Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch by Diane Wakoski (Black Sparrow Press, 2022 edition)
Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch was published in hardcover paper-over-boards in March 2022. The endpapers match the purple used on the cover for the subtitle.
Diane Wakoski (b. 1937) is a groundbreaking poet and the author of more than sixty books. Wakoski’s conversational, sometimes seemingly informal work merges the confessional and deep image to create compelling, story-like poems.
In 1971, Wakoski published The Motorcycle Betrayal Poems to tremendous acclaim. She was just thirty-three years old. Black Sparrow Press published a new expanded edition in 2022 titled after one of the collection’s poems: Dancing on the Grave of a Son of a Bitch. The new hardcover edition includes an introduction by Elizabeth A.I. Powell, additional poems, and an afterword by the author.
For the cover design, Tammy Ackerman used ITC Bauhaus, splitting the I in “BITCH” to create a visual reference to road stripes, a nod to the book’s subtitle: The Complete Motorcycle Betrayal Poems. The interior is set in Palatino with Optima for titling.
Black Sparrow Press’s lead designer, Barbara Martin, often spread her title page designs across two pages. Martin retired in 2002, but her influence is evident here in Tammy Ackerman’s title page.
Given that most of the poems in this collection were written in the 1970s, the Optima titling is a nod to the era.
Every Black Sparrow Press colophon now includes mention of the founders, John and Barbara Martin.
The back cover
