Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in

New Gloucester, Maine New Gloucester is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. New Gloucester is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. It is home to the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, the last active Shaker ...

History and mission

"Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: Patricia Cumming, Marjorie Fletcher, Lee Rudolph, Ron Schreiber,

Betsy Sholl Elizabeth "Betsy" Sholl (born 1945) is an American poet who was poet laureate of Maine from 2006 to 2011 and has authored nine collections of poetry. Sholl has received several poetry awards, including the 1991 AWP Award, and the 2015 Maine Lite ...

, 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."UNH - Manchester Library > Special Home > Exhibits > Jean Pedrick: A Virtual Exhibit of Her Life and Work > Alice James Books
/ref> Maine Poet Laureate

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.' " The press is named for

Alice James Alice James (August 7, 1848 – March 6, 1892) was an American diarist, and the younger sister of novelist Henry James and philosopher and psychologist William James. Her relationship with William was unusually close, and she seems to have ...

(sister of novelist

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

and philosopher

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, he is considered to be one of the leading thinkers of the late 19th c ...

), 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 Franny Choi (born February 11, 1989) is an American writer, poet and playwright. Life Choi uses She (pronoun), she and Singular they, they pronouns. She lived in Northampton, Massachusetts, and now resides in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Choi's par ...

, Taylor Johnson, Sumita Chakraborty, Kevin Goodan, Alessandra Lynch, Andres Cerpa,

Cynthia Cruz Cynthia Cruz is a contemporary American poet. She is the author of seven published poetry collections, and two works of cultural criticism. She currently teaches classes in the Graduate Writing Program at Columbia University. Early life and educat ...

Jane Kenyon Jane Kenyon (May 23, 1947 – April 22, 1995) was an American poet and translator. Her work is often characterized as simple, spare, and emotionally resonant. Kenyon was the second wife of poet, editor, and critic Donald Hall who made her the subj ...

Donald Revell Donald Revell (born 1954 in Bronx, New York) is an American poet, essayist, translator and professor. Revell has won numerous honors and awards for his work, beginning with his first book, ''From the Abandoned Cities'', which was a National Poetr ...

Jean Valentine __NOTOC__ Jean Valentine (April 27, 1934December 29, 2020) was an American poet and the New York State Poet Laureate from 2008 to 2010. Her poetry collection, ''Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003'', was awarded the 2004 N ...

, David Kirby,

Cole Swensen Cole Swensen (born 1955, in Kentfield, California) is an American poet, translator, editor, copywriter, and professor. Swensen was awarded a 2006 Guggenheim Fellowship and is the author of more than ten poetry collections and as many translations ...

, Brian Turner,

Kaveh Akbar Kaveh Akbar (b. 15 January 1989; Persian language, Persian: کاوه اکبر) is an Iranian American poet, novelist, and editor. He is the author of the poetry collections ''Calling a Wolf a Wolf'' and ''Pilgrim Bell'' and of the novel ''Martyr ...

, Robin Becker, