Join us on Wednesday, July 6 from 4-7 pm at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (460 Commercial Street) AND on Thursday, July 7 at the Provincetown Commons. Both events will include readings and book signings of two of the press’s 2021-22 publications: Barbara E. Cohen’s Our Provincetown: Intimate Portraits (2021) and Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Poetic and Artistic Collaboration, 2005-2020. Hear the essays and poems from these unique publications read by their authors, meet their creators, and purchase books to be signed at these two celebrations of collaborative work.

Our Provincetown, available in soft cover and limited hardcover, includes more than sixty of Cohen signature painted polaroids of the town and the Provincelands, accompanied by essays from dozens of notable writers including Michael Cunningham, Kate Clinton, Nick Flynn, Alison Bechdel, Paul Lisicky, Marie Howe, David Dunlap, and many others. Cohen, who is based in New York and Provincetown, has published numerous books including Dogs and Their Women (Little, Brown, 1989) and, with Michael Cunningham, New York Love Affair (Fields Publishing, 2010).“ I never get tired of looking for special places in Provincetown and trying to capture what I see,” Cohen says. “But last year during one of my early-morning explorations, an idea came to me: why not ask people here whom I know and love—locals, writers, artists, poets—to write a little something about their favorite Provincetown spots, the places they feel particularly drawn to for whatever reason. Pairing those essays with painted photos would surely say more than either could alone. This book, Our Provincetown, was born in that moment.”

Released in April 2022, Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Poetic and Artistic Collaboration showcases dozens of “broadsides”—original works of visual art created in response to a poem by a contemporary writer, which are printed together on a single page—produced by the Truro-based Broadsided Press. The book includes fiQ&As between each artist and poet on the process that produced their collaborative broadside, as well as photos of broadsides posted around the world, celebrating Broadsided Press’s mission of “putting literature and art on the streets.” The diversity of voices, images, and locations in Broadsided Press: Fifteen Years of Collaboration illustrates the scope of Broadsided’s work: Jane Hirshfield’s “Critique of Pure Reason” taped up on a Florida boardwalk, artist Amy Meissner posting her collaboration with Traci Brimhall on a signpost in Alaska’s bear country, Camille Dungy and Caleb Brown discussing how visual art can “magnify” aspects of a poem. Printed in full color on heavy gloss paper, the book showcases Broadsided’s groundbreaking work in literature and the arts.