99 WINTERHOUSE STUDIO
“Enlightened” is how Winterhouse principal William Drenttel describes his client the Poetry Foundation. “They understand the scope of the project before them—‘helping poetry have vigorous presence in our culture’ —and they are capable and willing to invest in this goal.” Poetry magazine, however, had become marginalized as a literary journal: gray, dark and uninviting. “How boring,” recalls Drenttel. “Our goal was simply to help energize Poetry to be a dynamic magazine on the newsstand. Why couldn’t a poetry publication use adventuresome illustration?”

Adventuresome illustration, indeed. Calling on icons like Gary Baseman and Maira Kalman, Winterhouse transformed each issue of Poetry into a compelling, collectible piece of art. The editors were enthusiastic about the progressive new format, even when Kalman proposed a very unorthodox idea to accompany her illustration for the magazine’s Humor Issue: Changing the name of the publication to Peotry. “They embraced the idea,” says Drenttel. “Even when it meant legally changing the name of the magazine for a month to meet postal regulations.” by Alissa Walker