Justin Hampton at The Bookloft

I don’t know how I missed out on this one, but for those of you who have a tattoo or two of quotations from your favorite novel, poem or short story (or blog post, even. I’m sure we’ll see that one of these days), Justin Taylor and Eva Talmadge of HTMLGiant are soliciting them for a book they’re doing on tattoos. Here’s the solicitation:

“We are seeking high quality photographs of your literary tattoos for an upcoming book. Send us your ink! …

“All images must include the name (or pseudonym) of the tattoo bearer, city and state or country, and a transcription of the text itself, along with its source. For portraits or illustrations, please include the name of the author or book on which it’s based. We’d also like to read a few words about the tattoo’s meaning to you — why you chose it, when you first read that poem or book, or how its meaning has evolved over time. How much (or how little) you choose to say about your tattoo is up to you, but a paragraph or two should do the trick.

Please send clear digital images of the highest print quality possible to tattoolit@gmail.com.”

Of course, the blog Contrariwise has already beaten them to the punch (and while you’re at it, I’d recommend lines and colors, which is New York Times science writer Carl Zimmer’s online devotion to hard science-inspired tats), but I like the idea of this project all the same, so if you’re so inclined, go for it.

One of the bloggers over at Los Angeles Times’s Shelf Life hoped someone from Shelley Jackson’s “Skin” project would contribute to this project. FYI, this was a literary project where writer Shelley Jackson gave intrepid volunteers a word from her short story “Skin” to tattoo onto their bodies. Well, I got one of these buggers, and although I have yet to send her the photos, I’m pretty proud of it all the same. Don’t think I’m gonna send it to HTMLGiant, but I realize I should send it to her one day. In the meantime, I’ll be happy to give you a peek: