Vita Nova is the product of creative writing I began in the summer of 1999, and by the end of that year I was curating it to assemble a narrative divided into four parts. A guiding theme was a summation of my experience growing up in Nova Scotia ("vita nova scotia") but it also repurposed the title of a work by Dante Alighieri, whose work I then understood as a summation of the 14th Century zeitgeist. I too wanted to capture the spirit of the age and record what it was like to grow up in the late 20th Century.
The book was originally produced in 2000 as a handmade artist book, printed on 4x6" index cards with an HP laserjet printer. It was distributed as a gift through the years 2000 to 2003 as a numbered edition. The handmade version had six different cover designs, and each had an assigned ISBN. I kept a log (reproduced below) to record who they were given to.
Print on Demand Version (2009 – 2021)
In 2009–2010 I created a print-on-demand version. In 2021 I revised it to produce a hard-cover version more in line with the orginals.
Exhbition History
| Exhibition Title | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime @ Workplace | Instant Coffee Workplace | May 2001 |
| Music for Lawyers | Zsa Zsa Gallery | March 2003 |
Vita Nova Log (2000 – 2003)
| To | Date Printed | Cover | Endpaper | Illustrations | Count | Nº | Notes | Given | Date Given |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Janna Popoff | Beckett with credits | Fully Illustrated | xb-2 | ||||||
| Eva Brannen | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 8b | |||||
| Ben Skinner | Citadel Hill | Beckett with credits | MT | 13b | |||||
| Andy McLean | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 25b | |||||
| Andrew McLaren | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 26b | |||||
| Artist Proof | July 2000 | None | N/A | Fully Illustrated | 1 | I | N/A | July 2000 | |
| Artist Proof | July 2000 | None | N/A | Fully Illustrated | 2 | II | N/A | July 2000 | |
| Artist Proof | August 2000 | Poppy | Candles | Fully Illustrated | 3 | III | N/A | July 2000 | |
| Artist Proof | 25 October 2000 | Nudity Collage | Beckett with credits | Mostly Text (MT) | 4 | 5a | N/A | N/A | |
| Edward Deary | August 2000 | Poppy | Candles | Fully Illustrated | 5 | 1-1 | Yes | Mailed on 30 August 2000 | |
| Basil Wood | August 2000 | Glowing Green | Beckett | MT | 6 | 2 | Yes | Mailed on 30 August 2000 | |
| Nick Eley | September 2000 | Yellow Bridge | Beckett with credits | MT | 7 | 3 | Yes | Delivered on 3 October 2000 | |
| VITA NOVA REVISED | 7.1 | October 2000 | |||||||
| Sara Spike | 25 October 2000 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 8 | 4a | Yes | Delivered on 23 April 2001 | |
| VITA NOVA REVISED | 8.1 | April 2001 | |||||||
| Andrew Kear | 7 May 2001 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 9 | 6b | Yes | Delievered on 10 May 2001 | |
| Kate Monro | 14 May 2001 | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 10 | 7b | Yes | Given on 25 May 2001 | |
| Destroyed | 22 May 2001 | Beckett with credits | MT | 10.5 | |||||
| Andrea Lalonde | 11 June 2001 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 11 | 9b | 2001-07-12 | Yes | 12 July 2001 (Trip/Halifax) |
| Gretchen Skye | 12 June 2001 | Yellow Bridge | Beckett with credits | MT | 12 | 10b | Yes | 19 July 2001 (Trip/Halifax) | |
| Jessica Brannen | 19 June 2001 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 13 | 11b | Yes | 9 July 2001 (Trip/Halifax) | |
| Chris Lloyd | 19 June 2001 | Ajax One | Beckett with credits | MT | 14 | 12b | Yes | 9 July 2001 (Trip/Halifax) | |
| Cynara Mori | 5 July 2001 | Yellow Bridge | Beckett with credits | MT | 15 | 19b | Yes | 6 July 2001 | |
| Natalie de Vito | 3 August 2001 | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 16 | 15b | Yes | 29 August 2001 | |
| Sarah Kilpack | 6 August 2001 | Citadel Hill | Beckett with credits | MT | 17 | 27b | Yes | 17 August 2001 | |
| Craig Powers | 13 August 2001 | Yellow Bridge | Beckett with credits | MT | 18 | 22b | Yes | 23 August 2001 | |
| Sarah Hollenberg | 13 August 2001 | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 19 | 23b | Yes | 23 August 2001 | |
| Thea D | 15 August 2001 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 20 | 16b | 2001-09-11/12 | Yes | 13 September 2001 |
| Sasha Havlik | 6 Sept 2001 | Poppy | Beckett with credits | MT | 21 | 17b | 2002-03-20 | Yes | 13 September 2001 |
| Artist Proof | 8 Sept 2001 | None | Beckett with credits | MT | 22 | 37b | 2001-09-11 & 2003-02-18 | N/A | See Notes 2001-09-11 |
| R.M. Vaughn | 11 Sept 2001 | Poppy | Beckett with credits | MT | 23 | 14b | 2001-09-11/14 | Yes | Mailed on 17 Sept 2001 |
| Janice Demkiw | 15 Sept 2001 | Ajax One | Beckett with credits | MT | 24 | 18b | 2001-09-22 | Yes | 22 September 2001 |
| Holly Ward | 18 Sep 2001 | Citadel Hill | Beckett with credits | MT | 25 | 20b | due 6 June 2002 | ||
| Jenny-Orenda Smith | 24 Sep 2001 | Poppy | Beckett with credits | MT | 26 | 21b | 2001-12-10 | Yes | Maied on 17 Oct 2001 |
| Sandy Plotnikoff | 19 Nov 2001 | Citadel Hill | Beckett with credits | MT | 27 | 24b | Yes | 6 December 2001 | |
| Jon Sasaki | 12 March 2002 | Citadel Hill | Beckett with credits | MT | 28 | 28b | Yes | 14 March 2002 | |
| Brie Bergen | 19 March 2002 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 29 | 29b | 2002-03-23 | Yes | 22 March 2002 |
| VITA NOVA REVISED | 2002-07-22 | April 2001 | |||||||
| Kathy Ruppert | 22 July 2002 | Ajax | Beckett with credits | MT | 30 | 30b | 2002-07-22a | 31 July 2002 | |
| YYZ Fundraiser Prize | 22 October 2002 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MY | 31 | 31b | 2002-10-22 2003-05-31 |
31 May 2003 | |
| Jo Cook | |||||||||
| VITA NOVA REVISED WITH RESTORED FONTS & ENDPAPER LOGO | 2003-03-09 | April 2001 | |||||||
| Marie Sano | 10/14 Feb 2002 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 32 | 32b | For Music for Lawyers 5 March 2004 |
||
| Jade Rude | 18 Feb 2003 | Tuscany | Beckett with credits | MT | 33 | 33b | Yes | 19 February 2003 | |
| Day Milman | 24 March 2003 | Halifax | Beckett with credits | MT | 34 | 34b | |||
| Jenifer Papararo | 14 June 2003 | Glowing Green | Beckett with credits | MT | 35 | 35b | 15 June 2003 | ||