Arts & Humanities

Publisher Highlight: Tebot Bach

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Collage Tebot Bach logo and covers

Tebot Bach, the little teapot publisher of Orange County (located in Huntington Beach), came into existence in 1993, publishing Spillway Magazine. In 1999, founding members Mifanwy Kaiser and Mark Bergendahl chose to incorporate as a not-for-profit publisher in 1999. For almost three decades, the press published lovely books of poetry and fiction as well as organized local events, including poetry readings. Those events were held throughout their local area, in cafes and theaters as well as homeless shelters and nursing homes. Like their little Welsh teapot (tebot) namesake, they wanted to promote a spirit of community.

While little news has been published about their current status and the press is currently in “good standing” as a Nonprofit Corporation – CA – Public Benefit, evidence suggests that Tebot Bach has been winding down since 2021. They do not currently have any calls for proposals, their Facebook page is rather quiet, and their appearance in most bookstores is limited to older publications. To add to the impression, this Library appreciated Moon Tide Press (in Whittier, CA) picking up the excellent Spillway Magazine in 2023.

If the impression is accurate, we at Doe Library thank the members of and writers for Tebot Bach and wish them the best in their future endeavors.

Books from the Press

Daniel Romo, Moonlighting as an Avalanche (2021).
Cover to Beneath a Glazed Shimmer
Jonathan Yungkans, Beneath a Glazed Shimmer (2020).
Cover to Ariadne’s Threads
Kaaren Kitchell, Ariadne’s Threads (2021).
Cover to Panic Season
Robin S. Chapman, Panic Season: Poems (2022).
Cover to She Speaks to the Birds
Hari Bhajan Khalsa, She Speaks to the Birds at Night While They Sleep, with Gail Wronsky (2021).

Notes

[1] “Tebot Bach,” SparkOC.Com – The Happening Place for Arts Happenings in the O.C., n.d., accessed June 22, 2026, https://sparkoc.com/organization/tebot-bach/; “About Tebot Bach,” Tebot Bach, accessed June 22, 2026, https://tebotbach.org/about.html.

[2] “Business Search,” California Secretary of State, accessed June 22, 2026, https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business.

[3] “Spillway,” Mood Tide Press, accessed June 22, 2026, https://www.moontidepress.com/spillway; “Los Ángeles Literary Journals,” Los Angeles Literature, April 20, 2015, https://losangelesliterature.com/the-literature/los-angeles-literary-journals/.

Mildred Howard: Memory and Oral History

Posted on by Paul Burnett

This Juneteenth, there are quite a few celebrations in Oakland, and the Oral History Center today celebrates artist Mildred Howard, whose retrospective Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory has just opened at the Oakland Museum of California. Howard has garnered a lot of attention recently, from articles about the Bancroft Library’s recent acquisition of Howard’s papers to an article in the Guardian about the OMCA exhibit.

 

Artist Mildred Howard leaning over artwork with pen in hand in a studio.
Mildred Howard at Magnolia Editions, photo by Don Farnsworth, c. 2013.

In 2021, the Oral History Center teamed up with the Getty Research Institute to co-conduct an in-depth life history with Howard, Mildred Howard: Testimonies on Art, Blackness, and Community as part of the African American Art History Initiative. She describes in her own words her upbringing and family background, and the context and meaning behind many of her most significant exhibitions and pieces over the decades. I strongly recommend that those who plan to see the current exhibit at OMCA check out the seven hours-worth of transcripts with Mildred Howard, Bridget Cooks, Professor of African American Studies at UC Irvine, and Amanda Tewes, oral historian with the OHC at the time of the interviews.

Some of Howard’s best-known work appears in The Poetics of Memory, including: Crossings from 1997/2006, Blackbird in a Red Sky (aka Fall of the Blood House) from 2002, and 024426458 from 1993. She discussed these pieces and others at length in her oral history. Beyond these works, Howard explores a varied and impactful life, from childhood experiences to her training in textile arts and experience as a fashion designer, to her public art such as her bottle houses, to her many installations and multiple exhibitions, international travel and work in Egypt and Morocco, along with her reflections on the art world, collectors, galleries, museums, and the meanings of her life’s work.

Even if you are unable to see the exhibition, exploring Howard’s oral history will deepen your appreciation of her apotheosis in American art over the past half century. Mildred Howard: Poetics of Memory runs at OMCA through October 18, 2026.

Publisher Highlight: Sapphire Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Sapphire Books banner with cover collage

Christine Svendsen founded Sapphire Books Publishing in 2010 in Salinas, California as a one-person press. Her goal was to provide a lesbian-run publishing house for lesbian writers to tell their own stories. Over the years, the house has grown.

