Two-Day Letterpress Workshop

Close-up of a printing press with green rollers and a typeset layout.
February 28, 2026

Two-Day Letterpress Workshop

Sat February 28th & Sun March 1st, 2026
10am to 4pm each day
Location: The Codex Foundation, 1331 Seventh Street, Unit D, Berkeley, CA

Open to Berkeley undergraduate & graduate students
Limited enrollment, capped at 8 students
Spots given on a first-come, first-served basis
Cost to participants underwritten by the Arts Research Center

Due to the limited space and cost, we ask that you commit to attending if you sign-up; we are taking a waiting list in case of emergencies.

Application closed/the workshop and waiting list have filled! 

We will inform you in writing if you are accepted into the workshop or are on the waiting list by Jan 30. 

Sponsored by the Arts Research Center with The CODEX Foundation, with support from the Dean's Office of the Division of Arts & Humanities 

The Arts Research Center is thrilled to partner for a second year with The CODEX Foundation to create a workshop opportunity for Berkeley students in the craft of letterpress printing. These workshops are held in conjunction with an ARC Visiting Writer's visit to campus, to create a handset letterpress printed broadside to present both to the poet & the general public. ARC's invited poet is Layli Long Soldier, who will kick-off National Poetry Month with a two-day visit April 1 & 2, 2026. 

Join the Arts Research Center and master letterpress printer Jonathan Gerken at The CODEX Foundation Logan Book Arts Center for a two-day, hands-on workshop to create a limited edition broadside. The broadside celebrates poet Layli Long Soldier’s visit to UC Berkeley to kick-off National Poetry Month in April 2026, and commemorates ARC’s 25th Anniversary year. 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 and press equipment. The workshop is designed with the goal of bringing people together to promote poetry, design, and the printed word.

We will print a poem from Long Soldier’s book Whereas, which won the National Books Critics Circle award, the 2018 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. The class will learn to hand-set the poem using metal type and print enough broadsides for each participant to take a handful of prints. Participants are also invited to attend Layli Long Soldier’s reading on Wednesday, April 1st, 2026 where we will hand out copies of the broadside for free. 

Long Soldier will also hold a conversation the following evening April 2nd with the poet Solmaz Sharif. The poetry reading and conversation will both be held in the Maude Fife Room (Wheeler Hall 315) on campus, and the events are free and open to the public, seating first-come first-served. Event information on our website

WORKSHOP SIGN-UP APPLICATION HERE!

The workshop is capped at 8 people. The cost of the workshop is $300 per participant, underwritten entirely by the Arts Research Center. Due to the limited space and cost, we ask that you commit to attending if you sign-up; we will be taking a waiting list in case of emergencies.

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red text logo reading CODEX

Since 2005, The CODEX Foundation's mission has been to preserve and promote the contemporary hand-made book as a work of art in the broadest possible context, and to bring to public recognition the artists, artisanry, and the rich history of the civilization of the book. The CODEX Foundation Logan Book Arts Center aims to be a vital part of the arts and culture community in Berkeley and beyond, focusing on the book as a work of art—a dynamic crossroads between the visual and literary arts. CODEX supports working artists,  crafts people, scholars, curators, and collectors in the production and preservation of meaningful scholarly and artistic contributions to the book arts canon through exhibitions, publications, symposia, lectures, a reference library, an artist book and fine press library, letterpress workshops, and other community activities.

photo of letterpress printer gears
two people printing on a letterpress

Students printing a broadside for ARC's letterpress workshop in honor of poet Sherwin Bitsui.

hand holding hand-set metal type

Topics

Lecture Series Event topic page, Creative Writing topic page, Visual Arts topic page

The CODEX Foundation's aims:

1. Preserve and promote the rich history and craft traditions that make up the book arts while underscoring the book as art and cultural icon throughout art history.

2. Connect the varied global histories of the book across cultures to contemporary practitioners working with the book as a work of art.

3. Promote and support contemporary artists, craftspeople, scholars, curators, librarians, and collectors (both independent and academic) within the field of artist books and fine press books.

4. Foster the future of the book as a dynamic and vibrant field for artistic inquiry within the larger field of contemporary art—a dynamic crossroads of the literary and visual arts communities.

people in a letterpress studio setting type

Students hand-setting type.