Calamari Press

Last updated

Calamari Press (now known as Calamari Archive, ink.) is a small-press book publishing company, founded in 2003. It has published over 70 book objects, including the literary magazine Sleepingfish and the acquired 3rd bed imprint. [1] Some of these have been first books by emerging writers such as Blake Butler, Miranda Mellis, Robert Lopez, Peter Markus and Chiara Barzini, while others have been resurrected reprints of out-of-print cult classics by established writers such as David Ohle, Gary Lutz, Stanley Crawford and Scott Bradfield.

Contents

Overview

Calamari Press arose out of the lit mag Sleepingfish, with early chapbooks by Derek White, Carlos M. Luis, Sandy Baldwin and Wendy Collin Sorin. In April 2005, Calamari Press published its first perfect bound book, The Singing Fish by Peter Markus, which received acclaimed reviews in places like American Book Review and DIAGRAM. This was followed by Land of the Snow Men by Norman Lock (a literary canard penned under the name of George Belden), Trilce by James Wagner (homophonic translations of Cesar Vallejo's Trilce), and The Night I Dropped Shakespeare on the Cat by John Olson.

In the fall of 2006, Calamari Press re-issued Peter Markus's first book, Good, Brother, followed by Derek White's Poste Restante. In early 2007 came Part of the World by Robert Lopez and The Revisionist by Miranda Mellis, an excerpt of which appeared in the June 2007 issue of Harper's . In 2008, Calamari Press acquired the 3rd bed imprint. In 2009, Calamari Press relocated to Detroit and Nairobi, Kenya, where it published Blake Butler's Ever (novella) and Boons & The Camp by David Ohle. In 2010, Calamari Press relocated to Rome & published titles by Vincent Standley, Gary Lutz and Chiara Barzini. In 2013, Calamari Press moved back to New York City & re-issued The History of Luminous Motion] by Scott Bradfield and the 12th issue of Sleepingfish , with which it celebrated its tenth anniversary and announced it would be subsequently online. The anniversary issue was written up in Poets & Writers Magazine in an article on avant-garde journals.

In 2014, it published books by Elizabeth Mikesch, Brandon Hobson, Stanley Crawford, Beth Steidle, and Laura Ellen Joyce, and digitally archived The City Moon, a newspaper published by Roger Martin & David Ohle from 1973 to 1985 in Lawrence, Kansas. In September 2014 Calamari Press changed its name to Calamari Archive, ink., announcing that it would no longer publish copyrighted works and aggressively participate in the American economic machine. In 2017, Calamari announced that going forward it would only publish anonymous and pseudonymous works. In 2018, Calamari Archive relocated back to Rome and started to release music, on cassette and vinyl, including Sound Furies debut un.

Distribution

Calamari Archive books are distributed by Small Press Distribution.

Related Research Articles

Steve Ditko American comic book artist

Stephen J. Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known as the artist and co-creator, with Stan Lee, of the Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange.

César Vallejo Peruvian writer

César Abraham Vallejo Mendoza was a Peruvian poet, writer, playwright, and journalist. Although he published only three books of poetry during his lifetime, he is considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th century in any language. He was always a step ahead of literary currents, and each of his books was distinct from the others, and, in its own sense, revolutionary. Thomas Merton called him "the greatest universal poet since Dante". The late British poet, critic and biographer Martin Seymour-Smith, a leading authority on world literature, called Vallejo "the greatest twentieth-century poet in any language." He was a member of the intellectual community called North Group formed in the Peruvian north coastal city of Trujillo.

Vertigo Comics Imprint of comic-book publisher DC Comics

Vertigo was an imprint of the American comic book publisher DC Comics. It was created in 1993 to publish stories with more graphic or adult content, which did not fit within the restrictions of the Comics Code Authority or DC's primary superhero brand, thus allowing more creative freedom. These comics were free to contain explicit violence, substance abuse, sexuality, nudity, profanity, and other controversial subjects, similar to films and TV shows intended for adult audiences. Following a series of editorial restructurings in the 2010s, DC discontinued it in January 2020, instead publishing later "mature readers" work under the "DC" label.

Dick Giordano American comic book artist and editor

Richard Joseph Giordano was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.

Philip J. Bond is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on Deadline magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics imprint Vertigo.

<i>The Alaska Quarterly Review</i> Academic journal

The Alaska Quarterly Review is a biannual literary journal founded in 1980 by Ronald Spatz and James Liszka at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Ronald Spatz serves as editor-in-chief. It was deemed by the Washington Post "Book World" to be "one of the nation's best literary magazines." A number of works originally published in The Alaska Quarterly Review have been subsequently selected for inclusion in The Best American Essays, The Best American Poetry, The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best Creative Nonfiction, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, The Beacon Best, and The Pushcart Prize: The Best of the Small Presses.

