Moss.

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Moss is now seeking new readers!

We are very excited to be expanding the Moss team! In the coming weeks, we will be bringing on several readers specializing in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. These are temporary, one-year positions, with the possibility of renewing for additional one-year terms. Interested in working with us? Know someone who would be a great fit? Please be in touch! And feel free to circulate this listing to any relevant boards.

Moss is looking for sharp, discerning readers to help us evaluate unsolicited submissions. Please send a resume and cover letter indicating which category you are interested in—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—and explaining why you are specifically interested in working with Moss. Applicants should be familiar with our work and the Northwest literary scene in general. They should also be avid, curious readers who are engaged with the world and current events, and should meet the criteria for submitting writing to Moss (i.e. you should either currently reside in the Northwest or have a substantial connection to the region). Some experience working as a reader or editor with other literary journals is preferred but not required.

Please note that these positions, like all of Moss’s current staff and leadership, will be on an unpaid, volunteer basis.

Thanks in advance for your time and interest! Please send applications as described to [email protected].

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Welcome Contributing Editors Dujie Tahat and Ashley Toliver: 

Moss Will Publish Poetry Beginning Spring 2017!

We at Moss are pleased to announce the addition of two new contributing editors for poetry to our team. Since 2014, Moss has been collecting the finest Northwest-centric prose and interviews we can find into our six online issues and two print volumes. Now, with the help of new contributing editors Dujie Tahat and Ashley Toliver, we will explore the wonderfully vibrant world of Northwest poetry in our own pages.

Beginning with our upcoming Issue 7, look for poems selected by Dujie Tahat in Moss.

Dujie Tahat is a writer and editor based in Seattle, WA. His work has previously been published in The Seattle Review of Books, Civic Skunk Works, and Luckswing. As a spoken word artist, he has been recognized as a Seattle Grand Slam Finalist, Whitman College Poetry Slam Winner, and Seattle Youth Speaks Grand Slam Champion. When not worrying about messing his kids up too much, he works as communications consultant in politics and tech.

Ashley Toliver will join Moss as a contributing editor for poetry beginning with our Issue 8.

Ashley Toliver is an American poet living in Portland, OR. A Cave Canem fellow and recent graduate of Brown University, she’s the author of the chapbook Ideal Machine (Poor Claudia, 2014).

General submissions of poetry for consideration in Moss will be open for Issue 8 and beyond. Poets from or with a substantial connection to Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia are eligible for publication. There is no fee to submit to Moss and writers accepted for publication will be paid for their work. With inquiries or questions, please contact Moss staff at our dedicated poetry address: [email protected].

Please join us in welcoming Dujie and Ashley to our team, and in welcoming poetry to Moss!

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Hello poetry lovers of the Northwest! Moss presents another installment of Washington Poetry Update with Tod Marshall, poet laureate of Washington state, in honor of National Poetry Month and that eternally poetic topic: spring. Enjoy!

The poetry of April 2016

“In Just-/ spring” the world is “mud-luscious,” “puddle-wonderful” and all that sloppiness:  cummings’ poem always brings a little bit of a wry smile—mostly because of its subtle wickedness:  the goat-footed world of experience ushering the boys and girls from silly innocent games to realize (each other) and the muddy reality of, as another modernist put it, “birth, and copulation, and death” (with a big emphasis on death).    

Cheery?  That one, not so much.  And of course, since I invoked him, “April is the cruellest month” is another zinger of a poem that merges modern societal decay after a horrific war with religious allusions with vegetation ceremonies with the awful reminder that nature gives:  see these green shoots?  These new blossoms?  They’ll keep popping up every year when the air gets warm and the ground softens, from now until (let’s hope) eternity:  you, creature of seven or eight decades (if one is lucky), you got one slow slide toward decay.

Alright, I’m failing miserably—the generous editors of Moss asked me to write a springy column to announce the season, something that might alleviate the dour winter months and post-election gloom, something with Whitmanic exuberance, a celebration of the warm days to come and the chance that, at least for the month of April readers will be reveling in the blossomy embrace of poetry.

One more try:  

The daffodils are up

by the porch.

    One,

two,

      three.

I could be next.

By Robert Sund

Yes, that’s better—with an appropriate Pacific Northwest bent.  Sund’s poem is a testimony to the endurance of beauty and the possibility of blossom each of us carries to every moment.  

And new books of poems have popped up crocus-like, daffodil-like, iris-like, dandelion-like in the Pacific Northwest literary garden.  We have amazing collections from Nance Van Winckel, Chris Howell, Leija Farr, and Kevin Craft.  Bill Carty, Quentin Baker, Ben Cartwright, Ellen Welcker, Jane Wong, and Megan Snyder-Camp. I’ve read several of these collections, and I’m stunned at how much poetry-energy there is in our state, as well as how many great small presses continue to publish high-quality work.

Speaking of which, the WA 129 book project that I’ve been working on has come to, well (one last usage), blossom, to bloom, to a state of efflorescence.  Okay, done with that metaphor—the book’s been published.  I’m pleased with the selection of poems (so hard to choose!), and I’m excited to shepherd it forth—ahh, new metaphor, poems as livestock?–into the world and get to work on the digital portion of the project—look for more details on all of that soon.    

If one wants to hang with writerly types and learn about the art of poetry (and fiction and nonfiction), there are several conferences and gatherings this spring to consider:  Vashon Island, Write on the River, and The Chucanut Writers Conference, to name only a few.  And don’t forget Mighty Tieton in early fall!

My calendar is as busy like the bees, or, if you live on the east side of the state, sun-zapped Boxelder Bugs, steady as the slugs in Seattle on dewy mornings, frenzied like the chunky robins snagging unlucky worms after rain.  I’ll visit Vancouver and Port Angeles and Bellingham, Wenatchee, Vashon Island, and Goldendale.  I’ll talk to elementary students, at colleges, in bookstores; I’ll continue to write editorials for newspapers about the importance of funding the arts, the humanities, the ways that humans explore mystery, and, hopefully, connect with one another during this discordant cultural moment.  

There’s so much turmoil in our world (Tomahawks from Trump, budgetary cuts aimed at the most vulnerable, nuclear conflict—nuclear!  People are talking about nuclear weapons being used!  What is going on with the world.  And on and on).  Maybe there is a small—teeny?—amount of solace in this:  as is often the case when jeopardy and injustice seem the refrains of the day, people have turned to things near at hand, that which they can impact in a tangible way:  activism, service, the arts.  That’s a beautiful blossoming (darn, used it again), and, if there is still much trepidation for tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, maybe poetry—words that matter to us—can help us find ways to speak toward those fears, of those fears, and, more importantly, allow us to share words with one another.  

Moss is an online journal of the Northwest dedicated to supporting the established, emerging, and experimental voices of the region. Find Moss at mosslit.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

Tod Marshall is the Washington State Poet Laureate for 2016-2018. Find Tod on Twitter and Facebook. The Washington State Poet Laureate program is made possible by ArtsWA and Humanities Washington.

