Belladonna* Collaborative (or Belladonna Series, Inc.) is a

small press A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is general ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

publisher and collaborative organization based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York City. It was founded in 1999 by Rachel Levitsky as a reading series at

Bluestockings ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including Eli ...

in New York, NY. The

reading series A reading series is a recurring public literary event featuring writers reading from their work to a live audience. Some reading series are curated, some have themes, and some also feature music or other multimedia collaborations. Others simply ...

quickly expanded to a matrix of readings, publications, and informal salons, featuring avant-garde feminist writing, with an emphasis on hybrid and language-focused writing. Currently, the press operates as a non-hierarchical collaborative, publishing books and hosting literary events with attention to diversity in its roster of authors and editorial board.

History

Belladonna* was started as a reading and salon series at

, a bookstore on New York City's Lower East Side, in August 1999. The first publications were postcards by kari edwards for the May 4, 2000 reading at Bluestockings. Following the edwards postcards, and in collaboration with Boog Literature, Belladonna* began to publish commemorative "chaplets" (staple-bound pamphlets typically with fewer pages than a chapbook, produced in very small print runs) of its readers' work. In 2006 Belladonna* published chapbooks by

Erica Hunt Erica Hunt (born March 12, 1955) is a U.S. poet, essayist, teacher, mother, and organizer from New York City. She is often associated with the group of Language poets from her days living in San Francisco in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but he ...

and Akilah Oliver and co-published its first full-length book, ''Four from Japan: Contemporary Poetry & Essays by Women'', in collaboration wit
Litmus Press
The following year, Belladonna* published its first full-length books independently: ''Open Box'' by

Carla Harryman Carla Harryman (born January 11, 1952) is an American poet, essayist, and playwright often associated with the Language poets. She teaches Creative Writing at Eastern Michigan University and serves on the MFA faculty of the Milton Avery School of t ...

and ''Mauve Sea-Orchids'', a book of poems in Spanish and English with facing page translations, by Lila Zemborain (translated by Rosa Alcalá and Mónica de la Torre). In celebration of its ten-year anniversary in 2009, Belladonna* published The Elders Series—eight multiply authored perfect-bound books highlighting the continuity and transformation of the ideas, poetics, and artistic/political concerns of its poets' circle. Each book was conceived as "an anthology and a conversation between the guest curator and the elder(s) she hosts." Since 2009, Belladonna* has published, on average, two full-length books and 14 chaplets a year.

Awards

In 2009, ''Bharat Jiva'' by kari edwards (co-published with Litmus Press) was a finalist for the

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

in Transgender Literature. Erica Doyle's ''Proxy'' was a 2013 finalist for the Lambda Literary Award in Lesbian Poetry and a winner of the

Poetry Society of America The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

's Norma Farber First Book Award in 2014. LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs was a winner of the 2016 Whiting Award for ''TwERK.'' ''Cancer Angel'' by Beth Murray won the California Book Award for Poetry in 2016. In 2015, Sophie Seita won a PEN-HEIM Translation Grant for her translation of Uljana Wolf's ''Subsisters''. In 2016, an excerpt of ''Subsisters'' won second place in Asymptote'
Close Approximations Translation Contest

Readings

The Belladonna* reading series is foundational to the press's history and mission, predating even the first publications. The series is run by the reading series curators. Since 1999, curators have included Marcella Durand and Rachel Levitsky, erica kaufman, Emily Skillings, Krystal Languell, Jamila Wimberly, Cara Benson, Ariel Goldberg, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, Saretta Morgan, Chia-Lun Chang, Ana Paula, and Asiya Wadud. Belladonna* collaborates on the series with performance venues, academic institutions, arts and literary organizations, such as Abrons Art Center, Asian American Writers' Workshop, Berl's Brooklyn Poetry Shop, BGSQD, Bluestockings,

Bowery Poetry Club The Bowery Poetry Club is a New York City poetry performance space founded by Bob Holman in 2002.Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). ''Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam.'' Chapter 26: What the ...

Brooklyn Art Library Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

, Bryant Park Reading Series,

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the Ci ...

Dixon Place Dixon Place is a theater organization in New York City dedicated to the development of works-in-progress from a broad range of performers and artists. It exists to serve the creative needs of artists—emerging, mid-career and established—who a ...

Eugene Lang College Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, commonly referred to as Lang, is the seminar-style, undergraduate, liberal arts college of The New School. It is located on-campus in Greenwich Village in New York City on West 11th Street off 6th Avenue. ...

, Housing Works Bookstore, La Casa Azul Bookstore, Lambda Literary, The Lesbian Herstory Archives, McNally Jackson,

The Poetry Project The Poetry Project at St. Mark's Church was founded in 1966 at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village of Manhattan by, among others, the poet and translator Paul Blackburn (U.S. poet), Paul Blackburn. It has bee ...

Pioneer Works Pioneer Works is a non-profit cultural center in Red Hook, New York City. The center builds community through the arts and sciences to create an open and inspired world. It encourages radical thinking across disciplines by providing practitioners ...

, Pratt Institute, Queen's College, St. Mark's Bookstore, Unnameable Books, and

ZieherSmith ZieherSmith is a New York City contemporary art gallery run by Andrea Smith Zieher and Scott Zieher. Gallery exhibitions have been widely reviewed, including shows by artists Tucker Nichols, Rachel Owens, Rachel Rossin, Christoph Ruckäberle, All ...

. Belladonna* documents its reading series through audio and visual recordings, as well as through the production of short-run chaplets for each of its readers. There are over 230 individually numbered chaplets in the series. The majority are single-authored pamphlets of under 15 pages. Several chaplets are multiply authored and many contain both texts and images. The chaplets are produced in a limited run of 150 copies. When copies sell out, Belladonna* uploads a reading PDF of the chaplet so that the out-of-print work is freely available. All of Belladonna's readings are recorded and available for streaming or downloading at

PennSound PennSound is a poetry website and online archive that hosts free and downloadable recordings of poets reading their own work. The website offers over 1500 full-length and single-poem recordings, the largest collection of poetry sound-files on the ...

, an online project committed to preserving audio archives of poetry. Many of Belladonna's readers and chaplet authors are noted poets and writers, such as:

Fanny Howe Fanny Howe (born October 15, 1940 in Buffalo, New York) is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Howe has written more than 20 books of poetry and prose. Her major works include poetry such as ''One Crossed Out'', ''Gone'', and ''S ...

(#5),

Mei-mei Berssenbrugge Mei-mei Berssenbrugge (; born October 5, 1947, in Beijing, China) is a contemporary poet. Winner of two American Book Awards, her work is often associated with the Language School, the poetry of the New York School, phenomenology, and visual art ...

(#8),

Lynne Tillman Lynne Tillman (born January 1, 1947) is a novelist, short story writer, and cultural critic. She is currently Professor/Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English at the University at Albany and teaches at the School of Visual Arts' Art Cri ...

(#19),

Anne Waldman Anne Waldman (born April 2, 1945) is an American poet. Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the Outrider experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activ ...

(#26),

Rosmarie Waldrop Rosmarie Waldrop (born Rosmarie Sebald; August 24, 1935) is an American poet, novelist, translator, essayist and publisher. Born in Germany, she has lived in the United States since 1958 and has settled in Providence, Rhode Island since the lat ...

(#29),

Alice Notley Alice Notley (born November 8, 1945) is an American poet. Notley came to prominence as a member of the second generation of the New York School of poetry—although she has always denied being involved with the New York School or any specific mo ...

(#36),

Lydia Davis Lydia Davis (born July 15, 1947) is an American short story writer, novelist, essayist, and translator from French and other languages, who often writes short (one or two pages long) short stories. Davis has produced several new translations of ...

(#40),

Elaine Equi Elaine Equi (born 1953) is an American poet. Equi was born in Oak Park, Illinois and grew up in the Chicago area. Since 1988 she has lived in New York City with her husband, poet Jerome Sala. She currently teaches creative writing in the Master ...

(#41),

Maggie Nelson Maggie Nelson (born 1973) is an American writer. She has been described as a genre-busting writer defying classification, working in autobiography, art criticism, theory, feminism, queerness, sexual violence, the history of the avant-garde, aes ...

(#42),

Anne Tardos Anne Tardos is a French-born American poet, visual artist, academic, and composer. Early life and education Tardos was born in Cannes, France. As a child, she lived in German-occupied Paris, later moving with her parents to Budapest, where she l ...

(#47), Michelle Naka Pierce (#48),

Leslie Scalapino Leslie Scalapino (July 25, 1944 – May 28, 2010) was an American poet, experimental prose writer, playwright, essayist, and editor, sometimes grouped in with the Language poets, though she felt closely tied to the Beat poets. Writes Hejinian: ...

(#50),

Caroline Bergvall Caroline Bergvall (born 1962) is a French-Norwegian poet who has lived in England since 1989. Her work includes the adaption of Old English and Old Norse texts into audio text and sound art performances. Life and education Born in Hamburg, Germ ...

(#56),

Susan Howe Susan Howe (born June 10, 1937) is an American poet, scholar, essayist, and critic, who has been closely associated with the Language poets, among other poetry movements.

(#68),

Lisa Robertson Lisa Robertson (born July 22, 1961) is a Canadian poet, essayist and translator. She lives in France. Life and work Born in Toronto, Ontario, Robertson moved to British Columbia in 1979, first living on Saltspring Island, then in Vancouver, wh ...

(#75), Ann Lauterbach (#85),

Myung Mi Kim Myung Mi Kim (born December 6, 1957) is a Korean American poet noted for her postmodern writings. Kim and her family immigrated to the United States when she was nine years old. She holds a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa and lec ...

(#86), Dawn Lundy Martin (#89),

Marjorie Welish Marjorie Welish ( ; born June 2, 1944) is an American poet, artist, and art critic. Welish is a graduate of Columbia University and received her M.F.A. degree from Vermont College and Norwich University. She also studied at the Art Students Le ...

(#91), Rae Armantrout (#92),

Anna Moschovakis Anna Elizabeth Moschovakis is a Greek American poet, author, and translator. Early life Moschovakis was born to an American mother and a Greek father. She split her time growing up between the U.S. and Greece, where her father owned what she ...

(#102), Evie Shockley (#104), Jean Day (#114),

Dodie Bellamy Dodie Bellamy (born 1951) is an American novelist, nonfiction author, journalist, educator and editor. Her book, ''Cunt-Ups'' (2001) won the 2002 Firecracker Alternative Book Award. Her work is frequently associated with that of the New Narrativ ...

(#116), Bhanu Kapil (#28 and #127),

Eileen Myles Eileen Myles (born December 9, 1949) is a LAMBDA Literary Award-winning American poet and writer who has produced more than twenty volumes of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, libretti, plays, and performance pieces over the last three decades. No ...

(#38 and #128), Cecilia Vicuña (#131),

Carmen Giménez Smith ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Op� ...

(#132),

Renee Gladman Renee Gladman (born 1971) is a poet, novelist, essayist, and artist. She has published prose works including the Ravicka series of novels and the crime novel, ''Morelia''; the poetry collection, ''Calamities''; and a monograph of drawings, ''Prose ...

(#65 and #133),

Juliana Spahr Juliana Spahr (born 1966) is an American poet, critic, and editor. She is the recipient of the 2009 Hardison Poetry Prize awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library to honor a U.S. poet whose art and teaching demonstrate great imagination and d ...

(#144), and many others.

List of publications

Books

''Sweet Dreams'' (2018)

Pamela Sneed use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates = ...

