Today we want to thank some of the literary advocates of 2015. This isn’t meant to be a definitive, complete, or authoritative list. But the Entropy community would like to highlight certain individuals who really define what it means to be a “literary advocate” or exemplary “literary citizen.” By that, we mean that these individuals go out of their way to advocate for literature, indie lit, and small press culture, they use their own resources to promote other writers and literary causes they believe in, they are active and participate in the literary community by sharing & organizing, they work endlessly to bring the community together, and they tirelessly engage in various projects, presses, organizations, series, and journals. These individuals give so much more than they receive, and we’d like to recognize their generosity (often unacknowledged), their hard work, their compassion, their enthusiasm, their spirit, and their endless efforts in advocating for writers and literary community.
As nominated by the Entropy community, and in no particular order:
1. Scott Esposito. Scott Esposito is involved in more projects than we can count, and the work he’s doing is phenomenal. He’s a great essayist, critic, editor, and book publicist. He also edits the The Quarterly Conversation and hosts his literary blog Conversational Reading (which was created in 2004). He is the Marketing & Web Manager at Center for the Art of Translation and manages Two Lines Press. He’s an untiring advocate for works in translation, great literature, film, criticism, and literary culture. Twitter / The White Review / The Quarterly Conversation / Conversational Reading / Two Lines Press / Center for the Art of Translation
2. Lidia Yuknavitch. Lidia Yuknavitch is a wonder of the modern literary world. She is of course the renowned author of several books, and her writing has appeared all over the place. She is a teacher and also gives writing workshops, often under the category of “Corporeal Writing.” Beyond being a mother, a giver, and wonderful human being, she graces the online literary community with words of encouragement, of wisdom, of motivation, of heart. She promotes writers and writing. Not enough can be said about how much her presence and existence contribute to the willingness to keep going, for so many writers. From her website: I believe in art the way other people believe in god. Twitter / Website / Wikipedia / Lithub
3. Adam Fitzgerald. Adam Fitzgerald is another one of those writers who seems to be everywhere. Not with an omnipresent eye or in any kind of creepy way, but he’s always there, supporting writers and the poetry community and being an active participant in the important conversations. He is a poet, the founding editor of the poetry journal Maggy, teacher at schools like Rutgers, The New School, and New York University. And he’s integrally involved with the The Ashberry Home School in New York and Literary Hub. Wikipedia / Website / Poetry Foundation / Maggy / Literary Hub / The Ashbery Home School
4. Dorothy Wang. You may not have heard of Dorothy Wang yet, but if you have, you know how tirelessly she advocates for experimental writing, and especially experimental writing by people of color. Behind the scenes she advocates for, supports, and teaches books that don’t often get taught in schools, and is putting in a necessary effort to reframe the state of the literary canon. Her critical book, Thinking Its Presence: Form, Race, and Subjectivity in Contemporary Asian American Poetry, spurred an entire conference. She teaches at Williams College. Thinking Its Presence / Conference
5. Harold Abramowitz. Harold Abramowitz is one of the pivot points that upholds the Los Angeles literary scene. He is a co-founder (with Amanda Ackerman) of the small press eohippus labs. He shares his talents and energy with the literary community at large by curating and organizing countless events and literary happenings & hosting collaborations and meetings between writers. He is one of the forces behind Open Press in Los Angeles (now in its second year). He’s also the unofficial documentarian and photographer of LA literary culture. eohippus labs / Open Press / Les Figues / Harold Abramowitz & Andrea Quaid on Jacket2
6. Gina Abelkop. Gina Abelkop goes by a few names, including Pansy Petunia. Regardless, she is one badass but ultra-magical unicorn. She is the author of several books, the founder and editor of the feminist press Birds of Lace, a PhD candidate in English Literature at the University of Georgia-Athens, co-curator (with Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes) of the Avid Poetry Series, and a regular contributor at places like Entropy, Enclave, and Weird Sister. She does so much for experimental writers, queer writers, writers of color, marginalized writers, uncategorizable writers, from tweeting all sorts of words of support and motivation to physically publishing their books. Birds of Lace / Website / Entropy / Enclave / Tiny Press Practices Interview
7. Jeff VanderMeer. Jeff VanderMeer is a highly successful writer. He’s won the Nebula Award, British Fantasy Award, the World Fantasy Award (3 times!), and has been a finalist for the Hugo Award. With all his success, you’d be surprised that he doesn’t just stay at home and bask in his success. Instead, he uses every ounce of free energy giving back and supporting the literary community he is an integral part of. He regularly contributes to various publications, promotes the work of independent and upcoming writers, teaches in a variety of capacities including at Shared Worlds, an annual program that teaches creative writing to teenagers. Website / Shared Worlds / VanderMeer Creative / Twitter / Wikipedia
