Adam’s Mark: Writing from the Ox-House is a collection of prose as well as the culmination of labors by three artists: a book artist, a visual artist and a writer. First, the book is entirely handmade in a limited edition of just 100 copies. Each page has been designed, letterpress printed on a hand-cranked press, then hand-sewn by book artist Andrew Miller-Brown. Furthermore, the book includes original woodblock print illustrations by artist Mary Simpson. Adam’s Mark contains stories exploring connections between the work of writing and the work of farming. Many of the linked stories in the collection were funded by a Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant and honored with the 2006 Ralph Nading Hill Award. Other portions previously appeared in Farming, Passages North, Rivendell, Small Farmers Journal and Vermont Life. The book is also available in an (also beautifully designed, but slightly more affordable) trade edition. For information or to order please visit: http://www.plowboypress.com/
Editor emeritus of Vermont Life Magazine, Tom Slayton remarked, “Adam’s Mark brilliantly combines the author’s interest in literature with her experience working on a dairy farm. Words and work are melded in a series of essays that are brief, captivating and profound, with references that range from Japanese Haiku to Seamus Heaney, and from summertime haying to mid-winter manure piles. Julia Shipley is one of Vermont’s very best emerging writers, and she proves it once again with this charming and beautifully written collection.”
Adam’s Mark was mentioned in the Boston Globe and also selected as a Boston Globe Best New England Book of 2014.