''Landia'' (2018)
Celina Su ''Subsisters'' (2017)

Uljana Wolf Uljana Wolf is a German poet and translator (from English and Polish) known for exploring multilingualism in her work. Wolf works in both Berlin and New York. She teaches German at New York University. Uljana Wolf was born in East Berlin in 1979. ...

, translated by Sophie Seita ''Gates & Fields'' (2017)
Jennifer Firestone ''Astrobolism'' (2016)
Caroline Crumpacker ''Cancer Angel'' (2016)
Beth Murray ''A Swarm of Bees in High Court'' (2015)
Tonya Foster ''All Is Not Yet Lost'' (2015)
Betsy Fagin ''Theory, A Sunday (''2013)
Louky Bersianik,

Nicole Brossard Nicole Brossard (born November 27, 1943) is a leading French-Canadian formalist poet and novelist. Her work is known for exploration of feminist themes and for challenging masculine-oriented language and points of view in French literature. Sh ...

, Louise Cotnoir,

Louise Dupré Louise Dupré (born July 9, 1949) is a Quebec poet and novelist. The daughter of Cécile Paré and Arthur Dupré, she was born in Sherbrooke and was educated at the Université de Sherbrooke and the Université de Montréal, receiving a PhD in li ...

, Gail Scott, and France Théoret, translated by Erica Weitzman, Nicole Peyrafitte, Popahna Brandes, and Luise von Flotow, with an introduction by Lisa Robertson and an Afterword by Rachel Levitsky and Gail Scott ''TwERK'' (2013)
LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs ''proxy'' (2013)
R. Erica Doyle ''Fifteen Poems'' (2012)

Bobbie Louise Hawkins Bobbie Louise Hawkins (July 11, 1930 – May 4, 2018) was a short story writer, monologist, and poet. Life Hawkins was born in Abilene in west Texas, to a teenage mother. She was raised by her mother Nora Hall and her stepfather Harold Hall, wi ...

''Everywhere Here and in Brooklyn: A Four Quartets'' (2012)
Kristin Prevallet ''Looking Up Harryette Mullen (''2011)

Barbara Henning Barbara Henning (born October 26, 1948) is an American poet and fiction writer. She is the author of eight books of poetry, four novels and a series of photo-poem pamphlets. Her recent novelized biography of her mother, ''Ferne, a Detroit Story, ...

''The Wide Road'' (2011)

Lyn Hejinian Lyn Hejinian (born May 17, 1941) is an American poet, essayist, translator and publisher. She is often associated with the Language poets and is known for her landmark work ''My Life'' (Sun & Moon, 1987, original version Burning Deck, 1980), a ...

and

''Bharat Jiva'' (2009)
kari edwards ''No Gender: Reflections on the Life & Work of kari edwards'' (2009)''
''Edited by Julian T. Brolaski, erica kaufman, and E. Tracy Grinnell ''The Elders Series #8'' (2009)
Jane Sprague hosts Diane Ward &

Tina Darragh Tina Darragh (born 1950) is an American poet who was one of the original members of the Language group of poets. Biography Darragh was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in the south suburb of McDonald, Pennsylvania. She began writing in 1968 and st ...

''The Elders Series #7'' (2009)
Cara Benson hosts

Jayne Cortez Jayne Cortez (May 10, 1934 – December 28, 2012) was an African-American poet, activist, small press publisher and spoken-word performance artist whose voice is celebrated for its political, surrealistic and dynamic innovations in lyricism and ...

''The Elders Series #6'' (2009)
Kate Eichorn hosts

M. Nourbese Philip Marlene Nourbese Philip (born 3 February 1947), usually credited as M. NourbeSe Philip, is a Canadian poet, novelist, playwright, essayist and short story writer. Life and works Born in the Caribbean in Woodlands, Moriah, Trinidad and Tobago, W ...

& Gail Scott ''The Elders Series #5'' (2009)
Jen Scappettone hosts

& Etel Adnan ''The Elders Series #4'' (2009)
Tribute to Emma Bee Bernstein with

Susan Bee Susan Bee (born January 14, 1952) is an American painter, editor, and book artist, who lives in New York City. In 2015, "Photograms and Altered Photos from the 1970s" were exhibited at Southfirst Gallery in Brooklyn. She had one solo show at Acco ...

