The Triple Tulip Press
The Triple Tulip Press came to life through a convergence of circumstances. Typically, it is a self-publishing venture, its name derived from the three tulips who support it and whose background is Dutch: Titia Bozuwa, the author: Gijs, her physician/husband; and Paul, their son, who is in the printing business.
When, in 1990, I (Titia), needed to undergo a hip replacement requiring one month of rest, Gijs and Paul gave me a computer. A free-lance photographer by trade, I wondered what I would do with a computer. But the donors insisted that I had always been a prolific letter-writer and maybe I should go into this period of non-activity with the intent of writing about it.
I did. But what came out was not a story about my drug-addicted, hard-luck roommate, although that would have made a good story. Instead the hospital experience brought back the still raw memories of our daughter Joan, who died at 29 from breast cancer.
My husband was dismayed that I re-entered this painful territory, but Paul realized I was serious about writing and sent me a Mother’s Day card that was good for “taking a course in creative writing at a university of you own choice.”
I was on my way to the closest one, the University of New Hampshire, in no time. There, I was told it takes seven years before you can write in a somewhat objective way about a loss. I took their word for it and practiced writing meanwhile.
In 2000, I was ready to publish Joan, A Mother’s Memoir. It sold, saw a second printing, and the profits went to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Because of the personal nature of the subject matter, I had wanted to retain control over the appearance and layout of the book. Thus, we started the Triple Tulip Press. Seeing that it was actually a lot of fun to publish, and since Paul could do the printing and help me through that whole process, I wrote a second book, In the Shadow of the Cathedral - Growing up During WW II. It came out in the fall of 2004 and is still selling. A Dutch publisher picked it up for translation and brought it out in 2005 during an impressive ceremony inside the very cathedral I had been writing about. Back in my hometown, I went through a whirlwind experience of TV, radio and newspaper reviews and talks to students in the schools I had attended during the war.
Meanwhile, I had started the Twin Farms Writers Workshops in 1996 where various UNH creative writing teachers come and give two five-day workshops in the summer.
On February 1st, 2007, my third book will be launched: Wings of Change - A Dutch Immigrant’s Journey.
When, in 1990, I (Titia), needed to undergo a hip replacement requiring one month of rest, Gijs and Paul gave me a computer. A free-lance photographer by trade, I wondered what I would do with a computer. But the donors insisted that I had always been a prolific letter-writer and maybe I should go into this period of non-activity with the intent of writing about it.
I did. But what came out was not a story about my drug-addicted, hard-luck roommate, although that would have made a good story. Instead the hospital experience brought back the still raw memories of our daughter Joan, who died at 29 from breast cancer.
My husband was dismayed that I re-entered this painful territory, but Paul realized I was serious about writing and sent me a Mother’s Day card that was good for “taking a course in creative writing at a university of you own choice.”
I was on my way to the closest one, the University of New Hampshire, in no time. There, I was told it takes seven years before you can write in a somewhat objective way about a loss. I took their word for it and practiced writing meanwhile.
In 2000, I was ready to publish Joan, A Mother’s Memoir. It sold, saw a second printing, and the profits went to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
Because of the personal nature of the subject matter, I had wanted to retain control over the appearance and layout of the book. Thus, we started the Triple Tulip Press. Seeing that it was actually a lot of fun to publish, and since Paul could do the printing and help me through that whole process, I wrote a second book, In the Shadow of the Cathedral - Growing up During WW II. It came out in the fall of 2004 and is still selling. A Dutch publisher picked it up for translation and brought it out in 2005 during an impressive ceremony inside the very cathedral I had been writing about. Back in my hometown, I went through a whirlwind experience of TV, radio and newspaper reviews and talks to students in the schools I had attended during the war.
Meanwhile, I had started the Twin Farms Writers Workshops in 1996 where various UNH creative writing teachers come and give two five-day workshops in the summer.
On February 1st, 2007, my third book will be launched: Wings of Change - A Dutch Immigrant’s Journey.
posted by Kathleen Valentine at 3:23 PM
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