The Harry Smith Print Shop features a Chandler and Price platen press and a Vandercook SP-15 proof press. Courses are offered for students who wish to learn printing techniques using distributable type on both platen and proof presses and add a fine crafts dimension. Periodic classes in bookbinding and paper making are also offered.

The core press and much of the older Perpetua type were originally owned by poet Lyn Hejinian’s Tuumba Press. Poets printed in this press included Alice Notley, Fanny Howe, Clark Coolidge, Michael Palmer, Ron Silliman, Bob Perelman, and Charles Bernstein. After Lyn passed the press on to David Sheidlower, David used the imprint Coincidence Press. He printed chapbooks by Larry Eigner, Pat Reed, Andrew Schelling, Robert Kelly, Rachel DuPlessis, and others. When David decided to stop printing, he offered his print shop, including the historic Chandler & Price Platen press, to Naropa. Later, equipment arrived from Rydall Press, which was founded by friends of DH Lawrence, and from Ken Mikolowski’s Alternative Press. The larger platen press was received from Salt Works Press and dates back to 1915. Type and more equipment have been added, thanks to the generous gifts from donors.

The Kavyayantra Press is the imprint for chapbooks and broadsides published through the Department of Writing and Poetics. The press is housed in the cottage where filmmaker, scholar and musicologist Harry Smith resided. Printers Brad O’Sullivan and Julia Seko teach letterpress printing courses, which are offered every semester.