On a tour of Reading’s art studios yesterday, I bought a book of yours about this place, A Much Maligned Town (1997). An enjoyable read, to be sure. Enclosed please find my Istrian Postcards (2003), which I would like to use as a model for my Reading Postcards, a book I hope you would publish.

After some thirteen years in Reading, I am about to move to Istria, where both of my parents come from. Since 1990, when I moved to Reading, I have felt rather good about this place in spite of its bad press. A selection from my Residua, which you can find on the World Wide Web (www.residua.org), may thus attract Reading readers. If you would be interested in such a project, please contact me as soon as possible. I am leaving on July 19, less than a month from now.

I am currently with the University of Reading. I came to England from the States, where I lived for many years, having left my native Yugoslavia in 1970. Of Venetian origin, I am returning to a Thirteenth Century Venetian hilltown about an hour from Trieste. There I will write and paint. A book about Reading would be a parting gift of sorts.

Addendum (February 4, 2014)

So, what happened? Precisely nothing. First of all, the Two Rivers Press never responded to my letter. As well as my gift. Not a peep. More important, the publisher’s silence was so deadly that I never even attempted to put together the selection of writings about Reading. Looking back, I miss it even more than the book as such. In a way, my experience of the town remains unshaped. Amorphous. A carefully made selection from my Residua would have made a big difference in this regard. My Belgrade Postcards (2002), Istrian Postcards (2003), and Motovun Postcards (2007) are the proof. Alas, my experience with publishers is dismal at best. One way or another, the Two Rivers Press is no exception.