Boys Fight, available now from Winter Editions
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DETAIL OF THE RISO AND LETTERPRESS COVER TO BOYS FIGHT.
Dissolve is thrilled to share the print publication of Marina Tëmkina’s poem “Boys Fight,” co-published by Winter Editions and Alder & Frankia. The chapbook is hand-printed by Emily Larned with gorgeous Risograph illustrations and a custom letterpress cover.
First published online by Dissolve in October 2022, Tëmkina’s poem expands on the ever-present question of conflict inherent in masculine doctrines of competition, play, and domination, using deceptively straightforward language to cut to the quick of a self-perpetuating and frequently toxic ideology: the individual uses and collective deficiencies of conflict. Through incisive repetition that returns the reader to her theme, Tëmkina creates something akin to an anti-war mantra, at once tragic, comic, and profound.
The poem’s layout, influenced by the Soviet avant-garde traditions of the Vkhutemas school, is broken into discrete blocks of text. Alongside Tëmkina’s stanzas are Michel Gérard’s nebulous drawings, excerpted from the Larousse dictionary’s illustrations of boxing and other games of fighting; they occupy the left-hand side of each folio, rendered in exquisite four-color Riso prints that mimic the original textures of Gérard’s pastel and mixed-media drawings.
Dissolve is pleased to share this collector’s edition for purchase from Winter Editions. Visit the publisher’s webpage to order a copy.
