Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine.
History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: Patricia Cumming, Marjorie Fletcher, Lee Rudolph, Ron Schreiber, Betsy Sholl, Cornelia Veenendaal, and Jean Pedrick. The intent of this company was to provide women with a greater representation in literature and involve the writer in the publishing process. In the 1970s women writers had a very difficult time being published. Recognizing this dire need, Alice James Books was established." Maine Poet Laureate Betsy Sholl shared her memory of being a founding member of the press in an interview: "The experience of starting the press from the ground up, she says, was a heady one, not least because the organization put a special emphasis on publishing poetry written by women. 'There really were attitudes that made it hard for women to publish,' Sholl says. 'There weren't a lot of women being published, and male editors tended to be pretty disdainful.' "Down East: The Magazine of Maine, June, 2006 > The People's Poet: Maine's New Poet Laureate, Betsy Sholl, finds poetry in the most unlikely places > by Michaela Cavallaro The press is named for Alice James (sister of novelist Henry James and philosopher William James), whose fine journal and gift for writing were unrecognized within her lifetime. The mission of Alice James Books, a cooperative poetry press, is to seek out and publish the best contemporary poetry by both established and beginning poets, with particular emphasis on involving poets in the publishing process.
Notable authors and honors Notable poets published by Alice James Books include Franny Choi, Taylor Johnson, Sumita Chakraborty, Kevin Goodan, Alessandra Lynch, Andres Cerpa, Cynthia Cruz, Jane Kenyon, Donald Revell, Jean Valentine, David Kirby, Cole Swensen, Brian Turner, Kaveh Akbar, Robin Becker, Frank X. Gaspar, Mary Szybist, Forrest Hamer, Sarah Manguso, Kazim Ali, Ellen Doré Watson, Fanny Howe, B.H. Fairchild and Matthea Harvey.
Authors have been recipients of Lannan Literary Awards,Lanan | Brian Turner the Witter Bynner Award,Library of Congress > 2009 Witter Bynner Fellows Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship,Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship Past Recipients | 2009 |Brian Turner American Book Award, Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the Norma Farber First Book Award, the Arthur Rense Poetry Prize, the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the William Carlos Williams Award, The Nation/Discovery Prize, The Rona Jaffe Foundation Award, Whiting Writer's Award, Guggenheim Fellowships, NEA fellowships, and many other honors. B.H. Fairchild's The Art of the Lathe (1998)National Book Foundation | Author | B.H. Fairchild, Finalist, 1998 and Cole Swensen's Goest (2004)National Book Foundation | Author | Cole Swensen, Finalist, 2004 were National Book Award finalists.
Alice James Books authors have been interviewed on PBS NewsHour,PBS NewsHour | War Veteran Brian Turner Reads His Poetry | Interview with Brian Turner by Jeffrey Brown | February 27, 2006 National Public Radio,NPR | Fresh Air | Books On The Page, Poet Mourns Daughter's Murder | July 29, 2009 BBC Radio,BBC Radio Midweek 18 March 2009 and profiled in print media including The New York Times,The New York Times | A Well-Written War, Told in the First Person | by Elisabeth Bumiller | February 7, 2010 The Paris Review,The Paris Review | Poetry Is Doing Great: An Interview with Kaveh Akbar | by Craig Morgan Teicher | August 18, 2021 and many other publications.
Alice James Books titles have been reviewed in The New York Times Sunday Book Review,The New York Times Sunday Book Review > My Daughter's Murder, by David Kirby > 04/10/09The New York Times Sunday Book Review> Review of Here, Bullet > By Joel BrouwerThe New York Times Sunday Book Review Review of Ruin > By Joel Brouwer The New Yorker,The New Yorker > The Talk of the Town> War Poet by Dana Goodyear > 11/14/05 ALA Booklist, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Alice James Books itself has been featured in such magazines as Ms, Poets & Writers, Publishers Weekly,Publishers Weekly > Alice James at 30 by Judith Rosen > 05/19/03 Slate, and Poetry Daily.
The press received the 2021 Golden Colophon Award for Paradigm Independent Publishing from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.CLMP | News | Award Spotlight: Alice James Books | Interview with Carey Salerno | October 6, 2021
Manuscript selection and awards "The cooperative selects manuscripts for publication through its national, annual award, the Alice James Award, previously known as the Beatrice Hawley Award. The press previously offered the Kinereth Gensler Awards, a regional, annual competition open to residents of New England, New York and New Jersey. Winners of the Kinereth Gensler Awards became active cooperative members, judging future contests and participating in editorial and executive decisions. The Alice James Award does not carry a cooperative work commitment."Alice James Books > About Us The Kundiman Poetry Prize was previously offered through Alice James Books for a first or second book by an Asian American poet. The prize was co-sponsored by Kundiman (nonprofit organization).Kundiman > Recent News Poets & Writers > G&A: The Contest Blog > Alice James Books and Kundiman Present Book Prize for Asian American Poets > July 14, 2009
Alice James Books also has selected manuscripts for publication through the AJB Translation Series, which accepts queries of poetry manuscripts translated into English.
Affiliation and funding From 1994 to 2022, the press was affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington,Alice James Books > About Us and offered a publishing internship program for UMF students which offers the students work experience and education. Since 2022, Alice James Books has been headquartered in Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, where it hosts an independent publishing internship. The press has received funding from the Maine Arts Commission, as well as receiving funding from UMF and the National Endowment for the Arts,NEA: 2009 Grant Awards > Access to Artistic Excellence private foundations, and individuals.
References
Sources Alice James Books Website University of Maine at Farmington, Creative Writing Department
External links Alice James Books Website Poets & Writers Directory Listing: Alice James Books Feature: The New York Times > Women Poets Share Chores at Alice James Books > November 10, 1985 Feature: The Washington Post > Alice James Books & amp; The Collective Spirit > October 19th, 1989 Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses > Directory of Member Publishers Consortium Book Sales & Distribution > Alice James Books Publisher Page