Headmistress Press is a small press based in

Sequim, Washington Sequim ( ) is a city in Clallam County, Washington, United States. It is located along the Dungeness River near the base of the Olympic Mountains. The 2010 United States Census, 2010 census counted a population of 6,606. Sequim lies within the ra ...

. Founded in 2013, the press specializes in poetry by

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

poets. Notable poets who have published collections with Headmistress include

Janice Gould Janice Gould (1949—2019) was a Koyangk'auwi (Konkow, Concow) Maidu writer and scholar. She was the author of ''Beneath My Heart'', ''Earthquake Weather'' and co-editor with Dean Rader of ''Speak to Me Words: Essays on Contemporary America ...

Joy Ladin Joy Ladin (born March 24, 1961) is an American poet and the former David and Ruth Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University. She was the first openly transgender professor at an Orthodox Jewish institution. Early ...

Constance Merritt Constance Merritt is an American poet. Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1966, and educated at the Arkansas School for the Blind in Little Rock. She is also the winner of the Vassar Miller Prize in Poetry and a finalist for the William Carlos Will ...

, and

Lesléa Newman Lesléa Newman (born November 5, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York City) is an American author, editor, and feminist. Four of her young adult novels have been finalists for the Lambda Literary Award for Children's and Young Adult Literature, making her ...

History

Headmistress Press was started in 2013 by founding editor

Mary Meriam Mary Meriam (born 1955) is an American poet and editor. She is a founding editor of Headmistress Press, one of the few presses (possibly the only press) in the United States specializing in lesbian poetry. Biography Mary Meriam was born in Pas ...

, founding editor Risa Denenberg, and Jessica Lowell Mason (formerly Jessica Mason McFadden), who gave the press its name. In 2015,

Rita Mae Reese Rita Mae Reese is an American poet, fiction writer, and marketing director at Headmistress Press, an independent publisher of chapbooks and full-length collections by lesbian poets. Life Reese was born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, ...

joined Meriam and Denenberg as "Mistress of Marketing." The advisory board includes

Ellen Bass Ellen Bass (born June 16, 1947) is an American poet and co-author of '' The Courage to Heal''. Life Bass grew up in Pleasantville, New Jersey, where her parents owned a liquor store. Her family later moved to Ventnor City, New Jersey. She attend ...

, R. Nemo Hill, JP Howard,

, and Hannah Barrett. Several of its publications have won awards: ''The Body's Alphabet'' by Ann Tweedy (2016) won a Bisexual Book Award for Poetry, and was a finalist for a

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 ...

for Bisexual Nonfiction and for the

Golden Crown Literary Society The Golden Crown Literary Society (GCLS) is an American non-profit organization established in February 2004 as a literary and educational organization for the study, discussion, enjoyment, and enhancement of Lesbian literature. In 2020, in order ...

Award for Poetry. ''I Carry My Mother'' by Lesléa Newman was named a 2016 "Must Read" title by the

Massachusetts Center for the Book The Massachusetts Center for the Book is Massachusetts's affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Mission The Massachusetts Center's mission is to "advance the cause of books and reading and enhance the outreach potentia ...

and received the 2016 Golden Crown Literary Society Poetry Award. ''Conjuring My Leafy Muse'' by Mary Meriam was nominated for the 2015

Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...

, and ''Girlie Calendar'' by Mary Meriam was selected for the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

's Over the Rainbow List in 2016. In 2015, Headmistress published ''Lady of the Moon'', edited by Mary Meriam, with a selection of poems by

Amy Lowell Amy Lawrence Lowell (February 9, 1874 – May 12, 1925) was an American poet of the imagist school, which promoted a return to classical values. She posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1926. Life Amy Lowell was born on Febru ...

, and lesbian-feminist scholar

Lillian Faderman Lillian Faderman (born July 18, 1940) is an American historian whose books on lesbian history and LGBT history have earned critical praise and awards. ''The New York Times'' named three of her books on its "Notable Books of the Year" list. In addi ...

