1.6.15

Morning Star Folios

The Morning Star Folios were a series of poet / artist collaborations that I published in the 1990s. I was interested in the small press tradition and the project was an apprenticeship in terms of possibilities and approaches. Most were produced by letterpress, by an independent printer in Guildford, Peter Knee; some were litho.

3/1: Fragments
Attila Jòzsef, translations of twelve poems by Edwin Morgan
Illustrated with drawings by John Byrne



For each of the quarterly publications I would invite an artist and poet: usually they didn’t meet, and the work evolved through correspondence – this was in the days before email, and I was working with people in Japan, USA, as well as Europe. Each folio was a limited edition of around 250, with 26 copies signed and lettered by a contributor.


4/4: Buoyage
Five poems by Ian Stephen
Illustrated by Will MacLean

They seem very far from what I do now, but I can see the beginning of my interest in shared consciousness, and with combining different art forms. I thought it would be good to make them available again. Some are out of print, however the available editions from Series Two (1991) to Series Six (1995) are listed on the Morning Star Folio page here.

6/4: Catasters
Five poems by Norma Cole.
Collage by Jess Collins.


Morning Star Folios can be purchased from Studio Alec Finlay, by sending an email to info@alecfinlay.com with the publication title, quantity, and your name and billing/delivery address in the email. We will then send you an invoice (including postage) with payment details; once payment has been received, we will dispatch your order.