TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionA large letterpress printed broadside of a poem “Sound as Fundy, Fundy as Sound” by the American poet, Heather McHugh, that was published by the Tides Institute in 2015. The institute had asked McHugh, who lived in Eastport, Maine for several years earlier in her career, to write a poem that would be printed as a limited edition broadside. At the time, McHugh had long been based at the other side of the North American continent near Seattle, Washington, specifically Port Angeles. Port Angeles like Eastport lies directly on the U.S. / Canada coastal boundary. The poem’s title references the respective boundary waters, Puget Sound in the west, Bay of Fundy in the east. Andrew Steeves of Gaspereau Press in Kentville, Nova Scotia designed the broadside for the institute and then typeset and hand printed 250 copies. The first 50 copies of the broadside were reserved for Caregifted, an organization founded by McHugh to provide respite to long time caregivers. McHugh was born in San Diego, California in 1948 to Canadian parents, grew up in Virginia and earned a degree at Harvard College. She has led a long and highly successful career, publishing numerous books of poetry as well as works of translation and achieving numerous awards (including a “genius grant” from the MacArthur Foundation) and residency fellowships (MacDowell Colony and Yaddo among others). In 1984, she became writer in residence at the University of Washington in Seattle and in 2011 a professor of creative writing there. She continues to live in Port Angeles, Washington. Artist: Heather McHugh, Andrew Steeves Medium: Letterpress Classification: Prints Circa: 2015 Old Accession Number: 1824 This broadside was typeset & handprinted by Andrew Steeves at Gaspereau Press, Kentville, Nova Scotia, & issued in a limited edition of two hundred & fifty copies by the Tides Institute & Museum of Art, Eastport, Maine. The first fifty were reserved for CAREGIFTED, an organization which celebrates the gifts made to society by millions of unpaid lifelong caregivers to disabled family members. For Bryan & Arwen, and in honor of Dot & Harlan Gardner