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Hello poetry lovers and fans of Northwest writing: Moss is pleased to introduce Washington Poetry Update with Tod Marshall, a monthly series on poetry happenings by Washington’s Poet Laureate. Enjoy!

October 2016: It Ain’t Me

I, for one, am quite pleased that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. I’m often asked whether song lyrics (hip-hip, folk, rock, blues, you name it) are poetry.  My response is always the same:  yes, and here’s why.  Ed Hirsch’s definition of poetry seems like a useful one: “An inexplicable (though not incomprehensible) event in language; an experience through words.”  Song lyrics fit well within that definition, and their performative nature might even emphasize certain aspects of the definition (“event” and “experience,” for example) that written texts sometimes don’t fully achieve.  “Don’t think twice”—the selection is a great international honor to American folk music, a huge and accomplished body of work, and some of the most enduring phrases and lyrics of the last fifty years.  

It ain’t Portland (which is, of course, vibrant with Lit stuff—from Powell’s to Tin House to Ooligan Press and the inimitable poetry of John Beer), it’s Vancouver, and, more particularly, Vancouver, WA, a place that I bounced around and moped about in the early 90s—not a boom time for the city.  That period of artistic desolation is long ago:  from readings at Clark College to poetry on the buses to the vibrant energy Christopher Luna and Toni Partington have cultivated through many literary ventures in the area, Vancouver has become a cool place to check out some art and take in some poetry. 

It ain’t the Nobel, but Copper Canyon Press and Humanities Washington have joined forces to offer a series of three live cast talks with wonderful poets about what makes a work of poetry deserving of the Pulitzer Prize.  The first talk was on October 6th and featured Ellen Bass, Maurice Manning, and Camille Rankine  talking with Anis Mojgani about the work of Lucille Clifton and W.S. Merwin. The next conversation with be on November 3rd, and it will feature Kevin Craft talking with Ed Skoog, Erin Belieu, and Paisley Rekdal about the work of Carolyn Kizer and Theodore Roethke.  

I love the weird and wild imagination of Mary Ruefle; Madness, Rack, and Honey is a great book about poetry, and I return to it often (along with The Art of Recklessness by Dean Young and Twentieth Century Pleasures by Robert Hass).  And so:  sing it from the rooftops:  Mary Ruefle’s newest book of poetry is out!  My Private Property, a collection of prose poems that begins with the line, “At headquarters they asked me for something dry and understated.  Mary, they said, it’s called a statement.”

Speaking of cool books, Kathryn Nuernberger has a new one coming out: The End of Pink.  Kathryn’s a quiet and seemingly mild-mannered person, but (as is sometimes the case) a wild imagination lurks within: think Marianne Moore obsessed with Bat Boy, mermaids, gnomes, princesses, and science!  Kathryn will be in the Northwest this November for readings in Seattle at The Hugo House and in Spokane at Central Foods with Nance Van Winckel and others on November 6 at 7pm.  

If you’re in Seattle or Tacoma in late October or early November, then you might try to check out these two festivals.  First of all, in late October, the second annual Tacoma Poetry Festival will host Brian Turner, Carolyne Wright, and many other fine writers.  Soon after, on November 3-6 in Seattle, the Cascadia Poetry Festival will launch its fourth annual event at the Spring Street Center in Capital Hill.  Many wonderful poets will be there:  Brenda Hillman, Sam Hamill, Colleen McElroy, Marilyn Stablein, Judith Roche, Sarah DeLeeuw, JM Miller, Roger Fernandez, Tim McNulty, Erin Fristad, Jordan Abel and Peter Munro.  Readings, panels, and a general good spirit of enviro-minded literary activism propel this festival, and I highly recommend it.  

We have so many great ongoing great reading series in Washington (Words West, Duvall, Creekside, Broken Mic, RASP, Yakima Coffee House Poets, Rain City Slam, and many others); it’s important to support these venues that show us how literature is alive and of our day—how it is, to borrow again from Ed Hirsch, an event, an experience, something that can graft itself to our being, a jingle-jangle moving sort of thing.  Don’t miss out on too much, or you’ll end up, ahem, “tangled up in blue.”

Washington Poetry Update At A Glance

Don’t miss “Pulitzers in Person” this fall with Humanities Washington and Copper Canyon Press -- streaming live and archived online.

New books forthcoming from Mary Ruefle and Kathryn Nuernberger! Nuernberger reads in Spokane on November 6 and in Seattle (with Maya Jewell Zeller) on November 13. 

This weekend, October 21-22, brings the Tacoma Poetry Festival with Brian Turner, Carolyne Wright, and many more.

The Cascadia Poetry Festival comes to Seattle November 3-6. 

Moss is an online journal of the Northwest dedicated to supporting the established, emerging, and experimental voices of the region. Find Moss at mosslit.com or on Twitter and Facebook.

Tod Marshall is the Washington State Poet Laureate for 2016-2018. Find Tod on Twitter and Facebook. The Washington State Poet Laureate program is made possible by ArtsWA and Humanities Washington.

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Hello poetry lovers and fans of Northwest writing: Moss is pleased to introduce Washington Poetry Update with Tod Marshall, a monthly series on poetry happenings by Washington’s Poet Laureate. Enjoy!

September 2016: A Rolling Stone (And All That)

During the late winter and spring, I bounced around the state of Washington in the name of Poetry.  I visited libraries (in Columbia City and Ritzville), schools (in Olympia and Twisp), cultural centers and community museums (on Whidbey, in Federal Way).  Mount Rainier, the awesome power of the Pacific Ocean, channeled scablands that give us a lens into the chiseling power of history, the Columbia River (rolling on):  so many places, so many natural wonders. And so much poetry:  I wrote and listened to poems in the creative company of adults and children, at workshops surrounded by Bonsai trees and cinder blocks.  I heard poems by Governor Inslee, Naomi Shihab-Nye, Lucia Perillo, and Natalie Diaz (to name a few).  This fall looks even busier.

Moss has asked me to share some of these encounters and announce some upcoming stuff, and so here are a few poetry events, venues, poets, and poetry tidbits that I discovered on my journeys (and plan on visiting soon!); there are many others, of course, and over the next several months, I’ll share some more: slams, open mics, conferences, reading series, new presses, under-appreciated poets and poetic places in Washington.  Help me out by sending me ideas ([email protected]). And so—

Last spring, I participated in the Baudelaire Poetry Prowl in Ellensburg.  Like many people in Spokane and Seattle, I usually encounter E-burg as exit 109, that place to stop before the wintertime drudge of the pass (“I-90 Westbound is closed for avalanche control; it may reopen tomorrow”) or just before the long crossing of the eastern part of the state.  Poetry?  Sure, there were some fine writers at Central Washington University and in the community with whom I was familiar, but I had no idea of the artistic energy in this city. The Poetry Prowl was ten hours of sustained community and craziness, one of the most generous—yet serious—groups of artists with which I’ve had the good fortune to spend time.  And guess what?  They’re doing it again; this year it’s “Edna’s Second April”, in the spirit of the wild and brilliantly talented Edna St. Vincent Millay. April 8:  put it on your calendar.  