''The Elders Series #3'' (2009)
Tisa Bryant hosts Chris Kraus ''The Elders Series #2'' (2008)
Erica Kaufman & Rachel Levitsky host Bob Gluck &

Sarah Schulman Sarah Miriam Schulman (born July 28, 1958) is an American novelist, playwright, nonfiction writer, screenwriter, gay activist, and AIDS historian. She is a Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at College of Staten Island (CSI) and a Fellow a ...

''The Elders Series #1'' (2008)
E. Tracy Grinnell hosts

''Area'' (2008)
Marcella Durand ''Alyson Singes'' (2008)

''Mauve Sea-Orchids'' (2007)
Lila Zemborain ''Open Box'' (2007)

''Four From Japan: Contemporary Poetry & Essays by Women'' (2006)
Kiriu Minashita, Kyong-Mi Park, Ryoko Sekiguchi, and Takako Arai ''Time Slips Right Before Your Eyes'' (2006)

''The Putterer’s Notebook'' (2006)
Akilah Oliver

Articles

Belladonna* has been featured in many publications including American Review of Books,

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', ...

, and

Rain Taxi ''Rain Taxi'' is a Minneapolis-based book review and literary organization. In addition to publishing its quarterly print edition, ''Rain Taxi'' maintains an online edition with distinct content, sponsors the Twin Cities Book Festival, hosts read ...

, among others. * In a special chapbook issue of American Book Review (Mar/Apr 2005), Corinne Robins reviewed five Belladonna* chaplets in an article called "Belladonna*: The Deadly Night Shades of Experimental Women’s Poetry” * In January 2005, Byron Coley and

Thurston Moore Thurston Joseph Moore (born July 25, 1958) is an American musician best known as a member of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label. Moo ...

had this to say about the Belladonna* chaplet series: "Each zine is a succinct piece by a female poet, all of whom share a common sense of adventure and active consciousness. Great writing from Anne Waldman, Eileen Myles, Nada Gordon, Lynne Tillman, Lisa Jarnot, Rosemarie Waldrop and so many others. So if you’re in the market for deadly nightshade, this is the place for you." * “Made in the Nightshade” (Poetry Project Newsletter, October/November 2005) * “Celebrating Renegade Presses in America” (Poetry Project Newsletter, October/November 2004) * “Exotic flower, decayed golds, and the fall of paganism: The 2003 Poets House Poetry Showcase” by Rodney Phillips (Fence Magazine, Fall/ Winter 2003-04)
Reviews of Publications
Lambda Literary

The Offending Adam

External links

Official Belladonna* Website: * http://www.belladonnaseries.org Belladonna* Pennsound Page: *http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Belladonna.php Interview with Krystal Languell *https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/crossroads/chappublishers/krystal_languell_on_belladonna/ Interview With Rachel Levitsky *http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2011/04/poetry-as-event-belladonna/ Review of Deborah Meadows Belladonna Chaplet: * https://web.archive.org/web/20080509065240/http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n34/book_reviews/draped_universe_by_deborah_meadows Four From Japan Events on Pennsound: * http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Factorial-NYC.html Report on Four From Japan by American Literary Translators: * http://literarytranslators.blogspot.com/2006/11/four-from-japan-contemporary-poetry.html Review by Noah Eli Gordon: * http://jacketmagazine.com/34/gordon-belladonna.html Essay in "Numbers Trouble" Forum: * http://delirioushem.blogspot.com/2008/02/dim-sum-rachel-levitsky.html Forum on Small Presses at HOW2: * http://www.asu.edu/pipercwcenter/how2journal/archive/online_archive/v2_4_2006/current/forum/levitsky.html

References

{{reflist Series of books Feminist literature Poetry organizations 1999 establishments in New York City