Printing Poetry Workshop #5 and Reading with Truong Tran

Workshop

Saturday & Sunday, November 14-15, 2026
9:00 am – 5:00 pm with a one-hour lunch break

Full workshop fee: $300
Scholarship workshop fee: $100

Our fifth in a series of letterpress printing workshops with the goal of bringing people together around poetry and the printed word—an exploration of the visual and material qualities surrounding poetry and writing. This workshop brings poets and writers together with printers and makers. Open to all levels: this class is great for poets, designers, artists, publishers, printers, and others who might be interested in collaborating together while learning the basics of letterpress printing, printmaking, and pressroom equipment.

Join master letterpress printer Jonathan Gerken at The CODEX Foundation Logan Book Arts Center to create a limited-edition broadside in our printshop in Berkeley. The class will be working with a poem by Truong Tran, a San Francisco based poet and visual artist. The class will hand-set the poem using metal and/or wood types and print an accompanying illustration. Enough broadsides will be printed during the class for each participant to take home a handful of prints.

Participants are invited to attend the reading by Truong Tran (free) on Friday, November 20 at 5:30 pm where broadsides from the workshop will be handed out to all in attendance.

There are 8 spots available with 2 reduced fee scholarships reserved for individuals from underserved communities. Please contact us if you are interested in a scholarship position.

Photo Credit: Daniel Lichteber from poets.org

Poetry Reading

Friday, November 20, 2026
Light refreshments at 5:30 pm
Reading will begin at 6:00 pm

Broadsides from the workshop will be given out for free at the reading/talk to attendees. This lecture will be open to all with a suggested donation of $20 and will include snacks & drinks.

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Truong Tran is a poet, visual artist, and teacher born in Saigon, Vietnam. He is currently on a book tour for his latest publication: How to Exi(s)t: A Poet’s Memoir. His book-length poetry project Book of the Other: Small in Comparison (2021) received an American Book Award in 2022. He is the author of seven collections, The Book of Perceptions, Placing the Accents, Dust and Conscience, Within the Margins, Four Letter Words, 100 words (with Damon Potter), and Looking and Seeing/Seeing and Looking (with Damon Potter). He also written the children’s book Going Home Coming Home and an artist monograph, I Meant To Say Please Pass the Sugar. His poems and books have been translated into Spanish, French, and Dutch. He is the recipient of the Poetry Center Prize, the Fund for Poetry Grant, the California Arts Council Grant, and numerous San Francisco Arts Commission Grants. Truong is also a visual artist who believes that art, be it poetry, cooking, sculpting, and even gardening, are his ways of thinking through the conscious of the times we live in. Truong lives in San Francisco and currently teaches at Northeastern University, Oakland.

The Art of Translation
Portfolio Exhibition

Come view this collection of unique prints and works on paper!

A beautiful display of the works from our newest Assembly/Exchange Portfolio of 25 contemporary prints by well-known and well-collected artists, printers, and publishers of artists’ books associated with the CODEX Foundation.

Reception

Thursday, October 29, 2026
The CODEX Foundation
Logan Book Arts Center
1331 Seventh Street, Units C&D
Berkeley, CA 94710
5:30 pm

Reception is free and open to the public, no RSVP required. Suggested donation for the event is $20. Seating is limited. Small bites and beverages will be provided.

Thank you to Eliza Strong for the design and curation of this exhibition!