Which reminds me: in just a few weeks, LITFUSE (still time to register) will bring Ilya Kaminsky, Thom Lux, and many other fine poets to the Cascade Mountains, and I’m looking forward to visiting this workshop and learning.  

My journeys have taken me to many reading series in the state, and I’d like to highlight three: Broken Mic, The Olympia People’s Mic, and Bellingham Poetry Night.  Talented poet Mark Anderson, founder of Broken Mic, has done a great job keeping the Wednesday night series rolling at Neato Burrito in downtown Spokane; Devin Devine and others have helped him—Wednesday nights, if you’re in Spokane, you should check it out; from the fine list of featured readers to the always vibrant audience participation, it’s a series that represents what’s best about community and poetry.  In Olympia, I continue to dig the Old Growth Poetry Collective and everything that they do; their weekly series at iconic restaurant/bar Glen Moore’s offers an eclectic range of writing—I heard well-made, staccato spoken word pieces and long memorized riffs of Robert Service when I was there.  Up the Coast, Bellingham boasts a number of reading series, but Monday night is Poetry Night, a long-standing series that showcases talent through featured readers and great energy.

Several new poetry titles are coming out this fall, and I’m eager to read Ed Skoog’s newest from Copper Canyon (Run the Red Lights, Nov 15); Ed—a gentle giant from Topeka—has a strange sensibility and keen control of image and tone.  I almost always admire his poems.  A new collection from Jane Wong (Overpour, Action Books) will also be out soon; I’ve had the good fortune of hearing Jane read a couple of times; her poems have a sharp energy, and I’m looking forward to making my way slowly through an entire collection. In Spokane, Scablands Books will launch with two collections—one by Ellen Welcker, whose first collection, The Botanical Garden, is an awesome display of imagination and the boundaries of poetics. Tim Greenup’s first book (Without Warning) will be the other collection; Tim’s poems are chatty and breezy with great jumps of the imagination—what Frank O’Hara might have written if O’Hara had lived with the internet, Anime, talk radio, and reality TV.

So much other stuff to consider--SAL has assembled a stellar poetry list for 2016-17, Hugo House’s offerings are always wonderful.  Humanities Washington Bedtime Stories events in Spokane and Seattle are almost upon us, October Arts Month in Spokane will be here soon—and with it, Terrain, an amazing night of art and fun.  Personally, I have events scheduled in Metaline Falls and Mineral City, Seattle and Spokane, Yakima and Twisp (plus lots of other places); I know that I’ll get to meet many poets and reacquaint myself with friends, and I’ll offer brief reports from these various venues and highlight some of the diverse literary talent in the PNW.  

Washington Poetry Update At A Glance:

Mark your calendar for April 8 and “Edna’s Second April”, a celebration of Edna St. Vincent Millay in Central Washington.

LiTFUSE, a weekend-long poetry workshop, is September 23-25 in Tieton (near Yakima).

Weekly poetry series to note: Monday night Poetry Night in Bellingham; Broken Mic, Wednesdays in Spokane; and Old Growth Poetry Collective, Thursdays in Olympia.

Humanities Washington’s Bedtime Stories will be held in Seattle on October 7 and Spokane on October 28.

Terrain will be held in Spokane on October 7.

Moss is an online journal of the Northwest dedicated to supporting the established, emerging, and experimental voices of the region. Find Moss at mosslit.com or on Twitter and Facebook. 

Tod Marshall is the Washington State Poet Laureate for 2016-2018. Find Tod on Twitter and Facebook. The Washington State Poet Laureate program is made possible by ArtsWA and Humanities Washington. 

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July/August 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up!

Although high summer is traditionally a slow season and moss tends to suffer in direct heat, there’s a lot going on (as always) in the Pacific Northwest literary world these days.

Downtown Portland’s Floating World Comics, a comic-book store built with love and attention to local detail, celebrates its 10th anniversary today, Thursday August 18th! They’ll be selling comic books for the door-busting price of $1/pound. Willamette Week has a feature on the sale and on the history of Floating World Comics, which has expanded not once but twice in the last ten years. 

And tonight in Seattle, Elliott Bay Book Company hosts The New York Times’ poetry editor Matthew Zapruder in conversation with Srikanth Reddy. Zapruder is a longtime editor at Seattle’s Wave Books and his newest collection, Sun Bear, is published by Copper Canyon Press of Port Townsend. 7pm and sure to be a treat! Learn more on Facebook.

Washington writer Sherman Alexie’s modern YA classic The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian has spent a staggering nine years and 267 weeks on The New York Times Best-Seller List -- and just this week, it hit number 1 for the first time.

Last month, The Atlantic Monthly published “The Racist History of Portland, the Whitest City in America” by Alana Semuels. The piece was a well-researched look at Portland’s racial dynamics, the discriminatory history of Oregon law, and the experience of people of color living in Oregon today. Readers responded in a variety of ways and The Atlantic continues to publish important commentary from Portlanders on race and gentrification in the city.

A few cool educational opportunities have cropped up this month! First, applications close August 20th for a free and rigorous creative writing workshop led by Portland’s M. Allen Cunningham of Atelier26 Books. Cunningham is an established author, editor, and publisher (and a contributing editor to Moss!). The workshop is free and open to applicants 25 years old and older who can commit to serious literary analysis. Did we mention it’s free?? Learn more and apply here. Secondly, Seattle’s Bill Carty will lead a one-week seminar at Hugo House next week on “Generative Revision”  and a fall poetry workshop for intermediate-level writers. Register for the fall session before August 29th and save with an early-bird discount!

The Spokesman-Review of Spokane has been knocking it out of the park this summer with its annual Summer Stories feature, which publishes new fiction from a Spokane-area writer every Sunday. This year’s theme, “The Woods”, has produced a strong slate of stories from writers like Shawn Vestal, Leyna Krow, and Thom Caraway, demonstrating the real depth of talent in Spokane! We’ve enjoyed all the stories so far but are particularly partial to “Witch Lake” by Moss contributing editor Sharma Shields.

Deadlines and submission opportunities to note: the deadline for submissions to the Oregon Book Awards, administered by Literary Arts, is Friday, August 26th. Learn more and view the application. Portland’s Glimmer Train is now reading in its Very Short Fiction and Fiction Open categories, to close August 31st. Details here. The Gar LaSalle Storyteller Award for Washington literary artists, administered by Artist Trust, is accepting applications through September 12. Here’s the application! 

