Mission: Rescue Press is
a library of chaotic and investigative work. We are interested in stories,
essays, experiments, poetry, art, and anything else that transforms us.
Caryl Pagel is the
author of two full-length collections of poetry: Twice Told (H_NG M_N Books, 2014) and Experiments
I Should Like Tried At My Own Death (Factory Hollow Press, 2012). She is
the co-founder and editor of Rescue Press, a poetry editor at jubilat,
and the Director of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center. She teaches
at CSU and in the NEOMFA Program in Eastern Ohio.
1 – When did Rescue Press first start? How
have your original goals as a publisher shifted since you started, if at all?
And what have you learned through the process?
Rescue Press
was born in the winter of 2009. Danny Khalastchi (the co-publisher and
co-editor of Rescue) and myself decided that we would like to form an
institution—a business!, a mission!, a way of life!—around Marc Rahe’s
astonishing first book of poetry, The Smaller Half. That was the
start, after which we became a multi-genre, multi-media, whimsical, serious, strange,
and curious train of literature. We publish a wide variety of collections:
those clearly steeped in traditional forms and influences; those that are
elastic and experiential in nature; those that are complex and imaginative,
robust and fragile, troublesome, hilarious, and surprising. Our goals haven’t
shifted much because our goal was to shift and we’re shifting. We’ve learned
that running a press is a lot of work and always worth it with authors as brave
and brilliant as ours. We’re a family band.
2 – What first brought you to publishing?
Art school,
chapbooks, travel, the Dewey Decimal system.
3 – What do you consider the role and
responsibilities, if any, of small publishing?
It’s
our responsibility to read well, listen, respond, pay attention, ask questions,
and shepherd what we recognize as important literature through the process of
editing, design, production, promotion, and ultimately a more expansive
cultural conversation. Small presses can offer things that sometimes large
publishing houses can’t, or don’t, or won’t, such as a commitment to editing
with the author’s priorities and aesthetics in mind, collaboration on design
and artwork, and an intimate community of other writers to support and share
one’s vision.
4 – What do you see your press doing that no one
else is?
Our
aesthetics are fairly broad and rangy; part of Rescue’s mission is to approach
each book on its own terms and join forces with the author to create an exciting
piece of writing and stunning art object (for example, check out Hannah
Brooks-Motl’s The New Years) as well as market the
work in a way that is faithful to the form, content, mood, and strengths of
that particular artist. We are also interested in writing that embraces
neglected or innovative forms.
5 – What do you see as the most effective way to
get new books out into the world?
Sweat, muscle,
word of mouth, gossip, libraries, readings, independent bookstores. They all
work. A few months ago I walked into a bar and saw a poet drinking a beer and
reading Vinnie Wilhelm’s In the Absence of Predators. I have no idea how he came to know and love that
book. Last spring Michael Silverblatt interviewed Jonathan Blum—author of the
novella Last Word—for the KCRW fund drive (listen here!). What a
wonderful way to collaborate in an effort to draw attention to Jonathan’s book,
Rescue, and Bookworm (one of our
long-time favorite literary institutions).
6 – How involved an editor are you? Do you dig
deep into line edits, or do you prefer more of a light touch?
Both. The job
of an editor, in my opinion, is to understand exactly that: if a certain work
requires line edits, organization, word changes, rearrangement, tonal shifts,
or nothing. I try to offer my authors both suggestions for revision and a
reading of their work; a reflection on and response to the piece of art that
they at that point have spent so much time already considering.
7 – How do your books get distributed? What are
your usual print runs?
We distribute
through our website, independent bookstores, Amazon (sigh), and SPD. Print runs
depend on the time of year, budget, genre, and predicted sales.
8 – How many other people are involved with
editing or production? Do you work with other editors, and if so, how effective
do you find it? What are the benefits, drawbacks?
