Celebrate Muslim-American Heritage Month this January with our featured collection of books by Muslim and Muslim-heritage authors.
January 2026 Muslim-American Heritage Month
Tag: novels
Publisher Highlight: 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
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
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: Ayin Press
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: Dopamine Books
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.
Publisher Highlight: Insert Press
Insert Press was found in 2005 by Mathew Timmons to focus on interdisciplinary and/or hybrid works.[1] Initially, Insert Press focused on poetry in chapbook form, but over the following decade turned to increasingly toward “translation, poetics, artist books.”[2]
Readers can find information about their publications and local, LA events on their Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/insert.press/).
Recent Titles
Take a look at at some of their recent titles.
For More at UC Berkeley
For more at UC Berkeley, take a look at this publisher search for “Insert Press” through the UC Library Search.
EndNotes
[1] “About Insert Press,” Insert Press, accessed July 10, 2025, https://insert.press/.
[2] Matthew Timmons, Publisher Questionnaire: Insert Press, interview by Asterism, Blog, May 15, 2025, https://asterismbooks.com/.
Publisher Highlight: Kaya Press
Kaya Press (https://kaya.com/) has been making space for voices in the Asian and Pacific Islander diasporic writers in the United States since 1994, when it was founded in New York City. Establishing itself as a “premier publisher of cutting-edge” literature, the Press moved to in USC Dornsife’s Department of American Studies and Ethnicity in Los Angeles in 2012 where it has continued releasing phenomenal material.[1]
The Press not only releases excellent novels and poetry, but also participates in book fairs, contributes to community activity, hosts author readings, and more.[2] Readers can find information about their events on their Instagram page.
Recent Kaya Press Books at UC Berkeley
Finding Kaya Press Books at UC Berkeley
You can find the majority of the Press’ catalog through the (UC Library Search) and access them in either in the UC Berkeley Main Stacks or the Ethnic Studies Library’s shelves.
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Endnotes
[1] “Kaya Press Moves from New York to USC Dornsife,” News and Events (blog), February 22, 2012, https://dornsife.usc.edu/news/stories/kaya-press-moves-from-new-york-to-usc-dornsife/.
[2] “About,” Kaya Press, accessed May 1, 2025, https://kaya.com/about/.
AAPI Heritage Month 2025
Celebrate this May’s Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month with our collection of amazing authors and stories centered on AAPI people! Check out more on UCB Overdrive.
Award Winning Authors and Stories:
More AAPI Reads:
Nina Sharma
Sanjena Sathian
Emiko Jean
Cherry Lou Sy
Karissa Chen
Puloma Ghosh
Also check out our reading list for the Sri Lankan New Year!
New Year, New Reads: Celebrating Sri Lankan Literary Voices
Celebrate Sri Lankan voices this Sri Lankan New Year with a curated collection of powerful stories and vibrant perspectives. All titles and more are available to read now on UC Berkeley’s OverDrive!
Discover two acclaimed Sri Lankan novels—The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, and A Passage North, a Booker-shortlisted gem:
Shehan Karunatilaka
Anuk Arudpragasam
Explore more Sri Lankan stories—from fiction to poetry—celebrating culture, resilience, and identity:
V. V. Ganeshananthan
Hasanthika Sirisena
Shyam Selvadurai
Amanda Jayatissa
Akil Kumarasamy
Sophia Thakur