Back + Forth: A Novel in 90 Linocuts

2009

Special Collections E1336 C58 A62 2009; Every effort has been made to trace copyright ownership and to obtain permission for reproduction. If you believe you are the copyright owner of an item on this site, and we have not requested your permission, please contact us at special.collections@otago.ac.nz

Erin, Ontario, Canada: Porcupine’s Quill

Marta Chudolinska’s Back + Forth is a visual narrative. There is no text in this 187 page novel, only linocuts, printed in black, grey, or sepia. It is a true wordless novel, where the reader gathers personal meaning from the images. This process in itself creates the words that encompass what is (and will be) a very personal tale. It seems that the artist has specifically drawn the image for the frontispiece. The inclusion of the letters ‘B + F’ reiterate in a very simple way the title, thereby connecting it back to the whole book.