Learn more about the landscape of independent publishing in the Great Lakes region, including presses and magazines based in the area, local book fairs and festivals, and regional awards, as well as books set in or about the area.
In keeping with the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association, CLMP defines the Great Lakes region as including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Books Set in the Great Lakes Region
Poetry
Ohio Radio by Renee Agatep (Wolfson Press | September 20, 2023)
According to Christopher Kennedy, the poems in this collection “document the complicated relationship of a heartland native with a past that won’t stop announcing itself in the present.”
(Distributed by Indiana University Press. ISBN: 9781950066155)
Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms by Joan Kwon Glass (Perugia Press | September 24, 2024)
“Part lamentation and part hymn,” this poetry collection “travels from the early twentieth century Japanese occupation of Korea to the landscapes of 1980s suburban Detroit.”
(Distributed by Asterism Books. ISBN: 9780997807684)
A Brief History of the Midwest by Andrew Grace (Black Lawrence Press | May 27, 2025)
According to Chris Dombrowski, “This stunning collection approaches a complex region of our current America with an original, unflinching eloquence.”
(Distributed by Independent Publishers Group. ISBN: 9781625571588)
Once a City Said: A Louisville Poets Anthology (Sarabande Books | June 20, 2023)
Edited by Joy Priest, this anthology “showcases the polyvocal communities of Louisville, Kentucky, a city celebrated for its bourbon, basketball, and horseracing, but long fraught with racial injustice, police corruption, and social unrest.”
(Distributed by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. ISBN: 9781956046083)
Nonfiction
I want to start by saying by Samuel Ace (Cleveland State University Poetry Center | October 1, 2024)
“Part essay, part memoir, and part collage,” this book “explores the difficulties of romance, childhood, betrayal, and writing,” with a focus on the author’s childhood in Cleveland and relationship to the city as an adult.
(Distributed by Chicago Distribution Center. ISBN: 9798989708406)
Don’t Say Please: The Oral History of Die Kreuzen by Sahan Jaysuriya (Feral House | August 19, 2025)
This book tells the story of the Milwaukee band Die Kreuzen, which “emerged from the wreckage of Midwest punk and Rust Belt disaffection with a sound that was as brutal as it was visionary.”
(Distributed by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. ISBN: 9781627311649)
Commentary on the Birds by Jed Munson (Rescue Press | October 22, 2023)
This collection of essays explores the ecological settings of Madison, Wisconsin, and “the geopolitical reality and symbolic weight of the Korean Demilitarized Zone.”
(Distributed by Itasca Books. ISBN: 9781734831672)
Fiction
Cleveland Noir (Akashic Books | August 1, 2023)
Edited by Michael Ruhlman and Miesha Wilson Headen, this anthology features stories by Jill Bialosky, Thrity Umrigar, Michael Ruhlman, Daniel Stashower, and more, all set in different neighborhoods throughout Cleveland.
(Distributed by W. W. Norton. ISBN: 9781636140995)
Strange Attractors: The Ephrem Stories by Janice Deal (New Door Books | September 12, 2023)
In this collection of linked stories set in a fictional town in northern Illinois, Deal’s characters are “seeking order in chaos with a very human mix of resilience and folly.”
(Distributed by Pathway Book Service. ISBN: 9781735558547)
In Our Midst by Nancy Jensen (Dzanc Books | January 14, 2025)
Set in Indiana, this novel “illuminates a nation gripped by suspicion, fear, and hatred strong enough to threaten all bonds of love—for friends, family, community, and country.”
(Distributed by Publishers Group West. ISBN: 9781938603150)
Maybe This Is What I Deserve by Tucker Leighty-Phillips (Split/Lip Press | June 20, 2023)
According to Matt Bell, this short fiction collection “delivers us a surrealism suffused with joy and generosity and wit, grounded in sincere love for Kentucky and for the irrepressible potential of its people.”
(Distributed by Asterism Books. ISBN: 9781952897290)
Defiant Acts by James Stewart III (Acre Books | May 15, 2024)
This debut novel “documents the life of a working-class interracial couple and their children in a Chicago suburb in the early 1990s.”
