notebookism

The Paris Review Interviews

Since 1953, when the first issue of the magazine appeared with an interview of E. M. Forster, our Q&A encounters with the great writers of our times have come to be recognized as a sort of literary genre unto themselves: the Paris Review interview. More than fifty years—and more than three hundred interviews—later, the archive continues to grow with each new issue of the magazine. In November 2006, the first volume of a four-book set of The Paris Review Interviews was celebrated by reviewers across the English-speaking world.

LINK

[Thanks Chris]

Blank Page # 78

Every Wednesday at Notebookism we open a "Blank Page" -  your chance to ask, answer and discuss anything notebook-related.  Keep it nice, keep it relevant.

Blank Page, an Open Thread.

Clairefontaine on USA Today

A blogger's endorsement makes it to USA Today:

4. Claire Fontaine notebooks. If you've run into me at an event this year, there's a good chance you've seen me clutching one of these handy French notebooks, which come in a variety of sizes, styles and colors. I first heard about them from my truck-driving friend Erick, who discovered them on the road. You can buy them online, or you can find them in fine stationery stores. (Fun fact: The best place in D.C. to find CF notebooks is at Reagan National Airport, so I stock up anytime I fly in/out of there. When friends came to visit me from San Francisco, they bought me a stack at the terminal, and I nearly wept with joy.)

LINK

Project: Unfinished and Unpublished

The collection is inspired by the philosophy of Wabi Sabi, a celebration of the unconventional and imperfect. The impermanent and incomplete nature of the notebooks allows the end user to instill their own aesthetic and inspiration, to finish what has remained unfinished.

The section sewn binding technique, a method that uses threads to hold signatures or sections together of a book, has been embraced for its handmade craftsmanship. This distinguishing feature allows the notebook to lay flat when open.   

The key element of the notebooks however is the relationship between StudioMatador and the artists they commission. Contemporary artists from around the world are given creative license to submit a unique and as yet 'unpublished' piece. The work is then reinterpreted in line with the StudioMatador design aesthetic to arrive at the final product.   

Released bi-annually, this unisex notebook series deliver a rare beauty that yearns discovery. Artists commissioned previously include Kat Mcleod, Tobias Rottger, Alpha60, Pandarosa and Mark Kayler-Thompson – well known in their individual creative fields.   

Unfinished and Unpublished is a range of  monochromatic notebooks hoping to inspire and engage by showcasing unpublished artwork in this personal yet simple, everyday object.Recommended for writing, daydreaming, drawing, sketching, doodling... anyone got a pen?   

Visit Studio Matador

Clairefontaine celebrates 150 years

Founded in 1858, Clairefontaine, the makers of Rhodia notepads and writing materials, is celebrating 150 years of fine paper-making.

From the website of Exaclair (exclusive US distributor of Clairefontaine and Rhodia products):

Located in the Vosges region of France, Clairefontaine   was established on the site of a paper mill built in 1512. The Clairefontaine mill has been making paper since 1858 and stationery products since 1890. The company is best known for making the first school notebooks in France.

Clairefontaine is famous for its exceptionally white and ultra smooth notebook paper. People love Clairefontaine notebooks for the quality of the paper, and the pleasure of writing they experience when they use them. The notebook paper weighs 90 g, and has excellent opacity and a perfect satin finish for maximum smoothness in writing.

Clairefontaine products sold in the United States include its famous notebooks and pads, Pollen and Triomphe stationery, and art paper for painting, pastels and sketching.

More at Rhodia Drive

Fortifed Notebook

Isn't this cute?

Good and good for you! This handmade spiral bound notebook measures 3.5" x 7.5" (see last picture) and contains 50 acid-free, blank, white, recycled (natch!) pages (100 front and back). Backed with heavy-duty chipboard. Perfect for jotting down anything.

Helping the environment, one recycled notebook at a time.

By Ivylanedesigns @ Etsy

Ping Mag: The God of Fountain Pens

Takafumi Suzuki interviews Mr. Nagahara of Sailor for Ping Mag:

"Actually my uncle used to work here (at The Sailor Pen). That’s how I came to join the company. But in fact about 25 people joined from my junior high school. For the first 3 years, all I did was the rough shaping and rough cutting to prepare the balls that make the pen tip. I had to polish the nibs very carefully to make them symmetrical. Then one of my seniors said he’d like me to do the rough cutting. So, every day, day in day out, that’s what I did. It was really tough, and I was always complaining to my mother that I wanted to quit, but in the end that’s how I learnt the basics of the trade. So I’m grateful for it now."

Read the full interview

[via Chris M.]

Moleskine-like journal

Ioannis in Greece emailed this recent find:

"I spotted this moleskine-like hardcover journal (complete with bookmarking ribbon, elastic band and backpocket) which bears cute pictures of puppies from Rachael Hale and bought it.  It was very cheap; only a fraction of the cost of the real moleskine..."

More at his blog.

Discover and join our communities on Facebook,  FLICKR and GoogleGroups. Check out our Blank Page discussions.  Don't forget to drop by Myndology.

Write Damn Now!

Need more motivation to starting that novel? Mark offers some tips:

"I am very happy to present this first installment of the Write Damn Now (WDN) Interview. I hope to make this a regular feature of the blog, the point being to illustrate what other writers are doing and how they're doing it.

Of course, being writers, we don't have the luxury of time to focus on interviews, now do we? NO! We should be...what? Say it with me... WRITING. That's right, very good. So, instead of twenty questions, I've cut it down to 19. Oh, and the interviewee must provide his/her answers in five words or less. Cuttin' to the chase, baby..."

His first interview features Melissa Donovan of Writing Forward, a blog about writing, for writers.

LINK

Photo by jotate 08
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Sheaffer Pen factory to close in spring

FORT MADISON, Iowa (AP) - Nearly a century of making pens in Fort Madison will soon be history.

BIC USA says it expects to complete the shutdown of the Sheaffer Pen factory by the end of March, affecting about 40 workers.

Part of the operation is being moved to Asia, with others to Slovakia. Service and repair will be handled by Sheaffer's distributor in Philadelphia.

Read the full article

Collage: Sheaffer