The Manifesto in Uruguay

On Typewriter Day (June 23), a typospherian in Uruguay who prefers to remain anonymous took the initiative to leave typewritten notes of encouragement in public places.

Here's an example:

"When troubles overwhelm you and challenging clouds threaten you on the horizon, don't forget that after every storm there always comes the calm. Happy World Typewriter Day! June 23, 2026." 

He also put up his translation of my Typewriter Manifesto:

Small gestures can have large meanings. Fragile messages can be retyped on other continents. Our insurgency continues.

The Slow Communication Movement

I was surprised and honored to receive this card in an envelope from Canada.

Of course, the movement of slow communication precedes the Slow Communication Movement and my Manifesto. If we keep it slow enough, it will outlast and outwit the most artificial Artificial Intelligence that can be devised. But if, in due time, you'd like to write a letter to Mark Leier and request your own membership card, you can look him up at the Department of History at Simon Fraser University. My own letter of thanks is currently wending its way there.

Ripples

I felt it when the Typewriter Insurgency Manifesto came to me over twelve years ago:

THIS NEEDS TO BE SAID.

I sensed possibility, but I did not know what would come of it. I did not know it would lead to translations, posters, a book, even a dance. 

It continues to have ripples around the world. Here are the latest.

A few days ago I received a copy of the latest novel by Swiss writer Jean-François Jobin, which includes a French translation of the Manifesto. I haven't tried to read the story yet, so I am not sure what role typewriters or "the Paradigm" play in the plot. But M. Jobin was very kind to quote me and send me this book.

Then yesterday, Brazilian psychoanalyst André Nardi posted these pictures on Instagram.

He writes (in Portuguese):

My #tbt in 2021 was a turning point. I was experiencing almost unbearable anguish caused by isolation during the pandemic and also by a difficult dismissal I was facing along with a lawsuit. My psychoanalytic clinic was in its infancy with only a few patients...

I was already a passionate collector of typewriters; however, they were kept in their cases and every now and then I would open one to type. I felt the urge to connect with them in a deeper way and started researching possibilities in this regard.

The movie @californiatypewriter was an oasis of inspiration, a visceral passion that only confirmed my not-so-naive connection with “typers”. In this movie, Professor Richard Polt @typewriterrevolution, from the Philosophy department at Xavier University, makes an incredible appearance with his “Typewriter Manifesto”. It was there that I discovered the movement I needed to take my life out of stagnation and sadness.

I got in touch with great partners from São Caetano's Department of Culture, @bunderdouglas and @nelsonajr, who opened the doors to my POETRY: I take a typer, improvise a table and a chair to listen to people in the streets and squares telling me moments of their lives. I listen and type, transforming the moment into poetry.

It was and has been a process of healing, love, revolution and connection!

It's moving and almost unbelievable to see these ripples making their way around the planet. I am pointing them out here not in order to boast, but in order to encourage anyone who reads this: 

מנשר מכונת הכתיבה

Thanks to mr.h for this Hebrew version of the Typewriter Manifesto!

 

Kirjoituskonemanifesto

Otto K. kindly provides the latest translation of The Typewriter Manifesto, typed in Vogue.

Can you identify the language?

I haven't posted for over a month because of various activities and travels. I have no professional responsibilities for the rest of 2023 and will be curtailing my use of digital technology, but I expect I'll still be popping up in the blogroll once in a while.

Het Makers Manifest

Auke Vanderhoek in the Netherlands has composed a "Maker's Manifesto," closely inspired by the Typewriter Manifesto. You can find the Dutch text here, and here are some delightful photos of Auke's daughter.

Skrivemaskinemanifest

And another one arrives! This Danish translation of the Manifesto by Mikkel H. and Tore D. landed in my mailbox today (on paper). Tak!

Въстанието на пишещата машина

The latest translation of the Typewriter Insurgency Manifesto comes from Mark G. in Bulgaria. Благодаря ти, Mark!

I have two Bulgarian typewriters in my collection. This one is a 1927 Merz no. 2 from Germany.

And this Rex, also from Germany, is a name variant of the G&O (Graf & Oertel). 

Read more about it here and here.

 

ᛏᚼᛁ ᛏᛁᛒᛁᚢᚱᛁᛏᛁᚱ ᛘᛅᚾᛁᚠᛁᛋᛏᚬ

Now I've seen it all. 

Lukasz K. in Sweden contributes this version of the Typewriter Manifesto in runes.* Not just that, but runes typed on a typewriter!

*There are several different runic alphabets. This one, I believe, is the alphabet used on the Rök runestone, the origin of Swedish literature. For my post title, I used a different alphabet, the Younger Futhark.

