Jack Kerouac School Publications
Kavyayantra Press
Kavyayantra Press was established in 1993 as a matter of coincidence, mutual circumstances, and funding from various individuals and foundations such as The Rex Foundation, The Yamagata Foundation, and Allen Ginsberg. A Brief History by Andrew Schelling tells the full tale.
The name Kavyayantra is a compound Sanskrit word, giving a bow to Naropa’s buddhist roots. Yantra is device, engine, amulet, machine; Kavya is poetry (in the high-art sense, not mere verse). Thus, Kavyayantra gave birth to our Poetry Machine. It is the imprint of publications by the department combining mechanized forms with technology. Much of the work is done in the Harry Smith Printshop. Items include broadsides, chapbooks, and student journals, as well as the Bombay Gin Literary Journal.
Bombay Gin Literary Journal
Bombay Gin Literary Journal, is the department journal run by BA and MFA students that publishes innovative poetry, prose, and hybrid texts as well as art, translations, and interviews. Emerging from the “Outrider” tradition in 1976, Bombay Gin Literary Journal honors a heritage of powerful counter-poetics through the publication of work that challenges the boundaries of language, form, and genre. Read the oriGIN story here.
Harry Smith Print Shop
The Harry Smith Print Shop offers a unique opportunity for students to engage in the craft of letterpress printing. This practice deepens students’ relationships to the printed word and teaches them elements of layout, design, and printing techniques, using distributable type on both platen and proof presses. Classes are taught in the Fall, Spring, and Summer sessions. non-Naropa students can register for available workshops during Summer Writing Program with regular and guest faculty.
Something on Paper
Something on Paper (currently on hiatus) is an online poetics journal of scholarly utterance and conversation, archiving the critical work of the Jack Kerouac School as well as engaging with a broader community of writers, critics, and pedagogues. Each issue hosts cutting-edge literary/multimedia discourse and performs the liminal space between critical and creative texts. Our aim is to document the praxis of poetic exchange.
Available at Boulder Book Store
With over 50 years of press and publications, you can imagine some of the treasures in our archive. We’re very excited to collaborate with the Boulder Book Store, as vendor for some of these items. If there is something you really want, and don’t see below, please reach out to us at jks[at]naropa[dot]edu. We’ll release more and different items over time.
Broadsides are published by students, alumnx, and faculty through the Harry Smith Print Shop. Revenue goes toward support for Summer Writing Program scholarship.
For purchase and mailing, please call the store to place your order, until their new website is complete in Fall.
