leeds Art Gallery seek to commission an artist or artist collective based in the Yorkshire and Humber area. This commission will culminate in the creation of new work by the ar...

Artist commission opp UK: exploring artists’ books held at @britishlibrary.bsky.social alongside works in @leedsmuseums.bsky.social sculpture collection that employ the medium of the book as a sculptural object. Info on link, deadline to apply 29 Aug:
museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/collections-...

05.08.2025 10:37 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Flying Too High: AI and Air France Flight 447 Podcast Episode Β· Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Β· 19/07/2024 Β· 41m

ChatGPT is actually *not* good for brainstorming. Great β€˜Cautionary Tales’ podcast about the pitfalls in ai here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/c...
Includes a small segment on how useless it is for brainstorming!

01.08.2025 08:45 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Huh. You only get a kitkat and a glass of squash for donating blood in the uk. Plus the sweet glow of virtue of course… though that might have been light-headedness

28.07.2025 19:25 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The submission window for the autumn issue closes on Friday! Last chance to send in your short, minimal & concrete poems for publication in aswirl πŸŒ€πŸ‚

28.07.2025 07:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Detail of the 2016 Siruela (Spanish) edition of Lolly Willowes, showing a cat with the title written on its white chest.

Detail of the 2016 Siruela (Spanish) edition of Lolly Willowes, showing a cat with the title written on its white chest.

Announcing a conference in London in May 2026, to mark the centenary of Lolly Willowes, Sylvia's first and best-known novel.
townsendwarner.com/lolly-willow...

20.07.2025 22:40 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Not just me then. I did listen and wished I hadn’t. Also usually love @bunkerpod.bsky.social

09.07.2025 17:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

The Dispossessed by Ursula K Le Guin

09.07.2025 17:09 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

A studio _and_ letterpress? You’re doomed. I predict a studio stuffed with letterpress equipment within 6 months

05.07.2025 19:27 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Poster text reads: 

HYDROPOETRY IN PRACTICE
30TH JULY 2025
HYBRID / ROYAL HOLLOWAY
KEYNOTE PERFORMERS:
ROYAL
HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
UNIVERSITY of York
Poetics
Research
Centre
Royal Holloway
HUMANITIES &
ARTS
RESEARCH
β€” NSTITUTE
/ MARAMA SALSANO: 'KO WAI AU? WHOSE WATERS DO I DESCEND FROM?' / KATIE HART POTAPOFF: 'A RETURN TO THE CROOK IN MY ELBOW' / KARAN CHAMBERS: 'WHAT THE WATER GAVE US: FEMINIST HYDROPOETICS AND THE REIMAGINING OF FOLKLORE' / CONEFFLUENTS: 'LEAKY INSTRUMENTS: HOSTING, TOOLS, AND POROSITY AT CHANNELSEA RIVER' / AYESHA HAMEED & DESIRE MULLA: 'A GLOSSARY OF AFTERLIVES OF TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVERY' / ANITA SLATER: 'A POETICS OF GUIDANCE: THINKING THROUGH WATER AND GUIDEBOOKS' / JENNIFER HOWITT: 'ENTER FEN' / SUPRIYA KAUR DHALIWAL: 'AGAINST LISTENING: AN ANTI-RIVER MANIFESTO' / RACHEL MARSH:
LETTING THE COLLOIDAL
SUSPENSION SETTLE' / KATIE MCGETTIGAN: 'WATER/PAPER/WATER'
/ MONTENEGRO FISHER: 'FLUID GEOMETRIES' / HELENA HUNTER:
'ALGAE POETICS: PRACTICE RESEARCH WITH POETRY AND MARINE SCIENCE' / TUSSHARA NALAHUMAR SRILATHA: 'WAYS TO SUMMON WATER' / LIZ KENDALL: 'THE BRIDGE OF POETRY: MEMORY AS MOTIVATION
FOR CLIMATE ACTION' / CHARLIE MILLS:
'UNDERFLOWAN' / IRIZAIDA NAVAR: 'RITUAL PARA QUE LLUEVA' / BECCA DRAKE & GAIA BLANDINA: 'RESURFACING THE KING'S POOL, A COLLABORATIVE SOUND PERFORMANCE' / TAMSYN CHALLENGER:
'WATER WORKS' / VERITY ROWSELL: 'OCEANIC BODIES' /
9.30AM - 6.00PM: CHESTNUTS LECTURE THEATRE
ROVAL HOLLOWAY ECHAM CAMPUS
Register via Eventbrite / Contact
briony.hughes@rhul.ac.uk with any questions