Congratulations to Portland publisher Forest Avenue Press and Portland novelist Jamie Duclos-Yourdon on the release of Froelich’s Ladder, a magical realist take on Oregon’s early immigrant history. Froelich’s Ladder is a Portland Monthly Magazine hot pick for August! We also send our congratulations to The Seattle Review of Books, who celebrated their one-year anniversary in late July. To many more!

And finally, we here at Moss are thrilled to announce the release of our fifth issue, which is available in full for free online. Issue 5 features an interview with Portland’s Mitchell S. Jackson on the alternative history of Portland, the limits and freedoms of fiction, and race in the writing world; the surreal appeal of an enchanted sinkhole in new fiction from Spokane’s Leyna Krow; an excerpt from The Loved Ones, the upcoming novel by Seattle’s Sonya Chung; creative nonfiction from Moscow, ID poet Tiffany Midge on a tangled relationship with a troubled personality in Bellingham, WA ; and an essay from Portland journalist Leah Sottile on love, marriage, and chronic pain. Please read, enjoy, and let us know what you think!

See? There’s no such thing as a slow season when it comes to Pacific Northwest literary news. For questions, comments, corrections, or to submit your own or your organization’s news, please contact Amy Wilson at [email protected]! 

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June 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up!

Hello hello and welcome to this month’s Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up, presented by Moss.

First off, there are plenty of active submission opportunities at the moment that may be worth a look. On June 30 we have deadlines for both the Short Story for New Writers award from Portland-based Glimmer Train and for fall internships at Port Townsend’s Copper Canyon Press. Village Books and Paper Dreams, a bookstore in Bellingham WA, is accepting job applications through July 1. ArtsWA is seeking nominations for “outstanding artists, arts organizations, and cultural leaders” for the Governor’s Arts Awards and Governor’s Heritage Awards through July 7. Finally, don’t miss the chance to submit your chapbook to the contest judged by Matt Bell (Scrapper) and run by Portland-based press The Conium Review, closing September 1. 

Ghosts of Seattle Past is partnering with Seattle’s Center for Architecture and Design on the BOOM! exhibit which opens July 7 (with a party!) and will run through the summer. This interactive multimedia installation will bring to life Seattle’s changing urban landscape through text and image. More info available right here!

Several Northwest-based writers are celebrating recently-released books. Portland’s Chuck Palahniuk releases Fight Club 2, a hardcover graphic novel collecting issues 1-10 of the sequel to his 1996 novel. Alexis M. Smith, also of Oregon, has published her second novel Marrow Island, set on the San Juan Islands twenty years after a cataclysmic earthquake. She spoke with Tobias Carroll of Vol 1 Brooklyn about the novel’s setting and inspiration. Spokane’s Shawn Vestal and his debut novel, the Idaho-set Daredevils, are featured with an in-depth interview with The Rumpus. And Monica Drake shares a Portland-themed playlist for her collection of short stories set in the city and published by Portland’s Future Tense Books with David Gutowski at Large-Hearted Boy.

Comedian W. Kamau Bell visited Portland for his CNN show United Shades of America, examining the ongoing issue of race and gentrification in cities with a thorough yet gentle eye. The show highlights Oregon’s complicated racial history and features the gorgeous photography of Portland’s Intisar Abioto. Watch the United Shades of America videos and read Bell’s thoughts here, then take a look at Abioto’s photographs on The Black Portlanders. 

The Northwest showed its strength as a center for alternative journalism when the 2016 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards finalists were announced this month. There were eight nominations for Portland’s Willamette Week, four for Spokane’s The Inlander, and three for Eugene Weekly. See the full list of finalists in all categories here. Mike Bookey’s profile of novelist (and Moss contributing editor!) Sharma Shields for The Inlander was nominated in the category of Arts Feature in a paper with circulation exceeding 45,000. Congratulations to these papers and people!

Portland’s Revolution Comedy and The Q Center are presenting a night of comedy to benefit OneOrlando in the wake of this month’s mass shooting at the Pulse Nightclub. The event will feature Northwest comedians Andie Main, Nick Sahoyah, Barbara Holm, Nariko Ott, Whitney Streed, Caitlin Weierhauser and Susan Rice, and will be held on July 6. More details on Facebook. 

Finally, Washington’s inimitable Poet Laureate Tod Marshall reminds us that submissions are open through January 2017 for Washington 129, an print and online anthology collecting poetry from the people of Washington State. Learn more, consider submitting, and spread the word! 

The Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up, presented by Moss, aims to collect literary and cultural news from Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and British Columbia. For comments, corrections, or to submit your or your organization’s news for a future edition, please contact Amy Wilson at [email protected].

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May 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up!

Hello friends and welcome to this month’s Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up, presented by the Pacific Northwest literary news aficionados of Moss.

We ourselves are pleased to announce our full slate of contributing editors:  Diana Xin, Elisabeth Sherman, M. Allen Cunningham, Michael Chin, and Sharma Shields. Welcome, all!

Happy birthday, Raymond Carver! The legendary Washington writer, best known for his short stories but also a prolific poet, was born in Clatskanie, OR, on May 25, 1938. Electric Literature has published a marvelous essay by Raymond’s brother James Carver in tribute. “I believe he was a true genius to write everything that he did about the way people truly are with one another.”

The Portland-based nonprofit feminist magazine Bitch Media celebrates 20 years in print this year! Bitch Media relocated its operations to Portland from the Bay Area in 2007. The magazine’s founder Andi Zeisler also released a new book this month: We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement. For more on the past, present, and future of Bitch Media, here’s a profile from @newyorker.

Portland writer Mitch Jackson and the Northwest Injury Law Center have announced the inaugural Mitchell S. Jackson Scholarship for Writers of Color. This scholarship will award $1500 to a rising college freshman of color from the Portland/Vancouver area who wishes to pursue writing. Learn more, apply, or spread the word!

One of the Northwest’s leading literary voices, Mr. Sherman Alexie, has a new book for young audiences out this month: Thunder Boy Jr, the story of a young boy searching for a name and identity of his own. Thunder Boy Jr debuted last week at #3 on the Indie Bestseller List and #4 on The New York Times Picture Book Bestseller List. Sherman Alexie was interviewed by @npr Morning Edition on his new book, being a “Jr”, and the importance of diversity in children’s literature.

Artist Trust, an organization supporting Washington state artists across disciplines, has announced its 2016 awards. Winners in the literary category include Nance Van Winckel, Robert Lashley, Jekeva Phillips, Michelle Peñaloza, Bill Carty, Miles Caudesch, and Ramon Isao. Seattle-based writer Elissa Washuta is a recipient of the $25,000 Arts Innovator Award. Congratulations! See a full list of winners and their bios right here.

In other big awards news, many Northwest-based literary organizations are recipients of spring grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. Wonderful tidings for Pacific Northwest literary culture! Northwest recipients of NEA grants are: from Oregon, Fishtrap, Caldera Arts, and Literary Arts; Washington’s @hugohouse and Seattle Arts and Lectures; and The Cabin Idaho and the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. 

