Arts & Humanities

Publisher Highlight: Omnidawn Publishing

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Banner for Omnidawn

Founded in 2001, Omnidawn Publishing Inc. (https://www.omnidawn.com/) is a nonprofit, independent press based in Richmond, CA. Ken Keegan & Rusty Morrison founded the press to support their belief in the value of literature and stance that it would be a privilege to participate in the development and release of “lively, culturally pertinent, emotionally and intellectually engaging” material. The House focuses on poetry, both original and in translation.

A quarter century old, Omnidawn has a history of supporting and expanding the community of writers. Now headed by Rusty Morrison & Laura Joakimson, the two have renewed that commitment with an added focus on “becoming a more modernized, resilient and sustainable press.”[1] Part of that includes celebrating authors from different backgrounds, socio-economic status, sexuality, and physicality. Another aspect focuses on providing a yearly writing prize for first-time poets or poets with only one book already published.[2]

Omnidawn holds book readings, participates in festivals, and hosts poetry month events. You can find out more about their community events through their Instagram (link) and other social media accounts. This is also one of the many publishers that include works by our own, UNC Berkeley community members – so make sure to keep an eye on them!

Select Titles at UC Berkeley

Additional Titles

Not only does UC Berkeley’s Doe and Bancroft Libraries heavily collect from Omnidawn, but UCLA and UC Davis do as well. You can find the hundred-plus titles and their locations through our UC Library Search with a publisher limitation. Be aware that Omnidawn works with the University of Chicago Press for distribution (U of Chicago page).

Notes

[1] “Our Mission,” Omnidawn, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.omnidawn.com/our-mission/.

[2] John Maher, “Fresh Off a National Book Award Win, Omnidawn Looks Toward the Holidays,” Publishers Weekly, December 4, 2023, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93821-fresh-off-a-national-book-award-win-omnidawn-looks-toward-the-holidays.html.

Check-Out Art From The Graphic Arts Loan Collection At The Morrison Library

Posted on by Jennifer Osgood

The Graphic Arts Loan Collection (GALC) at the Morrison Library has been checking out art to UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty since 1958. We had a very successful Fall event, and now we’re back for two weeks this January to offer more prints to the campus community.

The purpose of the GALC since its inception has been to put art in the hands of UC Berkeley students (and the best way to appreciate art is to live with it!), so for two weeks starting on January 20th, our website will reopen to online reservations. We will fill requests on a first come, first served basis. While a majority of our collection was checked out last Fall, we still have some prints available, including 12 new pieces by artists such as Pavel Acevedo, Ansel Adams, Sharon Jue, and Leo Krikorian. We are also pleased to offer two prints from our 2025 Art Practice & Library Printmaking Award winner, Maxine Eschger.

If you already have two prints checked out and would like to switch your artwork, remember that you need to return one print in order to check out another.

 

 

Publisher Highlight: Unnamed Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman
banner for unnamed press

In 2015, Publishers Weekly declared that Unnamed Books was “Creating Home For Contemporary Authors.”[1] At that point, the small, LA-based publisher was still only getting off the ground. In the early 2010s, Chris Heiser and Olivia Taylor Smith decided to go into independent publishing. In 2013, the two started with the name Ricochet Books, but USC had already claimed the name “Ricochet” in 2012. In 2014, they chose to rebrand as Unnamed Press, with the intention of providing a space for international literature. Their early titles included works like Deji Olukotun’s Nigerians in Space and Rocío Cerón’s Diorama.[2]

Since then, the press has expanded to become “general interest.”[2] In 2024, that included the creation of their Smith & Taylor Classics imprint with titles such as Vernon Lee’s Hauntings: And Other Stories. To continue pushing literature and providing spaces for experimental literature, in 2025 the press started a poetry line. That line often includes audio components on vinyl (https://www.unnamedpress.com/vinyl) with titles such as Emma Ruth Rundle’s The Bella Vista: Poems.[3]

Readers can find out more about their titles on the website (https://www.unnamedpress.com/) or on their Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/unnamedpress/).

