W. A. Dwiggins and the Serious Business of Fun

W. A. Dwiggins (1880–1956) was the quintessential maker: a designer of books and printing types, calligrapher, puppeteer, illustrator, humorist and essayist, kite-maker, playwright, and designer of costumes and theatrical sets. He understood that humor and satire are more effective vehicles for advocacy than are finger-wagging and lecturing. Dwiggins wrote often about matters that concerned him — from graphic-arts production to larger social issues — and in these commentaries employed a cast of colorful characters, chief among them his alter ego, Hermann Püterschein.

Bruce Kennett’s comprehensive biography of Dwiggins was just published by Letterform Archive, after fifteen years of research, writing, and photography. Bruce returns to the Center for Book Arts, this time to present examples of Dwiggins’s work, all of it infused with his wit and joyous spirit.

University of Southern Maine
Glickman Family Library
University Events Room, 7th Floor
314 Forest Avenue, Portland, Maine
Free and open to the public.