About this event

What is a Wayzgoose I hear you ask!!
Today the name Wayzgoose is used to describes a letterpress printing event but as many letterpress printers are also printmakers using methods such as lino cutting and wood engraving or etching there is a lot of printing crossover.
Originally the word is thought to come from the time when traditional printing establishments would hold an annual dinner for their employees and apprentices in late summer when it became necessary to work by candlelight. The word may derive from the Dutch word for an Inn and they may have eaten a goose, but absolutely nothing is certain.
Letterpress was the principle way of printing books in the UK since 1476 until the advent of digital printing. It is now classified as a Heritage Craft and has enjoyed a revival in recent years. There are still some commercial printers using these traditional processes as well as private presses and university departments.
At the Wayzgoose Printers Fair in Newtown there will be tables displaying and selling work by many printers and printmakers including a wide variety of prints by Aberystwyth Printmakers, Fine books and letterpress from Incline Press, David Armes of Red Plate Press, Effra Press and Crail Press from Scotland.
Other exhibitors include Kate Dean who prints both linocut and letterpress, James Brown (lino cuts), Sarah Matt (Suminagashi and marbling papers) and Gini Wade (Lithography).
Suppliers of essential materials will also be there including Hawthorn Inks and Jeremy Winkworth who deals in Printing Presses and all things letterpress.
If you are new to the world of letterpress and printmaking and want to find out more there will be lots to see and maybe buy. You will be able to try your hand at printing, meet and talk to lots of printmakers, as well as enjoy the excellent refreshments in the café in the beautiful setting by the river Severn. This event is organised by the Shropshire branch of the British Printing Society.