We are sad to hear of the deaths of two Northwest literary luminaries: Katherine Dunn and Joseph Medicine Crow. Katherine Dunn was the author of cult-classic novel Geek Love and a longtime columnist for Portland’s Willamette Week. She grew up in Tigard, Oregon and attended Portland State University and Reed College. Read her full obituary at Willamette Week. Joseph Medicine Crow was a historian, anthropologist, and World War II veteran who in 2009 received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in recognition of his contribution to Native American history and letters. Mr. Medicine Crow attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon and spent most of his life in Montana. Read his obituary in The New York Times. 

Lastly but not leastly, if you missed our feature on Australian writers’ website Writers Bloc, here it is: Alex Davis-Lawrence interviews Washington State University’s T.V. Reed on proletarian novelist Robert Cantwell.

See you next month for more Pacific Northwest literary news -- evergreen, not deciduous! For comments, questions, or to share your own or your organization’s news, please contact Amy Wilson: [email protected].

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Established in 2014, Moss is an online journal of the Northwest dedicated to supporting the emerging, established, and experimental voices of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. With four online issues, a print compendium, and a fifth issue coming this spring, Moss exclusively publishes writers from or with a substantial connection to the Northwest.

We here at Moss are pleased to announce the growth of our team to include five contributing editors: Diana Xin, Elisabeth Sherman, M. Allen Cunningham, Michael Chin, and Sharma Shields. Representing a broad swath of Northwest, literary, and life experience, Moss’s contributing editors will expand the reach and sophistication of our efforts. Read on to learn more about each of our new contributing editors!

Diana Xin holds an MFA in fiction from the University of Montana. Her work has appeared in Narrative Magazine, Gulf Coast, and the Masters Review, among other places. She has received fellowships from the Richard Hugo House and the Loft Literary Center.

Follow Diana on Twitter: @dianawritesnow.

Elisabeth Sherman is from Seattle. She is a staff writer for All That Is Interesting, and a member of the nonfiction board at Apogee Journal. Elisabeth received her MFA from Columbia University.

Follow Elisabeth Sherman on Twitter: @liz_sher or Instagram: @burtsherman.

M. Allen Cunningham's writing has appeared in The Kenyon Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Glimmer Train, Tin House, and elsewhere. His newest book, Partisans: A Lost Work by Geoffrey Peerson Leed, a found manuscript by the vanished writer, appeared in spring 2015 and was one of six titles shortlisted for the 2014 Flann O'Brien Award. He is the founder and publisher of the independent small press Atelier26 Books, whose most recent title, Margaret Malone’s People Like You, was honored as a finalist for 2016 PEN/Hemingway Award and is a Balcones Fiction Prize finalist. Cunningham lives in Portland.

Visit M. Allen Cunningham’s website or follow him on Twitter: @M_A_Cunningham.

Michael Chin was born in Utica, New York and is currently writes and teaches in Corvallis, Oregon. He won the 2014 James Knudsen Editor's Prize for Fiction from Bayou Magazine, and has previously published or has work forthcoming with journals including The Normal School, Word Riot, and Gravel. In his spare time, he blogs about a cappella music and professional wrestling.

  Visit Michael’s website or follow him on Twitter: @miketchin.

Sharma Shields is the author of a short story collection, Favorite Monster, and a novel, The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac. Sharma’s writing has appeared in Electric Lit, The New York Times, Kenyon Review, Iowa Review, Fugue, and elsewhere and has garnered such awards as the Autumn House Fiction Prize, the Tim McGinnis Award for Humor, a Grant for Artist Projects from Artist Trust, and the A.B. Guthrie Award for Outstanding Prose. She received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington (2000) and her MFA from the University Montana (2004). Sharma has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and now lives in Spokane with her husband and two young children.

Find Sharma Shields on Twitter, Tumblr, or Facebook.

Photo credits: Young Kwak/The Inlander (Sharma Shields); Sabrina Poole/Oregon Arts Commision (M. Allen Cunningham); Sheila Nguyen (Diana Xin)

[mosslit]

April 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up!

Hello fans of NW literature! It’s spring and the sap is definitely rising in the Pacific Northwest literary world. Here’s the news!

We ourselves are happy to announce the first of the new contributing editors for Moss: Elisabeth Sherman! Elisabeth, a Seattleite, holds an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia University and serves on the nonfiction board of Apogee Journal. Welcome Elisabeth! If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a contributing editor yourself, please see our description and consider applying.

The legendary Oregonian children’s author Beverly Cleary celebrates her 100th birthday today! Happy birthday, dear Beverly. Many organizations have posted tributes to Ms. Cleary on her birthday. The New York Times Book Review (@nybooks) has compiled highlights of their coverage of Beverly Cleary’s work, and Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Art Beat is “Discovering Beverly Cleary” all this month. 

Big news for Northwest authors and presses came late last month with the announcement of the 2016 Whiting Awards. The Whiting Awards are given annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama. Oregonian Mitchell S. Jackson, whose novel The Residue Years is based partially on his upbringing in North and Northeast Portland, is a 2016 Whiting Award winner for fiction! Poet Ocean Vuong (@oceanvuong), another Whiting winner, is published by Copper Canyon Press of Port Townsend, WA. Moss sends congratulations to Mitchell, Ocean, and all this year’s Whiting Award winners! @theparisreview has excerpts from all ten writers to read and enjoy. 

In other awards news, Portland’s @literaryarts held the 2016 Oregon Book Awards ceremony just last night! Big winners include Lidia Yuknavitch in fiction and Carl Adamshick for poetry. The Willamette Week has the full report.

Tree Swenson, Executive Director of Seattle’s @hugohouse, is one of the judges for the poetry category of this year’s @nationalbook National Book Awards. 

Rob Spillman, editor at Portland’s @thetinhouse, released his memoir All Tomorrow’s Parties this month. Learn more or order your copy at @powells!

The Seattle Review of Books is seeking a Public Diversity Editor! What is a Public Diversity Editor? Well, it’s a really good idea is what it is. Read what they have to say and consider applying or helping spread the word. 

Oregon has a new Poet Laureate: Elizabeth Woody! “The power of language in poetry, song, story and legacy has kept Oregon's communities vibrant. It is an honor to be Oregon's poet to serve our state's communities in the next two years and reflect upon their strength,” Ms. Woody says. 

The recently-released Episode 51 of indie lit podcast extraordinaire @catapultpodcast features a story by @corinnemanning of The James Franco Review. Said story, “Professor M”, was originally published right here in Moss! Read “Professor M” in our Issue 2 or hear Corinne read it herself on the Catapult podcast.

And lastly, Moss is celebrating National Poetry Month with profiles of five noteworthy Northwest poets.

Thanks for reading this month’s Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-up! News and tips for future editions are always welcome to Amy Wilson at [email protected].

[mosslit]

Moss celebrates National Poetry Month: Five Northwest poets to note.