8. Porochista Khakpour. Porochista Khakpour is a critically acclaimed writer, novelist, and essayist. Her list of publications is extensive and she’s definitely someone you might brag about knowing. But her literary citizenship goes beyond the normal scope of participant/member and extends into pioneer/cosmonaut territory. She frequently contributes to places like the New York Times and Enclave. She is an inspiration and gives talks and lectures at festivals, universities, and conferences all over the country. She has been on judging panels and committees for PEN, the Berlin Prize, and Asian American Writers Workshop writing contests. She has taught at places like Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, Sarah Lawrence College, and the Gotham Writers Workshop. She is currently Writer in Residence at Bard College and an Editor at Large at The Scofield and a Contributing Editor at The Offing. Website / Twitter / Wikipedia / The Scofield / New York Times
9. Douglas Kearney. Douglas Kearney is vigilant, fierce, tough, generous, thoughtful, and necessary. A poet, performer, and librettist, his work has influenced countless others in the classroom, in schools, on the page. His enthusiasm and energy for poetry and the literary community (through writing, conversation, editing, book design, performance, and teaching) is unparalleled. He works with his students as thoughtfully and generously as he does with his own work, and it’s not an understatement to say that he is changing lives through poetry. He was awarded a Cave Canem Fellowship and Whiting Award, among many other honors, and currently teaches at CalArts. Website / NPR / Poetry Foundation / Wikipedia / Noemi Press
10. Michele Filgate. Michele Filgate is sort of like a literary Wonder Woman. Where to start? She is a contributing editor at Literary Hub and VP/Awards for the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications. She’s worked as an events coordinator at several independent bookstores. She’s worked on promoting literary culture on radio and all over the internet, and she teaches creative nonfiction for The Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. She’s also an essayist, critic, and rad human being. Website / Twitter / Lithub / Salon / Buzzfeed / Tumblr
11. Ken Chen. Ken Chen is the executive director of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, but much of the work he does both inside and outside AAWW is vital and necessary. Ken Chen and AAWW have really been central in helping to further conversations, especially in this past year, around issues of Asian-American identity, race, and literary culture. He’s also a winner of the Yales Series of Younger Poets, lawyer, previously editor at various publications including editor of Arts & Letters Daily, and self-identified Dr. Who fan. Asian American Writers’ Workshop (AAWW) / poets.org / Twitter / NPR
12. Penina Roth. Penina Roth is a writer and literary enthusiast, and most known for being the prolific curator/host of the Franklin Park Reading Series in Brooklyn, NY. She’s worked all over the place, including being a wardrobe stylist for music videos, is a writer and editor, and works so hard to promote writers through her reading series and beyond, it’s beyond admirable and generous. Twitter / Franklin Park Reading Series / Forward / Brooklyn Based
13. Sarah McCarry. Twitter says that Sarah McCarry is “10 parts vampire 100 parts bitch.” This might be true. But she’s also 100 parts literary advocate. She runs the blog The Rejectionist, is the author of several novels, is an essayist, and is the editor and publisher of Guillotine, a series of published chapbooks. She spends an admirable amount of energy engaging with the literary community online, supporting writers, and promoting those books she really believes in. Twitter / The Rejectionist / Guillotine / Tumblr / tor.com / Book Riot
14. CA Conrad. CA Conrad is a magical human being. He is the author of numerous collections of poetry and an energetic literary advocate who seems to constantly be floating from city-to-city spreading his love for poetry and his wisdom, and finding himself at the center of countless conversations that seem more and more necessary. and Eileen Myles has written, “[CAConrad] always argues (from the inside of his poems) for a poetry of radical inclusivity while keeping a very queer shoulder to the wheel. His kind of queerness strikes me as nonpolarizing, not intentionally but because of the fullness of his exposition, a kind of gigantism that seems to me to be most deeply informed by love, and a tenderness for the ravages and tumult of existence.” CA also conducts lectures and workshops across the country on (Soma)tics and Ecopoetics. Blog / Poets.org / Wave Books / (Soma)tic Poetry Rituals / Poetry Foundation /
15. Krystal Languell. Krystal Languell’s work in publishing and editing has been invaluable, working to further conversation and documentation around history, feminism, New York, and poetry. Her own poetry has appeared in many journals and is the author of several collections of poetry. She is also the Founding Editor of feminist literary magazine Bone Bouquet, a core member of the Belladonna* Collaborative, and Editor-at-Large at Noemi Press. She teaches in New York and co-curates the HOT TEXTS Reading Series. Twitter / Belladonna* / Bone Bouquet / Poetry Society Interview / Website / Noemi Press
