Motive Book Shop
view enlarged panelAfter launching his literary career in Texas, poet Judson Crews spent nearly two decades doing double time at a Taos newspaper plant. He worked days for the company and returned on his own time to print many of his Motive Book Shop imprints.
From 1947 to 1966 this shoestring operation produced books of poetry by Crews and other local writers, plus a series of literary magazines with such offbeat titles as Suck-egg Mule and Deer and Dachshund. All were greatly funded out of pocket.
Dedicated to introducing promising talent, Crews provided a venue for unknown writers in his magazines. Through his Motive Book Shop, a mail order business and publishing venture, he marketed a new genre of writers, including Henry Miller, Gertrude Stein and Kenneth Patchen.
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