THE TIME COMES, FORTUNE TURNS (Shí lái yùn zhuǎn) It was a chance encounter, my first meeting with Wang Jun. Joe Coca and I were in Guizhou Province, China, with a potential author, checking the area out for a couple of weeks. Wang Jun was our translator. That book didn’t work out, but in […]
25
Sep
Sep
When my colleagues at ClothRoads and I chose the name “Thrums” for our umbrella business, we were thinking of the old term for the loose threads that are left on the back of a loom when a new weaving is cut off. We were feeling sort of like loose threads after leaving Interweave Press in […]
14
May
May
Every spring for the last thirty plus years, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) celebrates the little guys in the publishing world through its Benjamin Franklin Awards. This is actually a highly regarded indie book award program that recognizes excellence in editorial content, photography, and design. This year the IBPA judges, hundreds of them, chose […]
24
Jan
Jan
I didn’t even know who Mr. T was, until I received an impressive certificate, suitable for framing, with his fierce visage staring me in the face. Such a surprise. You might wonder what I did to earn such an honor. Well, it was easy! I got in front of a video camera and babbled with […]
01
Nov
Nov
You have to imagine this: Chip Morris, scruffy, sometimes cranky author of A Textile Guide to the Highlands of Chiapas is standing in the plaza before the church in San Andrés Larrainzar, Chiapas, telling stories. He’s telling in English, but tossing off comments to passing locals in their own Tzotzil language.The story that sticks in […]
12
Jul
Jul
As we make our way to the International Folk Art Market this week, enjoy this reprise of a favorite post. Join us next week for the update on our debut at the market and a gallery of photos. A few years ago, I read an article by Augusta Strand, a conservator at Uppsala University in […]
31
May
May
I’m continually impressed with our authors and their ongoing work. I shouldn’t be. I know how extraordinary they are, but when I receive missives from far and wide, apprising me of their activities, I have to marvel a bit. Deborah Chandler writes from her home in Guatemala City to say that on her way to […]
12
Apr
Apr
Springtime always feels like a whirlwind at Thrums Books. We have new Spring books hitting the shelves while we’re sending our new fall books to the printer. It’s when we win awards (!) and plot our future fun. Check out what’s new in the world of Thrums Books and find out what’s on deck for […]
23
Nov
Nov
More than ten years ago, in partnership with Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez and the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, we published our first book Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands. During the last decade we’ve published 15 more books exploring textile traditions from around the world. We’ve brought to life the life stories of textile artisans who […]
13
Apr
Apr
The winds have been whirling in all directions at Thrums Books the last couple of weeks. We’re still celebrating the publication of Susan Schaefer Davis’s Women Artisans of Morocco, but we’re also finalizing the last details for two fall books we just sent to press, and now manuscripts are coming in for books we’ll bring […]
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