16. Molly Gaudry. There is so much to admire and respect about Molly Gaudry. She is an amazing writer, artist, and essayist. She runs the unparalleled The Lit Pub. She’s also a teacher, scholar, an active literary citizen both online and offline, and generous in her support of writers, but also in her own confessions about real emotions, pain, sadness, loss, which she so generously shares with others. And she manages to do all that while dealing with real life obstacles and tremendous life difficulties. Seriously, many of us couldn’t handle what Molly has so elegantly, and even through everything, she hasn’t stopped supporting and engaging with the literary community, asking great questions, promoting the writing she loves, and provoking essential conversations. The Lit Pub / Website / Twitter / The Cupboard Interview
17. Blake Butler. Blake Butler is a living literary legacy. He is the founding editor of HTMLGIANT (with Gene Morgan), and for that alone, he has done a tremendous amount in contributing to and really creating an entire online literary community that encouraged conversation, honesty, and engagement. (Indeed, Entropy owes much to HTMLGIANT‘s existence.) He is of course the renowned writer of many books, Managing Editor at Fanzine, regular contributor to several online venues, and currently a weekly columnist at Vice magazine. Vice / HTMLGIANT / Fanzine / Twitter / Harper Collins / Interview at The Believer
18. Jessica Ceballos. Jessica Ceballos brings new definition to the terms “literary citizen” and “literary activist.” First off, she does a ton of shit. She is a poet, artist, designer, amateur photographer, musician, and community advocate. She is curator of literary arts programming at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park (Los Angeles) where she co-founded the recently ended and historic Bluebird Reading series and curates Poesia Para La Gente, a program that brings poetry to non-traditional spaces throughout LA. She is also an editor at Writ Large Press, an as a community advocate, sits on the Historic Highland Park Neighborhood Council. She contributes regularly to several magazines and was recently literary editor at Yay! L.A. Magazine. Website / Avenue 50 Studio / Writ Large Press / Bluebird Reading Series / Twitter
Then, we want to thank some of our own. It that tacky? First, we want to thank all of you who nominated us! It means a tremendous amount to us to have Entropy, as an entity, recognized as a community space and literary advocate. So THANK YOU to our readers and THANK YOU to the entire CCM-Entropy community. It really did feel silly to include our own in this list, but we did want to recognize some of the energy that has been exerted by some of the individuals on this end, so we’re including some internal gratitude, appreciation, and recognition here at the very end:
Dennis James Sweeney (Small Press Editor): Dennis James Sweeney is the author of 2 chapbooks and the recipient of a Fulbright grant. Beyond that though, he is THE MAN behind the Small Press Database at Entropy, and (with Jennifer Christie), the editor of the Where to Submit resource that has helped countless writers (including us!) figure out where to submit their writing. Dennis is incredibly supportive of those around him and the small press literary community at large. His dedication to the community is startling and generous and oh-so-appreciated. Website / Twitter
Peter Tieryas Liu (Founding Editor): Peter Tieryas Liu (with Janice Lee) is a Founding Editor of Entropy and really one of the NICEST human beings around. His enthusiasm and charisma are contagious, his positivity is essential, and his generosity sometimes feels unearned. He is the author of several books, including the forthcoming United States of Japan. He contributes regularly to various venues including Kotaku, Tor.com, and Electric Literature. He is also VFX artist who has worked on films like Guardians of the Galaxy and Hotel Transylvania, he has worked as a technical writer for LucasArts, the gaming division of LucasFilm. He goes out of his way to support and promote writers and books, and to share his whimsical thoughts on games, stories, and the world. Website / Twitter / Blog
Janice Lee (Executive Editor): Janice Lee (with Peter Tieryas Liu) is a Founding Editor and currently the Executive Editor of Entropy. AKA, the mama bear. She’s tried hard to create a community space based on trust, genuine conversation, community, intimacy, and openness. Part of her mission, through projects such as The Birds series and #finalpoems, is to remind people of the value and gift of poetry as poetry, not just as a product. She is most recently the author of Reconsolidation. She is also #RECURRENT Novel Series for Jaded Ibis Press, Assistant Editor at Fanzine, Founder/CEO of POTG Design, and co-curator of the Los Angeles Literary calendar (with Harold Abramowitz). In the past she has worked as Reviews Editor at HTMLGIANT and Associate Editor at Les Figues Press. She also teaches Graphic Texts & Interface Culture at CalArts and web development to low-income women in Venice, CA. Website / Twitter / Reconsolidation
Michael J. Seidlinger (Publisher of CCM): You already know Michael J. Seidlinger. You’re probably friends with him on Facebook and you already know his signature phrases “\m/ \m/” and “We’re coping.” Indeed, we are coping, and indeed, Michael is one of the most metal writers around. He’s the author of several novels, most recently The Strangest. He is the Book reviews Editor at Electric Literature, Contributing Editor at Entropy, and Publisher-in-Chief of Civil Coping Mechanisms (CCM). Really though, he is one of the most active literary citizens in the community. Probably, he doesn’t sleep. Probably, he is a robot. Because the energy he has to constantly be promoting and supporting indie lit and writers, and the rate at which he keeps producing books, and the work he does as an editor and publisher, and really everything he manages to squeeze into a day, it’s inhuman. Website / Twitter / CCM