(Distributed by Chicago Distribution Center. ISBN: 9781946724892)
Girlfriends by Emily Zhou (LittlePuss Press | October 17, 2023)
In these stories, many of which are set in Michigan, Zhou “chronicles modern queer life with uncompromising and hilarious lucidity.”
(Distributed by Consortium Book Sales and Distribution. ISBN: 9781736716847)
Independent Publishers Based in the Great Lakes Region
Illinois
Flood Editions
Haymarket Books (Read our publisher spotlight here.)
Humans & Nature Press
Long Day Press
Meekling Press
Northwestern University Press
Soberscove Press
Swan Isle Press
Indiana
Action Books
Flipped Mitten Press
The Facing Project Press
Wolfson Press
Kentucky
Appalachia Book Company
Broadstone Books
Sarabande Books (Read our publisher spotlight here.)
Finishing Line Press
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions
Michigan
Dzanc Books (Read our publisher spotlight here.)
Ohio
Acre Books
Ashland Poetry Press
Chimera Projects
Cleveland State University Poetry Center
Dos Madres Press
Henar Press
Milk and Cake Press
Rescue Press
Colosseum Books
The Word’s Faire
Unleash Press
Wisconsin
Cornerstone Press
Hidden Timber Books
New American Press
Print Literary Magazines Based in the Great Lakes Region
Illinois
30 North
Allium: A Journal of Poetry & Prose
Chicago Quarterly Review
East on Central Association
Four Tulips
Hypertext Review
Kaleidoscope
Lucky Jefferson (Read our magazine spotlight here.)
Ninth Letter
Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora
POETRY Magazine
Polyphony Lit
Spoon River Poetry Review
Suspended Magazine
The Wax Paper
Indiana
Indiana Review
Kennings Artistic and Literary Journal
River Teeth
Southern Indiana Review
Kentucky
BarBar
The Louisville Review
Michigan
Juste Milieu
The MacGuffin
Making Waves: A West Michigan Review
Michigan Quarterly Review
Oakland Arts Review
The Twin Bill
Washington Square Review
Ohio
Cincinnati Review (Read our magazine spotlight here.)
Cleveland Review of Books
Mid-American Review
OFIC Magazine
Story Magazine
The Colosseum
Wisconsin
Cream City Review
Either/Or
Midwest Review
Seems Literary Magazine
Sheepshead Review
Fairs and Festivals in the Great Lakes Region
Bloomington Book Festival
Bloomington, IN
2025: October 24-26
Books by the Banks Cincinnati Book Fest
Cincinnati, OH
2025: November 15
Buckeye Book Festival
Wooster, OH
2025: November 1
Cleveland Book Fest
Cleveland, OH
2025: September 3-27
Great Lakes Writers Festival
Plymouth, WI
2025: November 6-7
Harbor Springs Festival of the Book
Harbor Springs, MI
2025: September 26-28
Heartland Fall Forum
Indianapolis, IN
2025: October 14-16
Kentucky Book Festival
Lexington, KY
2025: November 1
Lit Youngstown Fall Literary Festival
Youngstown, OH
2025: October 16-18
Louisville Book Festival
Louisville, KY
2025: October 11
Printers Row Lit Fest
Chicago, IL
2025: September 6-7
Wisconsin Book Festival
Madison, WI
2025: October 23-26
Regional Awards
Friends of American Writers Awards
The Friends of American Writers Awards, sponsored by Friends of American Writers, are given annually to books of fiction or creative nonfiction published in the previous year that are set in the Midwest or by a Midwestern author.
Heartland Booksellers Awards
The Heartland Booksellers Awards, given annually by the Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association, celebrate books set in the Midwest or Great Lakes region, or books by authors from or currently living in the regions.
Indiana Authors Awards
The Indiana Authors Awards, sponsored by Indiana Humanities, honors “the best books written by Hoosier authors in multiple categories.”
Ohio Book Awards
The Ohio Book Awards, sponsored by the Ohioana Library Association, “recognize Ohio authors and illustrators for outstanding books published each calendar year.”
Midland Authors Awards
The Midland Authors Awards, sponsored by the Society of Midland Authors, “recognize book writing excellence by Midwestern authors in several categories.”
