pokkoli

March is Small Press Month

Did you know that 70% of the books published last year in the US were published by small presses?


Today’s literary legends were yesterday’s unknowns, struggling into print through small, private presses and literary journals kept afloat by the sheer willpower of their editors, financed with money borrowed from friends or scraped up from bottom drawers and cookie jars. Thus was James Joyce first published in the Little Review by Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap, two Midwesterners later transplanted to Paris. Just across the channel, in London, Virginia Woolf was printing her own work and that of her friends, like Katherine Mansfield and Vernon Lee through the Hogarth Press, founded by her husband, Leonard Woolf. Were it not for the efforts of these dedicated editors, many masterpieces of the last century would never have been published.

In the past, the role of these presses was in part to create a public for challenging new writers and works until the time was ripe for a greater audience. Today, given the uncertain transformation of commercial book publishing: ( shrinking readership for fiction , the vanishing of the mid- list, the compromised destiny of the medium of print, new tastes and inclinations of the Twitter generation, and the unforeseen implications of the google library ) the function of small presses could be compared to that of the scribe monks of the dark ages. They are intent upon preserving a rich and diversified cultural heritage, which otherwise might be lost forever.

But beware! The average lifespan of small presses is 5-7 years. They are continually in danger and are in need of constant support. It is important for writers, librarians, teachers, and readers to combine their efforts in order to help keep small presses and little magazines alive.

The first thing you can do to contribute to the cause is to buy small press publications and to subscribe to little magazines. (Sadly, it is well-known that many writers do not subscribe to little magazines or buy each other’s books!) The other thing you can do is to promote small press publications in a variety of ways which may not necessarily cost you anything. You can attend or even organize readings, review small press publications for internet and local publications, promote books you like on your personal website or message boards, or ask your library to order small press publications.

In this month of March, 2010, Small Press Month, Centro Pokkoli salutes small press publication everywhere. Below you’ll find links to many of the presses, magazines, distributors, and writing organizations connected to Pokkoli authors. Check on them for updates concerning new publications, readings, and events.

Linda Lappin