's groundbreaking essay on Amy Lowell. The press also published a general-audience anthology, ''Irresistible Sonnets'', featuring

sonnets A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

by contemporary poets such as

Robin Becker Robin Becker (born 1951) is an American poet, critic, feminist, and professor. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is author of seven collections of poetry, most recently, Tiger Heron and Domain of Perfect Affection (University of Pi ...

Judy Grahn Judy Grahn (born July 28, 1940) is an American poet and author. Inspired by her experiences of disenfranchisement as a butch lesbian, she became a feminist poet, highly-regarded in underground circles before achieving public fame. A major influe ...

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

Geoffrey Hill Sir Geoffrey William Hill, FRSL (18 June 1932 – 30 June 2016) was an English poet, professor emeritus of English literature and religion, and former co-director of the Editorial Institute, at Boston University. Hill has been considered to be ...

Joshua Mehigan Joshua Mehigan (born June 1969) is an American poet. Life and career Joshua Mehigan was born and raised in Upstate New York. He earned a BA from Purchase College and an MFA in creative writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Mehigan has worked as a ...

Marilyn Nelson Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut, and the former poet laureate of Connecticut, She is a winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetry ...

Catherine Tufariello Catherine Tufariello (born 1963 in Ithaca, New York) is an American poet and former professor at Cornell University, the College of Charleston, and the University of Miami. Biography She graduated from University at Buffalo, and Cornell University ...

, and many others; it was selected for the Best Books List for June 2014 by

Grace Cavalieri Grace Cavalieri is an American poet, playwright, and radio host of the Library of Congress program '' The Poet and the Poem''. In 2019, she was appointed the tenth Poet Laureate of Maryland. Education * BS - Education: English and History, The ...

of the Washington Independent Review of Books. Headmistress debuted its Lesbian Poet Trading Cards in 2015. The trading card project, lauded by

Kathleen Rooney Kathleen Rooney is an American writer, publisher, editor, and educator. Early life and education Kathleen Rooney was born in Beckley, West Virginia and raised in the Midwest. She earned a B.A. from the George Washington University and an M.F.A. ...

in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' and featured on '' Harriet'', '' AfterEllen'', and ''

Nat. Brut Nat. Brut is an American literary magazine founded in 2012 by Anna Ploegh and Andrew Ridker. The magazine contains artwork, prose, and poetry by a set of diverse artists and is publicized both online and in print. The most recent issue iIssue 14 wh ...

'', is the press's way of "honoring lesbian existence, recognizing a range of lesbian voices, and promoting lesbian representation in the arts." They feature such poets as

Naomi Replansky Naomi Replansky (May 23, 1918 – January 7, 2023) was an American poet and translator. ''The New York Times'' described her poetry as investigating "social history through individual lives". While her writing initially received little critical ...

Charlotte Mew Charlotte Mary Mew (15 November 1869 – 24 March 1928) was an English poet whose work spans the eras of Victorian poetry and Modernism. Early life and education Mew was born in Bloomsbury, London, daughter of the architect Frederick Mew (18 ...

Eloise Klein Healy Eloise Klein Healy (born 1943) is an American poet. She has published five books of poetry and three chapbooks. Her collection of poems, ''Passing'', was a finalist for the 2003 Lambda Literary Awards in Poetry and the Audre Lorde Award from The ...

, Audre Lorde, and

Minnie Bruce Pratt Minnie Bruce Pratt (born September 12, 1946) is an American poet, educator, activist and essayist. She retired in 2015 from her position as Professor of Writing and Women's Studies at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York where she was invite ...

, among others.

References

External links

* {{Blogspot, headmistresspress, Official page *
Lavender Review
', lesbian poetry and art journal associated with Headmistress Press 2013 establishments in the United States Book publishing companies based in Washington (state) Publishing companies established in 2013 Small press publishing companies Poetry publishers LGBT book publishing companies Lesbian literature Trading card companies