Today, 16 years later, the press has released dozens of titles in literary fiction, memoirs, genres including mystery, and non-fiction. In particular, they highlight their romances. Titles range from deeply personal to light, fluffy comfort reads.

Readers can follow Sapphire Books developments on their Facebook page or on their website.

Titles at UC Berkeley

Notes

[1] CURVE Staff, “Sapphire Books, A Cut Above,” CURVE, November 5, 2020, https://www.curvemag.com/blog/literature/sapphire-books-a-cut-above/.

[2] “Sapphire Books,” Duotrope, accessed June 9, 2026, https://duotrope.com//publisher/sapphire-books-36288.

Publisher Highlight: Inlandia Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Collage of Inlandia book covers and logo

Inlandia Institute became an independent, not-for-profit organization in 2009 with Inlandia Books “founded circa 2011.” It has existed, however, since 2007, when it was spun into existence as a collaboration between Heyday Books and the Riverside Public Library. It grew out of Heyday’s wonderful, 2006 anthology, Inlandia: a Literary Journey Through California’s Inland Empire (link to UC Search record). Since then, (and continuing since incorporation), the Institute has embraced its mission of “deepen[ing] people’s awareness” of the Inland Empire and expanding knowledge of the area’s “unique, complex[,] and creativ[e]” vibrancy.[1]

Inlandia Books releases a variety of material, ranging from yearly anthologies, to poetry, novels, memoirs, essays, children’s books, and more. With uniformly attractive covers, the books build a beautiful picture of the Inland Empire the House has set out to capture.

Inlandia is an incredibly active Institute. Readers can follow their activities through their social media presence on Instagram and other platforms. Their website is one of the best places to follow their book releases.

Titles at UC Berkeley

Notes

[1] “Inlandia Institute,” Wikipedia, November 28, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Inlandia_Institute&oldid=1324624111; “About Us,” Inlandia Institute, accessed June 2, 2026, https://inlandiainstitute.org/about-us/.

New Faculty Publication from Atreyee Gupta

Posted on by Nina Bayley

Check out Art History faculty Atreyee Gupta’s new publication Non-Aligned: Art, Decolonization, and the Third World Project in India. (Yale University Press, 2025) 

Non-Aligned Art, Decolonization, and the Third World Project in India Book Cover

From Yale University Press:

“A revelatory look at modernism in India, exploring art’s role in decolonization and aesthetic discourse across the Global South

Modernism’s peak in the interwar and postwar decades coincided with the eruption of antifascist and decolonization movements globally, including the League against Imperialism, the Bandung Asian-African Conference, and the Non-Aligned Movement. Viewing artistic practices through the lens of the radical intellectual possibilities that these epoch-making events prompted, Atreyee Gupta uncovers a modernist internationalism incongruous with Westernist cultural hegemonies. Modernism, she shows, cannot be separated from concepts of freedom and autonomy generated by Third World political struggles. Gupta mobilizes concepts including liberation, anti-imperialism, development, and modernization as essential analytic categories for art history, reorienting our understanding of both global modernism and Indian art.

Intertwining stories of art and liberation, aesthetics and decolonization, and intellectual practices and political revolution in the Third World, or what is now known as the Global South, Non-Aligned follows the far-flung interwar and postwar networks in which Indian artists and intellectuals such as Mulk Raj Anand, Dhanraj Bhagat, Francis N. Souza, Jagdish Swaminathan, and Abanindranath and Gaganendranath Tagore participated alongside interlocutors like W. E. B. Du Bois, Richard Wright, Octavio Paz, André Malraux, and Le Corbusier in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. This riveting account is beautifully illustrated with rarely published artworks.”

Publisher Highlight: Rare Bird Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Tyson Cornell founded Rare Bird Books in 2010 in Los Angeles. While starting life in the Midwest, Cornell attended UCLA. In Los Angeles, they ended up working at the legendary, independent bookstore Book Soup. Interested in ethnography, Cornell initially worked in the newsstand, but increasingly supported events and worked with authors and publishers.[1]

Those experiences led Cornell to found Rare Bird in 2010 and have influenced the press’ focus since. The publisher’s more than 100 titles often serve as partial ethnographies, with heavy emphasis on lived experience through memoirs and “operat[ing] from a shadowy locus between Northeast LA and epistemological collapse.”[2]

Readers can follow Rare Bird and their website or through their Instagram page.

Recent Titles

Notes

[1] Joey Claudio, “Founder of Rare Bird Books Tyson Cornell Provides Insight Into His Sources of Inspiration and How He Maintains a Permanent Sense of Creativity,” Thrive Global, September 29, 2021, https://community.thriveglobal.com/founder-of-rare-bird-books-tyson-cornell-provides-insight-into-his-sources-of-inspiration-and-how-he-maintains-a-permanent-sense-of-creativity/.

