Marnie Parsons loves words, whether she understands them or not.
Long before she learned to run a printing press, she was a scholar of children’s literature and specialized in nonsense language in 20th century poetry — one of her favourite writers being Edward Lear.
Now, as the owner and operator of Running the Goat Books and Broadsides in the small eastern Newfoundland town of Tors Cove, she is typesetting a collection of poems in 13 languages, most of which she can’t read.
Why would anyone undertake such a complicated project?
“I thought, I have no idea how I would do that, so I think I should try,” Parsons explains.
An audacious business model and a labour of love
Running the Goat Books and Broadsides is named for the traditional Newfoundland dance, a complicated series of moves involving multiple pairs of dancers.
On the company website, Parsons describes “the playfulness and intensity” of the dance as an inspiration for her handmade books. Indeed, the very business model of Running the Goat — a publishing house, micropress and bookshop — is an audacious combination of steps, all in the service of the written word.
“I love the tactility of it, and I love — and am driven mad by — the quirkiness of it,” she said.
Parsons produces high-quality, limited-edition handmade books on three antique letterpress machines, two of which were built in the 19th Century.
“There are things that you have to deal with, and that makes part of the fun and the challenge. If the ink is too thick, if the paper is too damp or too dry, it’s all part of it,” she said.
Running the Goat is also one of the province’s few remaining independent bookstores. Its inventory packs a well-curated punch of international titles and an extensive selection of books by Newfoundland authors. Because the letterpress machinery and the bookstore are all in the same space, visitors to the shop can also catch a glimpse of the press in action.
“I give them a tour of the presses and can talk a bit about printing. And if I’m in the middle of printing something, then I show them what’s happening and how it goes,” Parsons said.
On the commercial publishing side, Running the Goat has produced nearly 50 children’s books.
“There is a continuity for me between the handmade books and the [commercially printed] kids’ books,” said Parsons. “It’s the quality of production.”
A heart for children’s literature
At the heart of all the steps and turns in Running the Goat is Parsons’s love of kids’ books. She has taught children’s literature at Western University, read for kids at the public library in Leamington, Ont. and now she sources and publishes books for the next generation of readers.
“With kids’ books, you’re getting in there at the beginning, you’re waking them up to the world, and that’s really important,” she said.
Running the Goat publications have received numerous national and international awards and recognition.
Two titles, Kate Story’s Urchin and Andy Jones’s Jack, the King of Ashes, were short-listed for the Governor General’s Award for young people’s literature.
Jones’s Jack and Mary in the Land of Thieves — published in 2012 — was the first Newfoundland-published book to be awarded the province’s prestigious Winterset Award.
An unexpected tourist destination
“I have a bizarre sense of hospitality,” said Parsons, and the bookshop’s unlikely location has given her many opportunities to express it.
Running the Goat may be tucked away in Tors Cove, but it is quite literally on the beaten path.
With the parking area for Tinkers Point Path just a few strides up the hill from the shop, tourists and hikers looking for the East Coast Trail comprise much of the shop’s foot traffic.
“People stop and the first thing they say is, ‘What are you doing here in the middle of nowhere?'”
Parsons, born and raised in Ontario, often becomes an impromptu tour guide, giving advice on sights, restaurants and local music in addition to letterpress demonstrations and shipping books.
“I really do love Newfoundland. For me it’s such a special place and it’s such a great opportunity to share that with people who come through the door,” she said. “And I also think Tors Cove is such a lovely spot, so it’s nice to tell them about it.”
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