Performance Poems is a chapbook of poetry from 1985 by John Dancy-Jones, founder of The Paper Plant Press. The cover is hand laid letterpress on handmade paper; each book is slightly different. Many of the poems were conceived for & performed at Raleigh Thursday Night Readings in the day & many of the poems were also published in other literary magazines.

John Dancy-Jones is a teacher, writer, and small press publisher who has presented his poetry in various featured venues since his seven year stint as facilitator of a weekly open series from 1983-1990.

The Paper Plant Press publishes broadsides, folders and chapbooks using hand-laid recycled paper and letterpress printing in conjunction with current desktop publishing technologies. Twenty published titles include award-winning alternative literature, a fine arts calendar, and a children's book. They “seek to present an alternative take on the publishing process, looking for non-academic, even non-literary influences, in a search for poetry as an oral art, in a belief that poetry is an essential and multifarious expression of life.” Currently it is based in Asheville, NC.

The Paper Plant, 1985

5” x 8.5”

28 pages