Last week @clmporg (Community of Literary Magazines and Presses) announced the 2016 finalists for its Firecracker Award, which celebrates independent literary publishers and self-published works of high literary merit. I was surprised and pleased to see that over half of the works nominated in the poetry category were published by presses based in the Northwest: Copper Canyon Books from Port Townsend, WA; @wavepoetry in Seattle, WA; and Ahsahta Press in Boise, ID. Clearly our region is a force to be reckoned with in the modern poetry world.

But why is the Northwest so hospitable to poetry?

As a poet originally from Oregon, I'm highly biased on this question. To me the combination of poetry and the Northwest makes perfect sense, but it's difficult to articulate exactly why. Poetry, at least for how I see it, is partially about the human mind's attempt to understand and reckon with that which is majestic, eternal, and enduring. The Northwest's overwhelming natural beauty certainly provides enough material there! Poetry is concerned with social issues and migrations of people, and our regional history regarding colonialism, immigration, labor rights, urbanization and other political topics is complex. And, at its best, poetry also bears a relationship to the charming and quirky aspects of everyday life -- in which the Northwest abounds. 

To celebrate National Poetry Month, and to better understand my own work as a poet connected to the Northwest, I've been researching some of the established poets whose voices have shaped the contemporary poetic culture of the region. Although it may be impossible to capture the essence of "Northwest poetry", these five writers demonstrate some of the range and depth of talent to which our region is home. 

Enjoy!

Amy Wilson, Moss

*******

Mary Barnard (1909-2001)

I asked myself

What, Sappho, can

you give one who

has everything,

like Aphrodite?

-- Sappho (trans. Mary Barnard)

Born in Vancouver, Washington, and educated at Portland's Reed College, Mary Barnard is best known for her translations of poetry by the ancient Greek poet (and icon of lesbian history) Sappho. Her Sappho: A New Translation was published in 1958 and has never been out of print. She was also an independent poet and biographer who maintained a long correspondence with modernist poet Ezra Pound.

Learn more about poet and translator Mary Barnard: marybarnard.com

*

Gloria Bird (1951-)

In a tender

fleshy place called inheritance, like an old wound healed over a small stone,

begins this long understanding, the way the bones of sleek animals that fed

generations belong to the river, are returned to those liquid beginnings to

communicate our need to those living there.

-- from "What We Owe"

Gloria Bird is an alumna of Portland Community College and Lewis & Clark College who has taught at the Fishtrap Writers' Seminar in Joseph, OR and the Wellpinit Campus of Salish-Kootenei College. She is a member of the Spokane Tribe of Washington State and is a co-founder of the Northwest Native American Writers' Association.

For more poems and information about Gloria Bird, please visit her website.

*

George Bowering (1935-)

There are places you come from

I must remember

that is our child still in me

will come from there.

So you show me Granite Bay

& I see some dark water

two buildings, one a float house

& an empty post office.

-- from "On Quadra Island"

A one-time Parliamentary Poet Laureate, George Bowering is a highly prolific poet, prose writer, and editor from British Columbia. He is the author of more than 80 books of poetry as well as many short story collections, novels, plays, and works of criticism. He attended the University of British Columbia and was an aerial photographer for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Read George Bowering's profile from the @poetryfoundation​.

*

Yearn Hong Choi (1941-)

You are the most beautiful flower in the New Mexico desert.

I become a hummingbird

flapping my wings 90 times per second

to be engaged in aerial warfare

with the fragrance of the flower for one ounce of honey.

-- from "Hummingbird"

Yearn Hong Choi is a poet, critic, and professor who writes in both Korean and English. After emigrating from Korea to Seattle in 1968, Dr. Choi befriended notable poets like Allen Ginsberg and Gwendolyn Brooks and, in 1994, became the first poet from Korea to be invited to read at the Library of Congress. He founded the Korean Poets and Writers Group and the Korean-American Poets’ Group and has edited several compilations of Korean-American poetry.

Find Yearn Hong Choi's books on Indiebound.

*

Raymond Carver (1938-1988)

My dad is at the stove with a pan of brains

and eggs. But who has any appetite

this morning? I feel as flimsy as

balsa wood. Something has just been said.

My mom said it. What was it? Something,

I'll bet, that bears on money.

-- from "Balsa Wood"

Raymond Carver, who was born in Oregon and raised in Washington, is most widely known for his short stories including the classic "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love". Carver was also a dedicated poet who published eight books of poetry in his lifetime. His poems, like his short stories, are deeply psychological depictions of everyday life in working-class environments.

Visit the International Raymond Carver Society.

*******

Important background research for this post came from PoetsWest, a Seattle-based nonprofit literary organization. For a wealth of information on the poets and poetry of the Northwest, please visit their website: poetswest.com

[mosslit]

Friends of Moss, we’ve got BIG NEWS: we’re looking for some kick-ass people to join our editorial team! We’re a small crew (Moss currently consists entirely of founders and editors Connor Guy and Alex Davis-Lawrence and our new Manager of Outreach Amy Wilson), and we are ready to grow – to publish, engage with, and support as broad a group of Northwest writers as possible.

Our goal is to add 3-5 contributing editors before our next issue. We’re looking for:

People with unassailable knowledge of the literary scene in the Northwest – its writers, institutions, publications, events, etc.

People with diverse perspectives and knowledge of writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, especially those underrepresented in mainstream publishing

Skilled developmental and line editors, with a proven track record of helping others improve their writing

People who read widely – obscure novellas from tiny micropresses and poetry chapbooks alongside the latest Jess Walter

People comfortable working independently, seeking out writers on their own, conducting interviews, editing, and more.

These are volunteer positions, but we want to emphasize that this is a fun, engaging role with room for as much growth and involvement as you’d like – we’re bringing people on to help with our favorite part of running the journal, and promise to keep the grunt work to ourselves. Responsibilities will include seeking out new, unknown writers as well as established ones, finding 2-3 viable pieces for each issue, making selections, and editing.

Interested? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and tell us a little bit about yourself and why you’re qualified.

[mosslit]

Applications are still open! Join us in the moss.

[mosslit]

Friends of Moss, we've got BIG NEWS: we're looking for some kick-ass people to join our editorial team! We're a small crew (Moss currently consists entirely of founders and editors Connor Guy and Alex Davis-Lawrence and our new Manager of Outreach Amy Wilson), and we are ready to grow -- to publish, engage with, and support as broad a group of Northwest writers as possible.

Our goal is to add 3-5 contributing editors before our next issue. We're looking for:

People with unassailable knowledge of the literary scene in the Northwest -- its writers, institutions, publications, events, etc.

People with diverse perspectives and knowledge of writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, especially those underrepresented in mainstream publishing

Skilled developmental and line editors, with a proven track record of helping others improve their writing

People who read widely -- obscure novellas from tiny micropresses and poetry chapbooks alongside the latest Jess Walter

People comfortable working independently, seeking out writers on their own, conducting interviews, editing, and more.