Recent Titles

For additional titles at UC Berkeley

Readers can find more material through a publisher focus in our UC Library Search. Select titles are available for circulation in Doe’s Main Stacks while others are in our special collections in Bancroft (UC Library search limited to special collections). See individual catalog entries for location.

Notes

[1] Anisse Gross, “Unnamed Press Creating Home For Contemporary Authors,” PublishersWeekly.Com, February 27, 2015, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/65736-unnamed-press-creating-home-for-contemporary-authors.html.

[2] Edward Nawotka, “LA’s Unnamed Press: Relatable Foreign Fiction, Unlikely Protagonists,” Publishing Perspectives, July 18, 2014, https://publishingperspectives.com/2014/07/las-unnamed-press-relatable-foreign-fiction-unlikely-protagonists/.

[3] “About,” Unnamed Press, accessed January 12, 2026, https://www.unnamedpress.com/about-1.

[4] Nathalie op de Beeck, “Unnamed Press Develops Cross-Media Poetry Line,” PublishersWeekly.Com, accessed January 12, 2026, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/97014-unnamed-press-develops-cross-media-poetry-line.html.

January 2026 Muslim-American Heritage Month

Posted on by Literatures at the Library

Guide to January 2026 Muslim-American Heritage Month

Celebrate Muslim-American Heritage Month this January with our featured collection of books by Muslim and Muslim-heritage authors.

Publisher Highlight: Seven Seas Entertainment

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Seven Seas Entertainment logo

Seven Seas Entertainment (website) is a Los Angeles based publishing house. In 2004, Jason DeAngelis founded the House with the intention of providing English language translations of manga (i.e., Japanese comics/graphic novels). A fan of the genre and a translator thereof, they decided to fill a significant gap in the market.[1] Since then, the House has released thousands of titles translated into English as well as expanded into print editions of serialized web comics.

Over the last two decades, Seven Seas Entertainment has expanded with several imprints including:

Readers can find announcements about new releases and more on Seven Seas Entertainment’s Instagram page.

Select Titles at UC Berkeley

Additional Material

Readers can find more material through a publisher focus in our UC Library Search. Readers can also find limited titles from the imprint Seven Seas Ghost Ship (UC Library Search). Readers should be aware that the comics collection in Doe Library is in the PN section – and that there is another comic collection in the East Asian Library!

Notes

[1] Shannon Fay, “Seven Seas Entertainment » News » The Man Behind Seven Seas: Getting to Know Jason DeAngelis,” Go Manga, 2004-2014, https://www.gomanga.com/news/features_gomanga_012.php.

[2] Wikipedia, “Seven Seas Entertainment,” December 10, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Seven_Seas_Entertainment&oldid=1326781874.

Publisher Highlight: Krupskaya Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman
banner for Krupskaya Books

Established in the Bay Area in 1998 under editors Jocelyn Saidenberg, Rodrigo Toscano, Hung Q. Tu, Krupskaya books (website) has been providing readers with experimental literature for almost three decades. The press prints both poetry and prose that “challenge traditional literary forms.”[1]

Nadezhda Konstantinovna Krupskaya, for whom this author assumes the press was named, was a Russian politician and theorist. They believed in social reform and would play significant roles in the Russian revolutions of 1917. Afterwards, she would be heavily involved in politics, particularly as regarding education.[2]

Following in Krupskaya’s call for social reform through education, Krupskaya Books focus on collaboration and responsibility, providing mixed-genre and adventurous works.

Readers can follow the press on their Instagram page for new book announcements or calls for manuscripts.

Recent Titles

For more at UC Berkeley

Readers can find additional titles at UC Berkeley through the UC Library Search with a limit to publisher.

Notes

[1] “About | Discover Experimental Literature,” K R U P S K A Y A, accessed December 16, 2025, https://www.krupskayabooks.com/about.