Our staff is
made up of myself, the managing editor (Danny Khalastchi), our creative
director (Sevy Perez), two editorial assistants (Zach Isom and Alyssa Perry),
and occasional interns. We recently collaborated with Kevin
Gonzalez and Lauren Shapiro on our first anthology: The
New Census: An Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry,
and Hilary Plum and Zach Savich are the editors of our Open Prose Series (their
first pick was Anne Germanacos’ astonishing novel-in-lines Tribute).
They are all smart, generous, essential.
9– How has being an editor/publisher changed the way
you think about your own writing?
I read all the
time, all day long, everything I can find. I can’t point to a specific way that
my writing or thinking has changed, but I know so much reading can’t hurt.
10– How do you approach the idea of publishing your
own writing? Some, such as Gary Geddes when he still ran Cormorant, refused
such, yet various Coach House Press’ editors had titles during their tenures as
editors for the press, including Victor Coleman and bpNichol. What do you think
of the arguments for or against, or do you see the whole question as
irrelevant?
Danny and I
haven’t gone this route; we’re mostly sick of ourselves and we enjoy spending
time with and learning from other writers’ work.
11– How do you see Rescue Press evolving?
Rescue is
always evolving in response to the specific authors we bring on board, our
readership, our interest in certain genres, the ideas of our staff, and our
desire to read differently. I’d like to continue to publish work that is
thoughtfully bizarre.
12– What, as a publisher, are you most proud of
accomplishing? What do you think people have overlooked about your
publications? What is your biggest frustration?
I’m still feeling
especially proud of our anthology, The
New Census, because it was such a time-consuming and massive undertaking
and so many wonderful people were involved in making it happen. The 40 poets,
obviously, for not only trusting us with their work, but also answering a
series of informative and at times goofy “new census” questions. We have Sevy
Perez to thank for his gorgeous design work and Lauren Haldeman for the amazing
drawings. Kevin Gonzalez and Lauren Shapiro for their selections. Alyssa Perry and
Zach Isom for editorial assistance. Dara Wier for such a considerate intro. Our
frustrations are too boring to tell you about.
13– Who were your early publishing models when
starting out?
1913, Action,
Ahsahta, Canarium, Fence, Flood, Octopus, Omnidawn, Sarabande. To be honest,
I’ve found a lot of strength in the examples of such innovative, visionary, and
resourceful publishing ladies as Sandra Doller, Joyelle McSweeny, Janet Holmes,
Robyn Schiff, Rebecca Wolf, Kathleen Rooney & Abby Beckel, Emily Pettit,
Rusty Morrison, and Sarah Gorham, etc. These are just a few of the badass women
who have built astounding literary institutions around their love of writing
and editorial intelligence.
14– How does Rescue Press work to engage
with your immediate literary community, and community at large? What journals
or presses do you see Rescue Press in dialogue with? How important do
you see those dialogues, those conversations?
Rescue
currently operates out of Iowa City, which is a wonderful home for any
writing-related endeavor. People in that town read and then talk about what
they’re reading. We are forever indebted to Prairie Lights for supporting
our books and hosting events. Outside of IC, I would say we aim to converse
with Factory Hollow, Essay Press, Letter Machine, H_NG M_N, McSweeny’s,
Featherproof, and the aforementioned presses.
15– Do you hold regular or occasional readings or
launches? How important do you see public readings and other events?
Yup; we try to
sponsor or host at least a few readings for the launch of each book.
16– How do you utilize the internet, if at all, to
further your goals?
The what?
17– Do you take submissions? If so, what aren’t you looking for?
We read poetry manuscripts in June
of every year for our Black Box Poetry Prize and we read prose of all sorts in
January as part of our Open Prose Series. We are looking for wit, wonder, humor, formal intrigue, variation,
tradition, generosity, research, and intense attention.
18– Tell me about three of your most recent titles,
and why they’re special.
We
just released three new collections of poetry: Bridgette Bates’ What Is Not Missing Is Light (which
Timothy Donnelly calls a “a
muse’s dream-votary”),
Lauren Haldeman’s Calenday (check a film for the book other great artwork here),
and Andy Stallings’ To The Heart of the World, one of
the most mesmerizing and transformative books you’ll encounter.
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