Kalligraphia Spotlight: Ward Dunham

On Saturday, July 14, Ward Dunham will present: Blackletter written with Bamboo Pens.

Ward Dunham, 1965

Ward Dunham discovered the broad-edged bamboo pen in 1964 while serving in the Special Forces in Viet Nam. After his return to San Francisco, he met local scribe Georgianna Greenwood at a Renaissance Faire. She told him there was a name for what he was doing with bamboo pens & fountain pens—“calligraphy”— and a literature for it, and Ward got involved as a founding member of both the San Francisco Friends of Calligraphy and the New York Society of Scribes.

In the 1970s, after studying with Donald Jackson (the scribe to the Queen of England), Ward struck out on his own adventurous journey of studying, practicing, and focusing on blackletter calligraphy. He is especially knowledgeable about the transitional hands of the 11th and 12th centuries and the full-blown Gothic hands of the 13th and 14th centuries.

Ward Dunham, 2010

He has also been influenced by 20th century masters Rudolf Koch and Edward Johnston. He worked for years in San Francisco as a blackletter scribe, teacher, bartender and raconteur. In recent years, Ward and his wife & partner Linnea Lundquist have moved to Half Moon Bay to focus on calligraphy, type design, and writing.



In this demonstration, Ward will use a variety of large bamboo pens that he cuts himself, and he will talk about why blackletter hands are so compelling.

Calligraphy by Ward Dunham



Ward Dunham "Blackletter Written with Bamboo Pens" - Saturday, July 14th at 2 p.m. in the Latino/Hispanic Community Meeting Room, Lower Level, Main Library. While you're here, come up to the 6th Floor for Kalligraphia 13, an exhibition of modern calligraphy by members of the Friends of Calligraphy, a non-profit Bay Area organization. Kalligraphia 13 will be on view in the Skylight Gallery on the 6th floor of the Main Library through August 26.