These are volunteer positions, but we want to emphasize that this is a fun, engaging role with room for as much growth and involvement as you'd like -- we're bringing people on to help with our favorite part of running the journal, and promise to keep the grunt work to ourselves. Responsibilities will include seeking out new, unknown writers as well as established ones, finding 2-3 viable pieces for each issue, making selections, and editing.

Interested? Send us an e-mail at [email protected] and tell us a little bit about yourself and why you're qualified.

[mosslit]

Hello, Tumblr! We are here.

Who is we? We are Moss, a (mostly) online journal of the Northwest established in 2014 by Alex Davis-Lawrence and Connor Guy. Moss has published four online issues and one print compendium, and is dedicated to supporting the emerging, established, and experimental voices of the Northwest.

Me, I’m the new-ish manager of outreach for Moss. My name is Amy Wilson and I’m a poet originally from Oregon. (Being a poet is why I tell myself I can get away with constructions like “Who is we?”.)

Here on Tumblr, I hope to meet and talk with more of you out there who are from, living in, or connected to the Pacific Northwest -- and those of you who are simply interested in the vibrant, green, soft, and slightly springy literary culture of the region.

To start on a celebratory note, I’d like to introduce the first of what I hope will be many posts rounding up recent good news and announcements for PNW writers and organizations. 

Looking forward to getting to know you,

Amy Wilson

*

February/March 2016 Pacific Northwest Literary News Round-Up

@aprilfestseattle starts a week from today, Tuesday March 15. See the full festival line-up and details here. Watch out for Moss co-founder Alex Davis-Lawrence who will be attending APRIL this year!

Poet Danez Smith of Portland-based press @yesyesbooks is the 2016 recipient of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, given annually for a first book “by a poet of genuine promise”.  Smith received the award for their book [insert] boy. Congrats to Danez and YesYes Books!

Seattle press @sasquatchbooks was named one of seven fast-growing independent publishers by @publishersweekly.

If you’re in Portland this Friday, March 11, consider joining @publicationstudio for a celebration of Jon Raymond's The Community: Writings About Art In and Around Portland 1997-2016. Find more details and RSVP here. 

And for those of us who are NYC-based, Portland writer Mitchell S. Jackson will be appearing at the @penamerican Breakout: Voices from the Inside event honoring PEN America’s Prison Writing Program. The event is Monday, March 28. Learn more and buy a ticket here. 

Deadline is March 31 to apply for the @hugohouse 2016-17 Writer-in-Residence program. 

The Seattle Review of Books has the scoop: Seattle poetry bookstore Open Books is for sale. Someone’s about to make their own quirky indie-romantic-dramedy dreams come TRUE! 

Northwest super-star Carrie Brownstein -- of Sleater-Kinney, “Portlandia”, and “Transparent” -- is a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award for her memoir Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, published by @riverheadbooks. Winners to be announced at a ceremony in New York City in June. 

And lastly, if you have a literary-podcast-shaped hole in your current life, you may enjoy this wonderful ongoing collaboration between @literaryarts and Oregon Public Broadcasting: The Archive Project. Enjoy!

Tips gladly accepted! Contact Amy Wilson at [email protected] if you’d like your news included in future round-ups.

[aprilfestseattle]

2016 Book Expo Vendors

The 2016 Book Expo is almost here! On Sunday, March 20th at Hugo House, you’ll be able to buy books from Future Tense Books (pictured) and more than 50 other presses from around the country. Gird your wallets, people. 

alice blue books is a micropress based out of Seattle, and the creator of small run handmade books and art books, as well as the chapbook series SHOTGUN WEDDING, focusing on poetry, fiction, nonfiction and graphic novel work in the Pacific Northwest.

Alternating Current Press is a boutique independent press and promotions team based out of Palo Alto that is dedicated to publishing and promoting incredible literature that challenges readers and has an innate sense of self, timelessness, and atmosphere. Since 1993, ACP has created chapbooks, paperbacks, zines, online resources, zine libraries, spoken word events, poetry readings, national book tours, and literature collections, as well as offering services in author and press promotions, such as blog tours, book tours, book trailers, audio recordings, merchandising, editing, critiquing, and book clubs.

Atelier26 Books is an independent press founded in 2011 in Portland, Oregon, and specializing in contemporary literature in elegantly designed trade editions.  

Babel/Salvage is an engine for artistic and literary ingenuity and community involvement in Seattle that focuses on new work and seeks to promote creative outsiders, experimenters, innovators and interdisciplinary savants from all walks of life.

Black Heron Press publishes three or four titles per year of literary fiction, poetry, and select nonfiction. BHP originated in 1984 in Seattle and moved to Mill Creek in 2007.  

Cascadia Author Services’ mission is to provide the very best of the essential services an author needs, and nothing an author doesn’t need. The people at CAS love books, love writing, and love helping new authors create great books.

Chin Music Press publishes risky books as “literary objects”—books that are a pleasure to touch as well as read. Founded in Tokyo in 2002, CMP is currently based out of Seattle.

Coffee House Press is an internationally renowned independent book publisher and arts nonprofit based in Minneapolis, MN; through their literary publications and Books in Action program, CHP acts as a catalyst and connector—between authors and readers, ideas and resources, creativity and community, inspiration and action.

Cold Cube Press is a risograph publisher located in Seattle, Washington.

Copper Canyon Press publishes extraordinary poetry from around the world to engage the imaginations and intellects of readers.

Dock Street Press is a traditional independent publishing house specializing in compelling narrative non-fiction and clean, intelligent fiction. DSP isn’t concerned with certain word counts or genres. If a story reads well, regardless of length, it should be housed in an attractive cover with great looking paper, and make the reader contemplate the physicality of it all.

Dorothy, a publishing project publishes two new books simultaneously each fall, working to pair books that draw upon different aesthetic traditions to emphasize the endless stylistic and formal variety of literature.

Factory Hollow Press publishes books, chapbooks and broadsides in both limited and trade editions. 

Future Tense Books was founded in 1990 in Spokane, Washington, and is one of the longest-running small presses around. Future Tense is run tirelessly by Kevin Sampsell in Portland.

Fuzzy Hedgehog Press is based out of Seattle and publishes literary speculative fiction.  So far, the press has published two authors and plans to publish one new author every year.

Hobart was created in 2001, began with monthly online issues, and eventually moved to daily content, a biannual print journal, and book publishing (in 2006).

Isthmus Review is a print journal of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry published biannually in Seattle, Washington.

Jesus Mary Anne Joseph makes screen-printed poetry broadsides and, occasionally, screen-printed underwear.

Letter [r] Press is a collectively-run publisher of handmade books, ephemera and the Small Po[r]tions journal. The journal is designed, printed and bound by the editors in the Jik Ji Studio courtesy of Aeron Bergman and Alejandra Salinas.