[2] “About Rare Bird,” Rare Bird: Publisher of the Great & Infamous, accessed May 26, 2026, https://rarebirdlit.com/about-rare-bird/.

Publisher Highlight: Hat & Beard Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Collage of Hat and Beard covers

J.C. Gabel and Brian Roettinger founded Hat & Beard in Los Angeles in 2016.[1] This publisher and print production house focuses on nonfiction literary and artistic output. They are heavily interested in the visual arts and, alongside poetry and essays, publish artist monographs in collaboration with artists and museums. Their stated goal is to produce works of “pop-culture and historical significance” [2].

This House produces beautiful material objects as well as fascinating works of poetry. Interested in design, these books are works of art in and of themselves. Frequently hardback with high-quality materials, these volumes are as much about the object as about the content.

For more information about their titles and their activities, check out their website or Instagram page.

Titles at UC Berkeley

More in the UC Libraries

Take a look at additional titles in the UC library systems using the Advanced UC Library Search.

Notes

[1] “About Us,” Hat & Beard Press, accessed May 19, 2026, https://hatandbeard.com/pages/about-us.

[2] Scott Timberg, “J.C. Gabel’s Indie Press Gamble, Hat & Beard,” Los Angeles Times, August 23, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/books/la-ca-jc-hat-and-beard-20180823-story.html.

[3] Dan Fox, “Is Art Publishing on the Rise?,” Frieze, September 23, 2016, http://www.frieze.com/article/art-publishing-rise.

May 2026 – Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Posted on by Literatures at the Library

May 2026 Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May with our featured collection of books by AAPI authors.

New Faculty Publication by Shiben Banerji

Posted on by Nina Bayley

Check out Shiben Banerji’s new  award winning book Lineages of the Global City: Occult Modernism and the Spiritualization of Democracy (University of Texas Press, 2025)   which was awarded the 2026 PROSE Award for Architecture and Urban Planning.  It is available as an e-book through UC Library Search. “The AAP’s annual PROSE Award Winners exemplify the highest standards of scholarly publishing, contributing innovative research and impactful scholarship to their respective fields Judged by peers, librarians, and professionals since 1976…”

Lineages of the global city book cover

From University of Texas Press:

“The forgotten history of the occult foundations of the early twentieth-century global city.

War, revolution, genocide, rebellion, slump. The economic and political turmoil of the early twentieth century seemed destined to rip asunder the ties that bound colonizers and the colonized to one another. The upheaval represented an opportunity, and not just to nationalists who imagined new homelands or to socialists who dreamed of international brotherhood. For modernists in the orbit of various occultisms, the crisis of empire also represented an opportunity to reveal humanity’s fundamental unity and common fate.

Lineages of the Global City recounts a continuous, if also contentious, transnational exchange among modernists and occultists across the Americas, Europe, South Asia, and Australia between 1905 and 1949. At stake were the feelings and affect of a new global subject who would perceive themselves as belonging to humanity as a unified whole, and the urban environment that would foster their subjectivity. The interventions in this debate, which drew in the period’s most renowned modernists, took the form of a succession of plans for cities, suburbs, and communes, as well as experiments in building, drawing, printmaking, filmmaking, and writing. Weaving together postcolonial, feminist, and Marxist insight on subject formation, Shiben Banerji advances a new way of understanding modernist urban space as the design of subjective effects.”

 

Publisher Highlight: Manic D Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Manic D Press collage banner with logo

Jennifer Joseph founded Manic D Press in 1984 in San Francisco (Bernal Heights) with the goal of publishing their own poems. Working at and writing in Caffe Trieste in North Beach, a New York literary agent told Joseph that no one was publishing poetry. In response, Joseph acquired a handbook about how to do self-publishing. Soon after, Joseph published their first book under the Manic D logo with art from Scot Charland and Julia [sic] (UC Library Search Link).

Under Joseph’s leadership, Manic D has published over 100 titles with around four books a year between 1990 and 2015. The Press has anthologies of poetry, novels, art books, non-fiction about art, and a small array of children’s books. The press has slowed down over the last decade, but they have continued to release phenomenal works.[1]

Readers can find more about Manic D Press’ publication and events through their Instagram page.

Recent Titles

For More at the UCs

For more titles from Manic D Press in the UC System, check out our UC Library Search‘s Advanced Search with a limited of “Publisher” to “Manic D” and limit Material Type to “Book.”

Notes

[1] Evan Karp, “Manic D Press Changes the World,” SF Gate, April 10, 2010, https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/manic-d-press-changes-the-world-3193246.php.