In Praise of Impending Balikbayan: Irreversible Ecological Disaster

About the Broadside

This broadside was designed and produced by Center for Book Arts 2020-2021 Book Artist-in-Residence Oswaldo García for CBA’s 25th Anniversary Chapbook Competition Runner-Up Dujie Tahat in 2021.

CBA’s Annual Chapbook Competition is an open call for poets to submit manuscripts. Submissions are reviewed blindly by a Guest Judge who selects one winner and two runners-up. As part of the awards package, CBA publishes respective limited-edition chapbooks for the Guest Judge and Competition Winner as well as respective limited-edition broadsides for the runners-up.

Tahat was selected as Runner-Up for the 2021 Competition by Guest Judge Simone White. García was inspired by the title of Tahat’s poem, In Praise of Impending Balikbayan: Irreversible Ecological Disaster, to activate his broadside design by making it possible for people to transform the flat sheet into a three-dimensional balikbayan box. Balikbayan boxes are commonly used by Filipino nationals living abroad to send support to their family and friends at home tax & duty-free. It is estimated that over 400,000 balikbayan boxes are shipped every month.

In addition to García’s broadside for Tahat, CBA published a limited-edition chapbook for the Winner of the 2021 Competition, Bianca Rae Messinger, that was designed and produced by artist Yuchen Chang. CBA also published a limited-edition chapbook for White that was designed and produced by another 2020-2021 Book Artist-in-Residence Alva Mooses. And finally, the other 2021 Competition Runner-Up, Benjamin Aleshire, had his poem published as a limited-edition broadside designed and produced by CBA Administrative Assistant Allison Carter Beaulé.

Colophon

This broadside was designed and printed in polymer plates at the Center for Book Arts, New York by Oswaldo García in honor of the poet’s reading on December 9th, 2021. The edition is 100.