Ander Monson is a master bibliophile. He’s president of the Tucson Poetry Festival, editor and publisher of DIAGRAM journal, and Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. He’s written six books in various genres, including one about books.

This book about books: Letter to a Future Lover (DBC 2751) is a collection of flash and micro essays written in response to notes, objects, and other “ephemera” found in libraries. It’s a glimpse into the relationship between readers and books.

One essay titled “How to Read a Book” instructs readers to:

“…Be good. Leave this as you found it. Or vandalize. Be bad. Steal a page. Take the whole home and roast it like a ham. Slide one in a book you lend or that you return. Better, make your own and publish it in a book.”

Check it out for more book-themed inspiration and critical analysis.

DBC 2751
Letter to a Future Lover: Marginalia, Errata, Secrets, Inscriptions, and Other Ephemera Found in Libraries
By Ander Monson

Readers of physical books leave traces: marginalia, slips of paper, fingerprints, highlighting, inscriptions. All books have histories, and libraries are not just collections of books and databases but a medium of long-distance communication with other writers and readers. Letter to a Future Lover collects brief pieces written in response to library ephemera and addressed to readers past, present, and future. Unrated.