"In memory of the bookselling activities of Al-Mutanabbi Street, this is a celebration of the role of booksellers, and recognition that we are all book 'sellers' when we discuss books and encourage others to read the ones that we have loved. Above all, it is about sharing the enthusiasm generated by reading something that you react to. Inspired by a microfilm set of a National Bibliography, the volume is a set of loose leaf pages, each containing one reader's description of a book that they recommend. A few selected pieces of data give a hint at the identity of the 'seller' and a footnote indicates any time they have spent working in bookshops. The ISBN number provides the reader with a means to find any titles that they are inspired to read"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. Al-Mutanabbi Street is located in a mixed Shia-Sunni area. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Al-Mutanabbi Street, the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, holds bookstores and outdoor bookstalls, cafes, stationery shops, and even tea and tobacco shops. It has been the longstanding heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community for centuries. In response to the attack, a San Francisco poet and bookseller, Beau Beausoleil, rallied a community of international artists and writers to produce a collection of letterpress-printed broadsides (poster-like works on paper), artists' books (unique works of art in book form), and an anthology of writing, all focused on expressing solidarity with Iraqi booksellers, writers and readers. The coalition of contributing artists calls itself Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition.

Gift; Beau Beausoleil; 2019-2020.