José Luis García-López Spanish comic book artist

José Luis García-López is a Spanish-Argentine comics artist who works in the United States, particularly in a long-running relationship with DC Comics. In addition to his storytelling art, he has been responsible for producing the official reference art for characters in the DC Comics Style Guide, as used in licensed merchandise.

Strawberry Jam Comics was a Canadian publisher of comic books during the black-and-white comics boom of the mid and late 1980s. Inspired by the creative success of Dave Sim's Cerebus the Aardvark, founders Paul Stockton and Derek McCulloch launched Strawberry Jam with the publication of To Be Announced #1 in 1985. The commercial success of Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles provided further inspiration.

Gary Lutz is an American writer of both poetry and fiction. His work has appeared in Sleepingfish, NOON, The Quarterly, Conjunctions, Unsaid, Fence, StoryQuarterly, The Believer, Cimarron Review, 3rd Bed, Slate Magazine, New York Tyrant, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, The Apocalypse Reader, PP/FF: An Anthology, The Random House Treasury of Light Verse and in the film 60 Writers/60 Places.

Four Walls Eight Windows was an independent book publisher in New York City. Known as 4W8W or Four Walls, the company was notable for its dual commitment to progressive politics and adventurous, edgy literary fiction.

Sister Spit was a lesbian-feminist spoken-word and performance art collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson, Other members included Jane LeCroy and poet Eileen Myles. The group were noted for their Ramblin' Roadshow, performing at feminist events such as the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival. The Boston Phoenix described it as "the coolest line-up of talented, tattooed, pierced, and purple-pigtailed performance artists the Bay Area has to offer".

Marvel Illustrated was a Marvel Comics publishing imprint specializing in comic book adaptations of classic literature. Each novel's story is told in the form of a limited series, the issues of which are later collected as a trade paperback. Writer Roy Thomas has adapted many of the titles; the imprint is also known for its six adaptations of books from the Land of Oz series, all done by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young; and its four adaptations of Jane Austen novels by writer Nancy Butler.

Edwy Searles Brooks was a British novelist who also wrote under the pen-names Berkeley Gray, Victor Gunn, Rex Madison, and Carlton Ross. Brooks was born in Hackney, London. He is believed to have written around 40 million words.

<i>Xena: Warrior Princess</i> (comics)

Xena: Warrior Princess was a series of comic books based on the television series of the same name. Topps Comics and Dark Horse Comics created a series of comics tying into the property. In 2007, Dynamite Entertainment acquired the rights to the series.

Fantasy Publishing Company, Inc., or FPCI, was an American science fiction and fantasy small press specialty publishing company established in 1946. It was the fourth small press company founded by William L. Crawford.

Water Forest Press is an independent book publisher located in rural Pennsylvania. Water Forest Press was created by Victoria Valentine, as an imprint of Skyline Publications. Skyline Publications produced print magazines that were retired in 2004. Water Forest Press replaced Skyline Magazines with Skyline Review, Literary House Review & Hudson View Poetry Digest books. Skyline Publications published monthly literary magazines that were distributed nationwide in stores, libraries, universities and homes, with a readership of approximately 10,000 per issue. "A Tribute To America" issue was reprinted three times. All proceeds from the Tribute Issue were donated to local fire houses to purchase needed equipment.

Robert Lopez is an American writer of novels and short stories, who lives in Brooklyn, New York. His fiction has appeared in many journals, including Bomb, The Threepenny Review, Vice Magazine, New England Review, New Orleans Review, American Reader, Brooklyn Rail, Hobart, Indiana Review, Literarian, Nerve, New York Tyrant, and Norton Anthology of International Flash Fiction. He teaches at The New School, Pratt Institute, Columbia University, and Pine Manor College.He was co-editor of avant-literary magazine Sleepingfish. In 2010, he was awarded a Fellow in Fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts, which included a grant for a three-year period.

Rebecca Seiferle is an American poet.

Atria Publishing Group is a general interest publisher and a division of Simon & Schuster. The publishing group launched as Atria Books in 2002. The Atria Publishing Group was later created internally at Simon & Schuster to house a number of imprints including Atria Books, Atria Trade Paperbacks, Atrai Books Espanol, Atria Unbound, Washington Square Press, Emily Bestler Books, Atria/Beyond Words, Cash Money Content, Howard Books, Marble Arch Press, Strebor Books, 37 Ink, Keywords Press and Enliven Books. Atria is also known for creating innovative imprints and co-publishing deals with African-American writers as well as known for experimenting with digital or non-traditional print formats and authors.

References