[2] Andy Willimott, Living the Revolution: Urban Communes & Soviet Socialism, 1917-1932, (Oxford University Press, 2016); Wikipedia, “Nadezhda Krupskaya,” October 4, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nadezhda_Krupskaya&oldid=1315094491.

Morrison Library Undergraduate Curator: Ashley Taylor

Posted on by Abby Scheel

In Fall 2025, a small cohort of UC Berkeley students served as inaugural Undergraduate Curators in a new internship from Morrison Library. They met with Morrison Library staff and visited local bookstores to curate a set of selections for the library’s collection. Interns were tasked with reflecting on their experience and sharing their selected titles. Read on to hear from Ashley Taylor about her experience and see her list of recommendations. Be sure to check out Maya Looney’s recommendations, too. Find your next read by checking out Ashley’s and Maya’s books now on display in Morrison Library!

Undergraduate Curators sit at a table in Morrison Library with Morrison staff discussing the internship and what goes into curating a library collection.
Abby Scheel, right, leads the first meeting of an undergraduate student internship based in Morrison Library on Oct. 14, 2025. Three interns will help select books for the Morrison collection. (Photo by Jami Smith/UC Berkeley Library)

Ashley Taylor

Film and Media, Creative Writing,  2026

Q: Tell us about yourself.

“While I was born in San Diego, CA, I was raised in Mexico before I eventually moved back across the border for my education. English is my second language, and I learned it through books and movies. Since then, I’ve had a passion for sharing book recommendations, including those outside my preferred genres(romance and fantasy), when I worked as a Barnes & Noble Bookseller. I currently run UC Berkeley’s romance book club–Love Stories Book Club– where we’ve built a romance community and host social events for readers of all kinds. After I graduate, I hope to continue by either working directly in the book publishing industry or helping to adapt some of my favorite novels into film or TV.”

Q: How did you experience interning as a curator for Morrison Library?

“As a student who has always relied on libraries when I couldn’t afford new books, this internship was an amazing opportunity to be a part of the book curating process. I’ve always admired the elegant beauty and comfort of Morrison library with it’s range of fiction new releases.

During our first library meeting, we got to meet the staff and learn the history of the library. By far the most interesting part was learning about how they decide which books to keep by keeping track of how many times a title has circulated. Unlike other public libraries, Morrison doesn’t need to have multiple copies of the same book or older titles. Instead they only keep super popular ones like The Goldfinch and are constantly processing newly published books.

Continue reading “Morrison Library Undergraduate Curator: Ashley Taylor”

Morrison Library Undergraduate Curator: Maya Looney

Posted on by Abby Scheel

In Fall 2025, a small cohort of UC Berkeley students served as inaugural Undergraduate Curators in a new internship from Morrison Library. They met with Morrison Library staff and visited local bookstores to curate a set of selections for the library’s collection. Interns were tasked with reflecting on their experience and sharing their selected titles. Read on to hear from Maya Looney about her experience and see her list of recommendations. Be sure to check out Ashley Taylor’s recommendations, too. Find your next read by seeing Maya’s and Ashley’s books now on display in Morrison Library!

Undergraduate Curators sit at a table in Morrison Library with Morrison staff discussing the internship and what goes into curating a library collection.
Abby Scheel, right, leads the first meeting of an undergraduate student internship based in Morrison Library on Oct. 14, 2025. Three interns will help select books for the Morrison collection. (Photo by Jami Smith/UC Berkeley Library)

Maya Looney

Astrophysics & Planetary Sciences,  2026

Q: Tell us about yourself.

“Hi I’m Maya, I’m in my final year at Berkeley and I do research on planetary interiors and melting permafrost. I grew up in Oakland and outside of school I work as a visual artist for low income housing projects there. I try to read as much as I can and I love reading sci-fi, literary fiction (when I get tired of space stuff) and poetry, especially from Bay Area writers.”

Q: How did you experience interning as a curator for Morrison Library?