Poster text reads: HYDROPOETRY IN PRACTICE 30TH JULY 2025 HYBRID / ROYAL HOLLOWAY KEYNOTE PERFORMERS: ROYAL HOLLOWAY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON UNIVERSITY of York Poetics Research Centre Royal Holloway HUMANITIES & ARTS RESEARCH β€” NSTITUTE / MARAMA SALSANO: 'KO WAI AU? WHOSE WATERS DO I DESCEND FROM?' / KATIE HART POTAPOFF: 'A RETURN TO THE CROOK IN MY ELBOW' / KARAN CHAMBERS: 'WHAT THE WATER GAVE US: FEMINIST HYDROPOETICS AND THE REIMAGINING OF FOLKLORE' / CONEFFLUENTS: 'LEAKY INSTRUMENTS: HOSTING, TOOLS, AND POROSITY AT CHANNELSEA RIVER' / AYESHA HAMEED & DESIRE MULLA: 'A GLOSSARY OF AFTERLIVES OF TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVERY' / ANITA SLATER: 'A POETICS OF GUIDANCE: THINKING THROUGH WATER AND GUIDEBOOKS' / JENNIFER HOWITT: 'ENTER FEN' / SUPRIYA KAUR DHALIWAL: 'AGAINST LISTENING: AN ANTI-RIVER MANIFESTO' / RACHEL MARSH: LETTING THE COLLOIDAL SUSPENSION SETTLE' / KATIE MCGETTIGAN: 'WATER/PAPER/WATER' / MONTENEGRO FISHER: 'FLUID GEOMETRIES' / HELENA HUNTER: 'ALGAE POETICS: PRACTICE RESEARCH WITH POETRY AND MARINE SCIENCE' / TUSSHARA NALAHUMAR SRILATHA: 'WAYS TO SUMMON WATER' / LIZ KENDALL: 'THE BRIDGE OF POETRY: MEMORY AS MOTIVATION FOR CLIMATE ACTION' / CHARLIE MILLS: 'UNDERFLOWAN' / IRIZAIDA NAVAR: 'RITUAL PARA QUE LLUEVA' / BECCA DRAKE & GAIA BLANDINA: 'RESURFACING THE KING'S POOL, A COLLABORATIVE SOUND PERFORMANCE' / TAMSYN CHALLENGER: 'WATER WORKS' / VERITY ROWSELL: 'OCEANIC BODIES' / 9.30AM - 6.00PM: CHESTNUTS LECTURE THEATRE ROVAL HOLLOWAY ECHAM CAMPUS Register via Eventbrite / Contact briony.hughes@rhul.ac.uk with any questions

INCREDIBLY excited to share the line up for the Hydropoetry in Practice conference! Join us at Royal Holloway or online on 30th July 🌊🌊🌊 www.eventbrite.com/e/hydropoetr...

03.07.2025 17:53 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 2
Poster for an exhibition of artists books from Brazil at Bower Ashton Library in Bristol, UK.

Poster for an exhibition of artists books from Brazil at Bower Ashton Library in Bristol, UK.

Art Crossing Borders with Artists' Books: Bristol Welcoming Brazil. An exhibition of works by SΓ£o Paulo-based study group β€œArtists' books, book-objects: among traces and effacement.”. Curated and produced by FabΓ­ola Notari. Bower Ashton Library, for info visit:
www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/livrosdearti...

03.07.2025 10:04 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

You definitely deserve one… I feel sure one will come your way

01.07.2025 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Would any of you be interested in a bi-annual visual poetry newspaper? πŸ€”

17.06.2025 09:40 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

πŸ™‹ yes please!

17.06.2025 11:11 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ™‹

16.06.2025 14:55 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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