Lettered Streets is a micropress based out of Seattle and Chicago, specializing in difficult-to-categorize projects of varying lengths. Lettered Streets publishes prose, poetry, essays and hybrid work, and will publish their first Seattle author in 2016.

Magic Helicopter Press publishes prose, poetry and multimedia work. MPH publishes across platforms, mediums and “the universe.” Founded in 2007 in Ashland, Oregon, MHP has resided in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and now operates out of Portland, Oregon.

Melville House is an independent publisher located in Brooklyn, New York. It was founded in 2001 by sculptor Valerie Merians and fiction writer/journalist Dennis Johnson in order to publish Poetry After 9/11, and now publishes fiction, poetry, essays, memoir and more, in addition to running a number of series, including The Art of the Novella, The Last Interview, and The Neversink Library.

Minor Arcana Press specializes in geek authors, spiritual minority authors and romantic/gender/sexual minorities such as LGBTQ authors and the fetish community and pairs them with provocative cover artists to create beautiful books and empower overlooked and outsider authors and artists.

Moss is a (mostly) online journal of Northwest writing. In 2016, Moss released entered the world of print with an anthology of its first three issues.

Mountaineers Books publishes a variety of outdoor recreation, sustainable lifestyle, and conservation advocacy books, including many award winners. Whether you’re into outdoor activities, living a healthy lifestyle, or interested in becoming a good steward of the environment, Mountaineers Books has the information you need to guide you on your next journey in confidence and safety.

Nada Dada Magazine is a collective of writers and artists that produce a serial publication of poetry and prose. Started in early 2012, the magazine now represents 7 writers living across the country, with half the staff in Seattle. Nada releases both web and print editions. The print editions range from free copies to hand bound editions containing uniques.

Neoglyphic Media is a boutique publishing outfit based in Bellingham, WA. We publish limited run art books and comics from a wide array of international artists as well as a regular newspaper publication, Emergence, featuring real news and reporting alongside the best comics section anywhere.

Night Pong is a series of graphic cultural history zines by Minh Nguyen and Aashish Gadani.

Northwest Press’ mission has been to publish quality queer comics work and help rising talents reach wider audiences, and to increase the visibility of LGBT comics in general. In addition to NWP’s original print releases, the company has amassed a great catalog of top-notch digital work, presented with polish and style.

Old Growth Northwest is a 501©3 organization founded in 2012 and headquartered in Seattle, supporting writers and promoting their work throughout all stages of the literary process.

OR Books is a new type of publishing company that embraces progressive change in politics, culture and the way we do business. Their list is highly selective, publishing just one or two books a month, and combines established authors with new discoveries.

Pacifica Literary Review is a small literary arts magazine based in Seattle with print editions in winter and summer.

Poetry Magazine is the oldest monthly magazine dedicated to verse. It was founded in 1912 by the super rad, visionary go-getter Harriet Monroe. POETRY continues to publish work that challenges notions of what a poem can be, and what it can do, and we continue to adhere to Monroe’s “Open Door Policy” which keeps of free from ties to any particular thought or school.

Poetry Northwest is the oldest poetry magazine in the Northwest.

Promontory Press is a traditional book publisher in Canada that doesn’t like the way the traditional book industry has gone when it comes to being accessible to new authors. We still publish books with the traditional model, but we don’t want to close ourselves off to new, unknown or niche authors. In fact, we seek them out.

Raven Chronicles is a 501©3 Seattle-based nonprofit literary arts organization, founded in 1991. Our mission is to publish and promote artistic work that embodies the cultural diversity and multitude of viewpoints of writers and artists living in the Pacific Northwest and other regions.

Ravenna Press is an independent literary press based in Washington State.

Razorgirl Press is an independent publishing company committed to publishing literary quality genre fiction to act as a bridge between the literary and genre communities. We are dedicated to publishing literature from marginalized communities and allowing authors who have not previously been given a voice the chance to get their stories out into the world.

Rose Alley Press publishes rhymed and metered poetry, cultural commentary, and an annually updated booklet about writing and publication.

Scrambler Books is an independent press based out of Sacramento, CA. is an independent press based out of Sacramento, CA.

Seattle Review of Books was founded by Martin McClellan and Paul Constant. It intends to reflect, record, and celebrate our underserved literary community, and examine exactly what it means to love books and writing in Seattle in the 21st century.

Sidebrow is a Portland and San Francisco-based small nonprofit press focusing on experimental poetry, prose poetry, and fiction, with 2-3 new titles each year.

Sincerely Analog Press publishes conceptual projects, made by hand.

Spartan publishes short, minimalist prose.

StringTown Press is an annual magazine available at independent bookstores in the Northwest and selected locations throughout the country

Tavern Books is a not-for-profit publisher of poetry founded in Portland, Oregon publishing translations from the world’s finest poets, new works by innovative writers and revivals of out-of-print classics. All Tavern Books titles are permanently in print, honoring the cultural contract between publisher and author, as well as between publisher and public.

The Furnace is a quarterly series at Hollow Earth Radio for prose that features one writer who reads one piece to completion. Hosted in partnership with Hollow Earth Radio—the writer has the opportunity to perform their story in innovative ways and the audience is given a chance to really listen and experience a whole piece. In addition to the live performance we also produce limited edition chapbooks of each piece read.  Our mission is to encourage innovative storytelling and a vibrant literary community.

Till is an annual writing retreat at Smoke Farm in Arlington.

Troy’s Work Table Publishing is an independent publisher of chapbooks.

Two Plum Press produces slim volumes of literary works both contemporary and classic. Titles include works of poetry, essays, fiction, philosophy, visual art, travel and food writing. Books are produced in industrial southeast Portland, Oregon.

University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle.

Wave Books is an independent poetry press based in Seattle dedicated to publishing the best in contemporary poetry, poetry in translation, and writing by poets.

Willow Springs publishes the finest in contemporary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, as well as interviews and profiles with some of the most notable authors in contemporary literature, including Marilynne Robinson, Stuart Dybek, Aimee Bender, Jess Walter, Robert Wrigley, Dorianne Laux, and many others. Founded in 1977 and published twice yearly, Willow Springs features two interviews per issue, as well as essays, fiction, and poetry by a variety of writers—from the unknown and up and coming, to U.S. Poet Laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners.

YesYes Books is a small press publisher based in Portland, Oregon.

Yeti Press Comics recently relocated to Seattle from Chicago, is a small publishing behemoth that has published 21 comic books and graphic novels over the last three years.

Zine Archive and Publishing Project is a volunteer-driven community archive that promotes self-publishing, fosters new creative works and preserves a “living collection” of over 30,000 zines.  ZAPP has been deemed the world’s largest uncensored collection of what some consider to be a form of current folk art, making it a unique and valuable cultural resource.

[mosslit]

Really pleased to be participating in APRIL Fest Seattle with this dazzling group of literary orgs. Look out for Moss co-founder Alex Davis-Lawrence at APRIL events and be sure to say hello!