We are so thankful for our community, a seriously badass community of sensitive and active and generous writers, poets, publishers, editors, teachers, thinkers. Today we want to thank some of the literary advocates of 2016 that especially stood out to us, that we admire both on a community and individual level. These are individuals that editors at CCM-Entropy have decided to highlight for how they exemplify what it means to be a “literary advocate” or “literary citizen,” especially in 2016. These individuals go out of their way to advocate for literature, indie lit, small press culture, political activism, & marginalized voices, 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.
In no particular order:
Danielle Dutton (Dorothy, A Publishing Project)
One of the things I most admire about Danielle Dutton’s Dorothy is that it is is “publishing project.” Dorothy isn’t a company, and it doesn’t need the anachronistic allure of the designation “press” to communicate a sense of its aesthetic. In a marketplace increasingly hostile to anything resembling innovation in fiction, Dorothy’s success in showcasing the work of writers who have traditionally been marginalized with artistic communities of an experimental orientation is all the more remarkable. And every time I find myself wishing that Dorothy published more than 2 titles each year, I remind myself that this apparent limitation is instrumental to the Dorothy’s (and Dutton’s) advocacy. Landscapes are shaped not by the deluge, but by those individual drops that sweat and seep, one after the other after the other.
— Joe Milazzo, Entropy Contributing Editor
Porochista Khakpour (Bard College)
Porochista Khakpour is a fierce and badass human. She is a critically acclaimed writer, novelist, and essayist. Her list of publications is extensive and impressive. But she’s also a personal literary hero for how sensitive and courageous she is in her online presence. She’s a inspirational figure and her literary citizenship goes beyond the normal scope of participant/member and extends into pioneer/cosmonaut territory. Especially lately, I feel as if she’s been one of the crucial pivot points and writers that others have looked to, especially for women and writers of color, for courage and direction. After the election, she was featured at Time for her activist stance on Facebook and Twitter: “For me, in times of emergency, it’s far more important to be an activist than artist. Those things don’t have to be at odds, but we’re in an emergency situation right now. The urgency I feel—it’s very intense…. It suddenly became very important to be a positive public figure. I felt I had a service to also do.”
— Janice Lee, Entropy Executive Editor
Tobias Carroll (Vol. 1 Brooklyn)
Tobias Carroll is a true lit citizen and generous supporter. He is the Managing Editor for Vol. 1 Brooklyn, where he curates links twice a day to compelling literary pieces. This action alone is so necessary and important to the community, as he fosters a true importance for the written word, while also championing the work of both established and emerging writers.
— Joanna Valente, CCM Managing Editor
Penina Roth (Franklin Park Reading Series)
Penina Roth has created an empire as sustaining of the community surrounding it as it does the individual authors and readers that frequent its many and multifaceted events. Be it Franklin Park Reading Series, her undying devotion to promoting young and emerging authors, her publicity efforts, and, the inception of countless event endeavors such as the Manhattanville Reading Series, Penina is at the epicenter of the publishing industry where it counts: the events space, the grassroots promotional push, the understanding that literature speaks waves when capable of having that one-on-one conversation as much as we need the discourse of the page. I can’t imagine a world without Penina Roth and please, don’t ever ask me to dare think of such a scenario.
— Michael Seidlinger, CCM Publisher-in-Chief
Photo by Emily Raw
Natalie Eilbert (The Atlas Review)
Natalie Eilbert is a fearless leader whose editorial work should not be ignored. She tirelessly works to see diverse voices being published in the lit space, having recently spearheaded The Atlas Review (TAR) chapbooks, which has already produced beautiful collections. Along with The Atlas Review staff, she publishes amazing work and has also curated a reading series devoted to diversity.
— Joanna Valente, CCM Managing Editor
Kaveh Akbar (Divedapper)
I believe in the constituent—if not essential—loquaciousness of poetry,. A correlate of this belief is the faith I have that good conversation, even if its scope is limited to Poetry-wth-a-capital-P itself, is a Muse. Via Divedapper, Kaveh Akbar is doing great work supporting, sustaining and promoting more socially-conscious poetic practices. Theory is wonderful; scholarship has reduced more than one poet from relative oblivion; there’s no enthusiasm like a fan’s enthusiasm. But can we just talk about poetry as a lived phenomenon, as something we touch (and handle, like a spoon, or a doorknob) in the course of the everyday? Kaveh Akbar shows us how we might.
— Joe Milazzo, Entropy Contributing Editor
Scott Esposito (Quarterly Conversation)
You name the book, Scott has most likely championed it. It seems as though every single book that piques Scott’s taste becomes the sort of tastemaker book that reminds us of what innovation is in the long-form book. His site, Conversational Reading, is the sort of reflection, as dire and on point with the direction of experimental and innovative literature as, say, Dennis Cooper’s blog, we as readers and writers would be disserving ourselves if we didn’t check in, and check in often. Add in Scott’s work with the remarkable indie press specializing in translations, Two Lines Press, and you get the sense that Scott’s orbit isn’t so much in line with indie publishing as it is the sort of gravitational pull that creates new planets to explore. I am always eager and in wait for what Scott talks about next.
— Michael Seidlinger, CCM Publisher-in-Chief
Lexi Beach (The Astoria Bookshop)
A few years ago, Lexi and her wife opened the The Astoria Bookshop. There had never been a bookstore (aside from a used book store) in Astoria before, and the only bookstore in Queens was thirty minutes away in Forest Hills. I would have given anything as a kid to have had this bookstore around when I was growing up. It was met with great enthusiasm by the community, a community that was waiting for a book store for years. There are now readings, book clubs, author events (Roxane Gay recently made an appearance and there was a line down the block!) and book events (this week a party for the new Ferrente.) They make it a point to highlight and display indie books, and Queens writers. I know this sounds like normal bookstore behavior, but it was unheard of in Queens. This just did not happen. There was no literary community. Now there are reading series, parties and community support. I think it was a hole that wasn’t filled for decades, and they have done an amazing job in creating a community where there was none before. I don’t know the owner and never met her, but I admire her so much for changing the literary landscape of my hometown, Queens!
— Sara Finnerty, Entropy Sunday Editor
Lidia Yuknavitch (Corporeal Writing)
Lidia Yuknavitch is an inspiration. Period. Her honest, brutal, and heartbreaking books have affected countless readers. She remains a beacon of hope and encouragement through her frequent posts on Facebook, and through these tough times, she has remained a steadfast leader and advocate for the literary community at large. She also founded the amazing workshop series Corporeal Writing. On the website, she describes what informs her writing: “I think gender and sexuality are territories of possibility. Never mind what we’ve been told or what the choices appear to be. Inside artistic practice the possibilities open back up…I think literature is that which fights back against the oppressive scripts of socialization and good citizenship…I believe in art the way other people believe in god.”
— Janice Lee, Entropy Executive Editor
