Newswire archives are delayed by two weeks.

The CLMP Newswire
A Biweekly Email News Dispatch on Independent Literary Publishing
A Project of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (http://www.clmp.org)

Table of Contents for August 15, 2002 (Volume 2, Number 15)

• Perugia Press Devotes Six Years to Publishing Women Writers
• Two Indie Presses Celebrate Recent Award-Winning Books
• Internationally-Minded White Pine Press Nears 30
• In Brief

PERUGIA PRESS DEVOTES SIX YEARS TO PUBLISHING WOMEN WRITERS

Susan Kan, Publisher and Editor of Perugia Press ( http://www.perugiapress.com), is always asked the same question: why publish only women? "The main reason is that women are still very much underrepresented in literature," says Kan. She also says, "I tend to read women writers more they're just more to my personal taste." In fact, it was a long-ignored female poet that caught Kan's eye and gave her the impetus to start the press. Kan couldn't understand why the poetry of Gail Thomas had failed to find a publisher. "She's a wonderful writer, and I saw the shame of people not having the opportunity to read her work," says Kan. So she took matters into her own hands, and in 1997 her press debuted with Thomas' collection Finding the Bear.

The book has since sold out, and Kan says reader response has been tremendous. Since then, Perugia Press -- named for a town in Italy -- has published five more books. Kan has been committed to publishing women writers at the beginning of their careers; she also believes that it's her job to give the writers as much say as they want in the creation of their books. With limited funds for marketing and advances, Kan says it's the least she can do for the writers. "I really want each poet to love her book," says Kan. Budget constraints limit flashy four-color covers, but Kan says all of her writers and those who buy the books are impressed by the look and feel of them. "I'm proud of the covers," says Kan. "They're beautiful books."

Kan says it costs about $3,000 to make each book and another $2,000 for postage and publicity. But because Perugia is under the fiscal sponsorship of the non-profit organization Fund for Women Artists in Western Massachusetts, it is able to keep costs down by sharing the use of equipment and receiving charitable contributions. Nevertheless, fiscal constraints have forced her, like so many other small presses, to institute a contest in order to keep the press in the black. "We just started it in the beginning of August," says Kan. She sees them as a chance for presses to stay alive in lean times and an opportunity for new writers to gain exposure. On the other hand, she admits that contest entry fees are a limitation for many.

Since Kan just started her contest a few weeks ago, the jury is still out on whether it will help in the long run. But Kan is hopeful. She sees her job as not about making money but about supporting women writers and bringing poetry to a wider audience. "There's nothing like taking a manuscript and turning it into a book," says Kan. And even more rewarding for her is when the book finally makes into the hands of her readers. "It's exciting to convert people to poetry. That's part of my mission, to publish work that's enjoyable, that's not inaccessible or highly referential," says Kan.

TWO INDIE PRESSES CELEBRATE RECENT AWARD-WINNING BOOKS

Ken Lamberton was an award-winning high school biology teacher with a wife and a child when he ran away with a 14 year-old student. Later convicted as a sex-offender, he spent 12 years in prison in the Arizona desert. During his incarceration, he began to observe nature on its most minute level and draw conclusions about the social fabric of prison life. The result is Wilderness And Razorwire: A Naturalist's Observations from Prison, published by San Francisco-based Mercury House ( http://www.mercuryhouse.org).

According to Executive Director Kirsten Janene-Nelson, Lamberton began writing the book through a writing-in-the-prisons program headed by Richard Shelton. He approached the press in January of 2000 from prison, and the book was published while he was still serving his term. "People find it controversial. It is controversial. But I think Ken's love of nature and his gentle tone and obvious remorse help to ease the controversy a great deal," says Janene-Nelson. Such controversy didn't stop the book, funded in part by a Lannan Foundation grant, from winning this year's John Burroughs Association Annual Award for outstanding nature writing. The award, given annually since 1926, honors books that combine scientific accuracy, firsthand fieldwork, and creative natural history in the U.S. It's also a first for Mercury House, which for the past 17 years has concentrated on literary fiction.

From prison, we move to a private garden in Warwick, New York for another award-winning book published by an indie publisher, Codhill Press. Pacem in Terris: A Love Story by Frederick Franck recently won an award from Spirituality & Health magazine as one of the 50 best spiritual books published last year. (Read a review at http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/bookreview/item_2719.html). The 93 year-old Franck wrote Pacem in Terris after he and his wife converted an dilapidated 18th Century water mill into a private garden and opened it up for the private services of various religious traditions. The book details Franck's 34 years of converting the property into a sacred sight, combining art and nature to provide a spiritual sanctuary for religious visitors. "The book is lovely," says Codhill Press Marketing Manager Megan Whilden. "Franck is still actively writing, and his language is quite beautiful."

Codhill Press (http://www.codhill.com) was founded by Parabola magazine Editor David Applebaum in 2000. According to Whilden, the mission of the press is to publish works -- mostly poetry and creative nonfiction -- of the highest spiritual and literary quality. The approach has proven successful, as Codhill put out the award-winning Pacem in Terris in its first season.

INTERNATIONALLY-MINDED WHITE PINE PRESS NEARS 30

Back in 1973, Dennis Maloney saw the way publishing was going and didn't like the looks of it. From his view, there were many voices not heard in America -- voices from other cultures and countries. At the same time, he had begun translating literature, mostly Spanish and Japanese. Together, these two observations provided Maloney with enough incentive to launch a literary press and publish small poetry chapbooks.

30 years later, White Pine Press is a self-sustaining non-profit that publishes 10 books a year, thanks to NEA grants and money from the New York State Council of the Arts. Except for a concerted effort to expand his list to include fiction and essays, Maloney is proud to say that he has maintained the overall mission of the press. The fact that half of the books the press publishes are works in translation supports Maloney's claim. Not only is White Pine impressive for its continual commitment to publishing works in translation, but its list includes Nobel Prize Laureates William Golding, Juan Ramon Jimenez, Gabriela Mistral, and Pablo Neruda.

Maloney also works hard to make a range of international voices available in English. The Secret Weavers Series, edited by Marjorie Agosin, is devoted to publishing the works of Latin American women writers. "There are a tremendous amount of women writing in Latin America that are not even being heard in their own country, let alone America," says Maloney. "The series has had very good critical success." White Pine also has a Korean Voices Series. Supported in part by the Korea Literature Translation Institute and the Daesan Foundation, the series publishes two new titles every year. And the press has recently focused on publishing work from Slovenia, Sarajevo, and other countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union.

White Pine turns 30 next summer, and Maloney says there are many events in the works to celebrate -- including special readings at next year's AWP conference in Baltimore and special author readings in major cities throughout the country. "The most rewarding thing for me has been bringing deserving works of literature, especially from other countries, to the more thoughtful literary reader," says Maloney. You can find more information by logging on at http://www.whitepine.org

In Brief

Literary Magazine Reviews on the Web

For the latest reviews of indie magazines, log on at http://www.newpages.com/magazinestand/litmags/default.htm. The most recent posting dated August 5 covers the American Poetry Review, New Letters, Toasted Cheese, Literal Latte, and The Threepenny Review.