Author: Bee Lehman

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.

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.

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.

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/.

Publisher Highlight: Tachyon Publications

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Celebrating their 3oth anniversary!

Long, long ago (in 1995) and across the Bay in San Francisco, Jacob Weisman founded Tachyon Publications (https://tachyonpublications.com/). Since then, the House has provided us (those who read speculative fiction) with phenomenal works of fiction, “champion[ing] … creative storytelling through intelligent prose and imaginative worlds.”[1, 2]

Over those thirty years, Tachyon has become a staple in the world of speculative fiction. Their authors have brought in awards, including Nebulas, Mythopoeic, and Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire, among others. More importantly, the House has provided space for new authors to publish their internal universes.

The resulting publications include a range of subgenres including romance, comedy, hard science fiction, and more. Their formats range from tight, short stories to soaring space operas.

Recent Titles at UC Berkeley

For more at UC Berkeley

Spread between Morrison Library and the Main Stacks, you can find dozens of Tachyon’s books in Doe Library.

To find those titles, try a publisher focus in the UC Berkeley catalog in our UC Library search.

Notes

[1] “About Tachyon,” Tachyon Publications, accessed November 24, 2025, https://tachyonpublications.com/about/.

[2] “Display: 30 Years of Tachyon Publications,” San Francisco Public Library, accessed August 24, 2025, https://sfpl.org/exhibits/2025/09/19/display-30-years-tachyon-publications.

Publisher Highlight: Ayin Press

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Ayin Press logo, 2025

Founded in 2020 in New York, the independent publisher Ayin Press (website) offers a fascinating range of literary publications including poetry, novels, and more. Through the material, the press presents “polyphony of voices from within and beyond the Jewish world.”[1]

You can find more about the press’ activities on Instagram.

Recent Titles

For More at UC Berkeley

Check out these titles and others from Ayin Press at UC Berkeley through our UC Library Search. Some of the titles above are listed as Somewhere Press on account of collaborative work.

End Notes

[1] “About,” accessed July 16, 2025, https://ayinpress.org/about/.

Publisher Highlight: Riot of Roses

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Banner for riot of roses with six book covers

Located in Sejatnga, Unceded Tongva Territory, South Whittier, CA, the publishing house Riot of Roses (webpage) tells their readers that they “publish books to heal and liberate others” and affirm that the press is “for the people.”[1]

Black, full open rose on red background
Logo for Riot of Roses‘ opening screen

Brenda Vaca founded Riot of Roses in 2021 to publish her first poetry collection. Vaca had completed her first manuscript with the Community Literature Initiative program out of South Los Angeles, CA and found her options for publishing limiting. In an interview with Canvas Rebel, Vaca explained that she wasn’t happy with the non-negotiable contract she received from an already-established publisher and wasn’t content publishing with a platform like Amazon, which wouldn’t end up in a library system.[2]

To address that problem for both herself and others, Vaca created Riot of Roses as a space for writers to amplify historical silenced voices.

In the handful of years since the press’ inception, Vaca has done wonderful work promoting it and the press’ authors. They attend poetry slams, book events, and more around their location in Sothern CA. Readers can find more information about their events on their Instagram page.

Books at UC Berkeley’s Doe Library

Here are a handful of Riot of Roses’ recent publications in Doe Library:

For more material

You can search in the UC Library Search advanced search for “Riot of Roses” as a publisher (click here to see the search).

Endnotes

[1] “About,” Riot Of Roses Publishing House, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.riotofrosespublishinghouse.com/about.

[2] “Meet Brenda Vaca,” Canvas Rebel, August 21, 2023, https://canvasrebel.com/meet-brenda-vaca/.

Publisher Highlight: Dopamine Books

Posted on by Bee Lehman

Michelle Tea founded Dopamine Books (website) with the goal of publishing queer authors and highlighting queer writing.[1] Tea has been part of the California publishing world for more than a decade, working with City Lights Press and Feminist press to get imprints Sister Spit and Amethyst Editions (respectively) off the ground.[ 2 In 2023 in Los Angeles, Tea took those experiences and extensive exploration and founded the “vulgarian queer publisher.”[ 3]

Now, two years later, Dopamine can boast the release of short story anthologies, essays, and novels. Those titles include:

Finding titles at UC Berkeley

In contrast to other small presses, Dopamine is difficult to find in the UC Library Search. Because of their close collaboration with Semiotext(e) (https://www.semiotexte.com/), their books are sometimes listed with the later publisher.
Nonetheless, you can get a general impression of what UC Berkeley has from Dopamine through the UC Library Search.

EndNotes

1 “About,” DOPAMINE, accessed July 10, 2025, https://dopaminebooks.org.
2 Sophia Stewart, “Michelle Tea Launches Dopamine Books,” PublishersWeekly.Com, August 18, 2023, https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/93015-author-michelle-tea-launches-dopamine-books.html.
3 “SLUTS: Anthology,” Bookstore, Bookshop.org, May 7, 2024, https://bookshop.org/p/books/sluts-an-anthology-michelle-tea/20356857?ean=9781635902129&next=t.