- With the support of Puffin Foundation West, the Feminist Press published eight new works of intersectional feminist literature and hosted free public events to celebrate the works in New York City. With these publications and programs, we furthered our mission to use storytelling as a tool for social justice and to build an inclusive literary activist community in New York City and beyond. The eight works published represent the diversity, nuance, and originality of the Feminist Press editorial mission. Ranging widely in genre, voice, and topic, these works advance multiple approaches to intersectional feminism and open up crucial cultural questions about race, gender, sexuality, class, and more. The published works include:
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- Living on the Borderlines (February 2019), a short story collection by Melissa Michal exploring Indigenous life in contemporary New York State
- The Summer of Dead Birds (March 2019), an autobiographical novel in verse by veteran poet Ali Liebegott that dives into grief, kinship, and resilience
- Mars: Stories (March 2019), a science fiction short story collection written by Bosnian feminist Asja Bakić and translated by Jennifer Zoble
- Arid Dreams: Stories (April 2019), a social realist short story collection written by Duanwad Pimwana and translated from the Thai by Mui Poopoksakul
- Original Plumbing (May 2019), the first archived collection of the groundbreaking magazine for transgender male culture, edited by founders Amos Mac and Rocco Kayiatos
- Ain’t I a Diva?: Beyoncé and the Power of Pop Culture Pedagogy (June 2019, an analysis of Beyoncé’s work as a mode of Black feminist activism and a teaching tool by Kevin Allred
- Knitting the Fog (July 2019) by Claudia D. Hernández, a bilingual memoir recounting a family’s migration from Guatemala to the US, and the winner of the 2018 Louise Meriwether Prize, awarded to a debut woman/nonbinary author of color
- The Not Wives (September 2019), a resistance novel by Carley Moore about three women navigating the Occupy Wall Street Movement in the context of their own messy lives By publishing and promoting these works, we invested in the careers of eleven authors, editors, and translators, most of whom are in the early stages of their literary careers. FP provided support throughout every stage of development of their work, including editorial guidance, design and production, publicity and marketing support, and tour planning and execution. The eight works received critical acclaim in press outlets including the New York Times, NPR, O, the Oprah Magazine, The Believer, BUST, Los Angeles Review of Books, Lambda Literary Review, NPR’s Code Switch, and Publishers Weekly (starred review). Knitting the Fog was also honored as a Summer/Fall 2019 Adult Indies Introduce Title. The goals accomplished by this project include:
- We published eight works of feminist literature with high literary merit, aesthetic and technical quality, and social impact
- We produced ten public events in New York City that engage diverse audiences (including one forthcoming event: the NYC launch of The Not Wives will take place at McNally Jackson, 52 Prince St, New York, NY 10012 on September 10)
- We achieved widespread publicity for each title in print and digital media
- We provided professional support to our community of authors, translators, and editors
