printer’s fist

A deep understanding by a visual poet of the emotive and intellectual value of
the visual features of letters, numerals and numbers, grammalogues,
punctuation, diacritics, typefaces, and words. (I wonder if this great Cleveland
poet knew the significance of that form of the letter E, or if he picked up and
used the shape of the minuscule Greek e without even realizing it, just by
handling all that Greek text. Is it possible, that as a prolific visual poet, he
had so internalized the printer’s fist that he had internalized this bit of
arcana?) (Good control of the printer’s fist shows an understanding of the
shapes of letters and how those shapes affect meaning, shows the ability to
place text in expressive contexts, and shows an ability to choose letterforms
that deepen the meaning of the poem. Diter Roth—especially when he worked
with text alone, without any words at all—clearly exemplifies the poet of the
printer’s fist.)