We've made it through eight years. In many ways, we’ve had a great year, but unlike other years, we feel a bit more solemn. Last month, the Austin area lost a major figure in the literary community—Joe Bratcher III, founder and owner of Malvern Bookstore and Host Publications, died from COVID complications. Malvern was an early supporter of our press and sold our first chapbooks. Though we're celebrating an anniversary, we're also taking a moment to pause and be grateful for a man who pursued his passions and provided support to us and the literary community. It is thanks to the generosity and dedication of people like Joe that we're able to continue the work we do.
Every year after our anniversary, we launch an essay series on a topic that we think is apropos for the moment. This year’s topic, joy, was actually picked two years ago in anticipation of leaving COVID behind and returning to normal. For logistical reasons, we didn’t get to focus on that topic last year. We are slowly accepting the fact that the old normal isn’t coming back. The essays in this series take a different approach than we may have expected: the pursuit of joy rather than the arrival of it. We are thankful for Katherine D. Morgan’s work as our curator for the series. She pulled together a diverse lineup of excellent writers and we'll post her introduction to the series later this week with the essays to follow.
Despite the lingering challenges of the pandemic, in the last year we've published Andrew Yoon’s pocketbook, We Are Invited to Climb; Donald Quist’s third title with Awst, To Those Bounded; and Mike Ingram’s pocketbook, Notes From the Road.
“Amidst so much representational writing, so much reproduction and fixedness, Andrew Yoon’s chance poems challenge the very notion of writing-as-product or book-as-object, as they shift and shimmy, refusing to solidify into anything other than vast possibility. WE ARE INVITED TO CLIMB is a special treat for fans of OuLiPo or readers who want their minds to laugh with every unexpected combination, every new image available only in unmoored language.”
“To Those Bounded has wide-reaching implications. The stories within reflect the burden of stereotypes and caricatures on the Black psyche—a familiar experience to anyone who has felt pressure to perform or behave in a certain way because it is what others have dictated. More importantly, the book speaks to the consequences of not behaving according to those expectations. TO THOSE BOUNDED is structurally innovative, wide-reaching in its concept and thematic impact, and necessary within the public discourse so we can better understand the precarious and exceptional position Black men maintain in this country. The importance of Quist’s work is immeasurable.”
“Compact and expansive, ruminative and funny, NOTES FROM THE ROAD moves like the best road trips, fast enough to thrill with stops so you can gawk. It’s a delightful, companionable, thought-provoking book.”
Through the end of 2023 we will be publishing the last two books from our 2019 book contest, Marcelle Heath’s Is That All There Is? and Anne Ray’s Scenic Overlook. Erin Pringle’s third Awst title, Water Under a Different Sky, is also scheduled for release in 2023. Finally, we have our first book in translation coming out early next year. Deanna Cachoian-Schanz is translating the Armenian novel, Girk-Anvernagir (Book, untitled, 2006) by Shushan Avagyan into English. Please check out both author and translator at PEN America's Women in Translation Series this Tuesday, August 23, 2022 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EST. We are especially pleased to have a year ahead of supporting women authors.
There has also been an internal change within our group. Our spectacular publicist, Phoebe Waldron, is leaving Awst to focus on graduate school. Though we'll miss her insights and presence as we talk about the press' future, we are excited for her next adventures. This also marks an exciting new beginning for Awst. Amy Long will be joining the team as our new publicist.
Thank you for supporting our authors and their work. Over the last eight years, joy has been the most frequent descriptor for what the press brings to us. We hope you and yours are finding paths towards your own joy.
Wendy M. Walker & Tatiana Ryckman