Where do you get a typewriter that types runes??

You build one. More precisely, you print a runic typewheel for your Blickensderfer. Lukasz was inspired by Leonard Chau's 3D-printed typewheels to create his own, with tips from Leonard. I just love these international, collaborative innovations in typewriter technology!

You can read Lukasz's account of creating his own Blick typewheels here, and read about his runic typewheel here. He also has other fascinating posts about typewriters.

Now ... who will be the first to identify the language of the manifesto Lukasz typed?  ;)

Η ΕΠΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΓΡΑΦΟΜΗΧΑΝΗΣ

Another language (and alphabet) joins the worldwide insurgency! Dimitris Nikou has just published this Greek translation on his blog, Grapho Ex Machina (link goes to an English translation of his post).

A collection of international versions of the manifesto can be found here.

타자기 선언

 And another language joins the movement! Thanks to astronaut_typewriter in Korea.

Stefnuyfirlýsing ritvélarinnar

Thanks to Stefan B. for the latest translation of the Typewriter Manifesto. Who will be the first to name the language in the comments?

La skribmaŝina insurekcio: The Esperanto typewriter insurgency

The latest version of The Typewriter Insurgency Manifesto is in Esperanto. Dankegon, Toni E! La Revolucio estos tajpiligita!

This seems like a good moment to republish Norbert Schwarz's article "Is There an Esperanto Typewriter?" from ETCetera no. 100.

Manifest Maszynopisania

Thanks to Adam Piskorek for this Polish translation of the Typewriter Manifesto, typed on an Olivetti Valentine.

Adam writes:

I was moved by the California Typewriter movie, and Typewriter Revolution book and typewriters in general for which I am thankful. Since months I have been repairing, collecting and changing foreign typewriters to ones that have polish font. 

In Poland we do not have many great typewriters that could write in my language due to iron curtain and socialism in general so I took on a mission to revert history when it comes to that aspect of typewriters. 

I have also started a typo-sphere club and webpage because I have noticed that we do not have a single webpage about typewriters in the whole 40 milion country. It's https://www.maszynopisanie.pl/ and there is so much to do. Typewriter nights, tips for repair, reviews of books for and about typewriters etc. 

Thanks again for giving fuel and igniting a passion.

Good luck, Adam! Powodzenia!

 

The Typewriter Manifesto on a typewriter

How wonderful is this?

See more on The Typewriter Database, where Julian Walkner writes:

This Triumph Gabriele 35 has an OCR typeface. OpticalCharacterRecognition. The typeface OCR-B was developed in 1968 by Adrian Frutiger. The look is less technical than the OCR-A font, which was one of the first fonts to meet the U.S. Bureau of Standards criteria. ... The goal was to design a typefont that could be automatically read by machines, and that would be aesthetically accepted by the human eye. The description is from the time the font was published and not some information that was gathered for an article 30 years later - it closes with the sentence: „We can hope that one day "reading machines" will have reached perfection and will be able to distinguish without any error the symbols of our alphabets, in whatever style they may be written“. 

Julian continues:

For those who wonder why the typewriter looks like this. Here's the story: When the machine arrived at my house, the plastic chassis was broken into 3 pieces. I was very happy that I had recognized the font correctly based on a few recognizable typeslugs on the photo. But what to do with the chassis? Ok, I glued it together, but now cracks are catching my eye. I decided to „tattoo“ the machine with words. But I'm not a writer. This particular typeface, on a mechanical machine, is a link between analog and digital. This font was developed to make it easier for computers to understand human „language“ . Now, 50 years later they do „understand“ us in various ways but we don’t want them to understand everything and all the time. Under this perspective, the words of The Typewriter Manifesto seemed the perfect fit to me.

Thank you, Julian. And the idea of writing the Typewriter Manifesto on a typewriter has actually never occurred to me before. 

The Typewriter Manifesto in German: two versions

From two fellow insurgents.

There are more translations here.

 

Manifest de la màquina d'escriure

The insurgency continues to spread! The latest translation of the Typewriter Manifesto comes from a correspondent who has rendered it beautifully into Catalan.

Romance languages that have expressed the Manifesto now include Catalan, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish ... and the original Romance language, Latin.

Manifestul mașinii de scris

 The latest translation of the Typewriter Manifesto comes from a Romanian insurgent.

Onward! The revolution is global!

O manifesto da máquina de escrever

I appreciate this translation of the Typewriter Manifesto into Portuguese by a new insurgent.

There's one improvement on the original: where I wrote "we strike a blow," the translation has "we strike the keys." I like it!