Women Publishers' Roundtable: Final Installment

Welcome back to the Women Publishers' Roundtable at Delirious Hem!  Here you'll find the most recent interview question that was sent to these small press editors, as well as the conversation that followed.  Enjoy!

Interview Question #8: What's next for your press? What can readers look forward to?

Kristy Bowen (Dancing Girl Press):  We’ve just lined up all of our 2013titles and we have a whole slate of new and returning poets in the upcoming series, including second dgp books by Emilie Lindemann, Sarah Sloat, BrandiHoman, Trina Burke, Leah Browning, Eva Schlesinger, Lisa Cole, Carol Berg, Erika Lutzner, and Erin Bertram.  There a couple of more anthology-like book arts projects in the works, as well as some broadsides, mini-chaps, zines, and other freebies I’ve been pondering. All good and exciting things.

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S. Whitney Holmes (Switchback Books):  For readers, we’ve got a lovely and dynamic new book coming back from the printers this month: Cynthia Arrieu-King’s MANIFEST, a Gatewood Prize winning book that was chosen by Harryette Mullen. Our 2013Gatewood Prize will open on March 1 and we’re thrilled to have the amazing and talented Eileen Myles as this year’s judge. We have a new title from Stefania Heim forthcoming next winter. We’ll be debuting a new website this year, as well, which will include some exciting new content and poetry. Internally, we’re working on a lot of improvements to enhance our book promotions and marketing. It’s a really exciting time for us!

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Gina Abelkop (Birds of Lace Press):  This year Birds of Lace is publishing chapbooks from twelve writers! It is a little overwhelming but also very thrilling, because the chapbooks are stellar and it’s the most ambitious BoL has been to date. Recently released were Carina Finn’s My Life is a Movie, Megan Milks’ Twins and Seth Oelbaum’s macey [triolets]. Coming up we have chapbooks from Maia Elgin, Jeanine Deibel, Carrie Hunter, Jiyoon Lee, Samantha Cohen, JD Scott, Anne Marie Rooney, AndreaQuinlan (also published by dancing girl), and Kari Larsen (another dgp alum!). The awesome zine project It’s Complicated, edited by Judy Berman and Niina Pollari, collaborated with BoL for its first chapbook in a series which is very exciting. Later this year BoL will put out its first call for full-length books to be published perfect-bound. I’d like to plan more readings/events but this may not happen for some time.

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Lisa Marie Basile (Patasola Press):  We’re super excited, after a hiatus in production, to be publishing a few great works by Tiffany M. De Vos, Joseph Quintela, Kiely Sweatt, Mary Lou Buschi and Kristina Marie Darling. Plus we’re starting our Review, which will publish a few poems each week. We’ve also been hosting a Parlor each month, which is kicking back up in March in NYC. The Parlor is mixed-media and very bohemian. We’ll have poetry, burlesque, dance, music, art, and whatever weirdness we see fit. It’s a place for people to talk, meet artists, and share their work with one another. We aim to promote Patasola poets as well as emerging/established poets. We’ve had big success with the past few months, and we’re excited to continue.

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Erin Elizabeth Smith and T.A. Noonan (Sundress Publication):  Oh, man. We have so many projects! Besides our journals, the Best of the NetAnthology, and upcoming e-chapbook contest, Sundress is publishing collections by Donna Vorreyer, David Cazden, and Virginia Smith, e-chaps by Christine Jessica Margaret Reilly, Emilia Phillips, and Emily Janowick, and two anthologies—one of contemporary Quaker poetry, and a multigenre one exploring women and place. Flaming Giblet is putting the finishing touches on The Butterfly Lady, its first novel in five years, and is already looking at three more manuscripts. And, of course, there’s our biggest project: the Sundress Academy of the Arts at Firefly Farms. Whew! It’s all very exciting stuff.

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Kristina Marie Darling (Noctuary Press):  We just released our first title, F IN by Carol Guess, and two more are on the way:  Eva Heisler's Drawing Water and Kristy Bowen's the shared properties of water and stars.  I'm very excited to start sending out review copies and organizing events for these amazing authors.  Soon we'll begin selecting manuscript for the 2014 series.  Stay tuned!

This is the final installment of the feature, but I hope you'll continue to watch these excellent small presses.  Thank you to everyone who participating in the Women Publishers' Roundtable!