We've made it through our seventh year and we are thrilled relieved. Small presses don't necessarily have a reputation for longevity, so we’re grateful to have made it this far.
Every year for our anniversary we take a moment to check in—with our intentions, with the world around us, and of course with you, our dear readers. Last year, we were pausing in place to see when and how life would get back to normal after the appearance of COVID-19; this year we’re trying to figure out how to unpause and move forward into whatever the new normal will be.
After the last 18 months of challenges, we are looking for things to celebrate—and they aren’t in short supply. This year we've published Semiotic Love [Stories] by Brian Phillip Whalen and Before Stonewall by Edward M. Cohen. In September, Andrew Yoon’s pocketbook We Are Invited to Climb will come out, followed by Donald Quist’s third title with Awst, To Those Bounded. (Both Andrew and Donald’s books are available for preorder if you’re motivated by a discount.)
In addition to the brilliant titles mentioned above, we've been fortunate to work with a great group of authors over the last seven years and we’d like to take a moment to recognize their recent successes.
In addition to his new book, Donald Quist joined the Alma College MFA program faculty and was named Director of MFA in Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts. Micheline Aharonian Marcom published a new book, The New American: A Novel and Vida Cross had a poem in the anthology, Through This Door: Wisconsin in Poems. Robert Vivan co-edited Wild Gods with Joel Peckham, which will be available September first. Erin Pringle’s Awst title, Hezada! I Miss You, was a finalist in the CLMP Firecracker Awards.
We got our start publishing chapbooks, and those early authors are also up to some remarkable things. Denne Michele Norris has been named the Editor-in-Chief at Electric Literature. Justine Champine published an audio version of "The Widow" from The Kenyon Review. Karissa Chen has signed with Michelle Brower at Aevitas Creative Management for her new novel. Rowan Hisayo Buchanan published Starling Days last year. Bridget Brewer has been shortlisted for the 2020 Tarpaulin Sky Book Prize and for their 2021 publication with The Elephants Press. They’re also a finalist for the 2020 Noemi Press Prose Award. Gene Kwak’s debut novel, Go Home, Ricky!, is available for preorders and will be released on October 19th. RE Katz published a novella, And Then The Gray Heaven and Dan Bevacqua published his first novel, Molly Bit.
Every year we publish an essay series that tackles an issue or topic we’d like to see get more thoughtful attention. The authors who write these essays for us are brought to our attention through a guest curator who helps us stay connected to new and inspiring writers. In the last year Geneva Phillips published a memoir, Disappearing in Glimpses and Sonya Vatomsky published a poetry chapbook, And the Whale. Sophfronia Scott was named the Program Director for Alma College’s MFA program, kicked off its inaugural class, and published The Seeker and the Monk. Michelle Webster-Hein has a novel, Out of Esau, forthcoming and Diane Lefer’s new novel, Out of Place, will be out on September 13th.
We are thrilled to see so much literary achievement and honored to have worked with these great artists. Please consider joining us supporting and celebrating them by purchasing their books or requesting them from your local library.
Finally, we want to mention some internal changes within our group. After an impressive run of outstanding design work, LK James is leaving Awst Press to focus on her personal creative work. Although we are sad to see her leave the group, we are excited to see all her upcoming projects. Claire Krüeger will be joining the team as our new cover designer and long-time friend of the press, David McNamara of Publish Publish, will take over layout.
Thank you for supporting our authors and their work. We hope you and yours are safely navigating your own new normal and finding room to thrive—for more on that, tune in to our essay series starting this week.
Wendy M. Walker & Tatiana Ryckman