“In my time as a curator intern at Morrison Library I’ve really enjoyed learning more about both the Berkeley library system and visiting my favorite local bookstores to find new additions. Taking the time to learn more about the Morrison collection and the considerations that go into the Berkeley library catalogue has changed the way I walk through a library. I love thinking about the ‘lifetimes’ of books I pick up, from why they were selected to how much they’ve circulated and how many times they’ve been read. Doing visits to Moe’s Books and East Bay Booksellers has also been personally exciting for me, beyond learning more about the different considerations they have to make about their selections, because I’ve been going to those stores since I was little and growing up in Oakland. Hearing about the inner workings and the highs and lows behind the scenes of being an independent bookstore owner has made me appreciate these community spaces. It reminded me that the books on their shelves aren’t just inventory – they’re the result of constant, thoughtful curation, risk-taking, and love for readers. This internship has made me more attentive to the stories behind how books travel through the world, and it’s deepened my connection to the literary spaces that shaped me. It’s been meaningful to feel like I’m contributing, even in a small way, to the future of those spaces and to the experiences of readers who will discover something new because of the work we’ve done.”

Continue reading “Morrison Library Undergraduate Curator: Maya Looney”

Publisher Highlight: Rejection Letters

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Website screenshot for Rejection Letters
Logo for Rejection Letters Press, Thumb Down
Rejection Letters Press Logo, 2025

D.T. Robbins founded Rejection Letters Press in 2020. The idea for the press initially grew out of a joke about publishing fictional rejection letters after receiving a bevy of all-too-real letters.[1] Now, in 2025, the press has a selection of a phenomenal photographs and poetry online (see featured image above, captured in December 2025) as well as seven beautiful volumes of poetry and novels.[2]

While this Southern California press is not bound to a specific city, they host literary events in Los Angeles. Alongside book and poetry readings, the House hosts an annual “Rejection Week.” For this second event, their advertisements warned that there was “so much rejection, there [was] blood in the water.”[3] Readers can find out more about their events on their Instagram page.

Books at UC Berkeley Library

More at UC Berkeley Library

You can find access to what we have at UC Berkeley Library through a publisher focus using the US Library Search.

Notes

[1] “About,” Rejection Letters, March 3, 2020, https://rejection-letters.com/about/.

[2] “Rejection Letters,” Asterism Books, accessed December 8, 2025, https://asterismbooks.com/publisher/rejection-letters.

[3] Rejection Week 2025, August 25, 2025, Poster, https://www.instagram.com/rejectionlit/.

Publisher Highlight: City Lights

Posted on by Bee Lehman
City Lights banner with logo and covers

In 1953, poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Peter D. Martin founded City Lights Books in San Francisco, near some incredible Italian bakeries (this author is unclear if that mattered to them). Established as “a literary meetingplace,” the bookstore was initially an all-paperback store focused on providing a space for alternative culture. Now a three-story edifice that does provide some new hardcovers, the store continues to offer a place for readers to soak up excellent literature.[1] They also hold readings and other literary events, about which readers can find information on Instagram.

Committed to offering experimental and alternative literature, City Lights and its staff have a firm stance against censorship and a “legacy of anti-authoritarian politics” [1]. Partly with that commitment in mind, the bookstore also became a publisher. Among the first of their output, they released Alan Ginsburg’s Howl (at Bancroft). Since then, they have released poetry, novels, and short-stories alongside non-fiction.

Recent titles at UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley and City Lights have had a special relationship for decades. Not only does UC Berkeley Library host most of City Lights outpouring, but Ferlinghetti also chose the Bancroft Library to host his personal papers (UC Library Search) as well as a considerable amount of City Lights Books photographs and other manuscript materials (OAC.)

You can, of course, also find out what we have in our circulating collections at UC Berkeley’s Doe Library through our UC Library publisher search.

Notes

[1] A Short History of City Lights, City Lights Booksellers & Publishers, accessed December 1, 2025, https://citylights.com/our-story/a-short-history-of-city-lights/.