Three years ago, Springtide Press’ Jessica Spring’s and King’s Books’ original sweet pea had a conversation during one of Springs’ letterpress classes, and an idea for an event evolved.

“She had the word ‘Wayzgoose’ in her arsenal,” explains sweet pea.



A word of obscure origin, it was the name of the annual feast a master printer would throw for his staff on St. Bartholomew’s Day as homage to the patron saint of bookbinders and leather workers (also the patron saint of nervous diseases, but that’s a different story).



“What it’s come to mean is a kind of letterpress ‘O come all ye,’” says sweet pea, explaining that the term encapsulates an event where letterpress artists gather to share ideas, work, and equipment.



But Spring and sweet pea had a grander scope in mind.



“We do it more like a fair, where the uninitiated come,” explains sweet pea.



The idea of tying in a Wayzgoose event, happening this year on Saturday, March 31, from noon to 4 p.m., with Small Press Month was a natural.



“There is no smaller press than letterpress,” explains sweet pea, adding that the majority of the presses (where major literary titles are put out) are owned by a small number of huge corporations.



“At the same time, letterpress as an art form has been gaining in recognition,” he says.

At King’s Books’ Wazgoose, the focus is to “bring it back to the beauty of the book,” says sweet pea.



But books aren’t the sole focus of Wayzgoose this year. A diverse segment of participants will share their angles on letterpress and the art of the book.  These participants will include Spring; local letterpress, paint, graphic design, and installation artist Chris Sharp;  guerilla artists Lance Kagey and Tom Llewellyn of Beautiful Angle; owner and operator of May Day Press in Shelton Catherine Alice Michaelis; ilfant press operator and nationally renowned artist Lisa Hasegawa; Notta Pixie Press owner and operator Jenny Craig; Carl Montford of the Montford Press; and the Elliott Press at Pacific Lutheran University, which will produce this year’s Wayzgoose poster and which will display artists’ work at King’s Books.



Also involved will be the Letterpress Studio at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle; L’Arche Farm and Gardens, which will present a handmade paper demonstration; and perennial favorite — entrepreneur Abby McDermott, the 6-year-old proprietor of Guinea Pig Press whose art is about to explode on the Tacoma art scene.



“Printers themselves get really excited about this event,” says sweet pea. “People attending it have been, too.”



[King’s Books, Saturday, March 31, noon to 4 p.m., 218 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.8801]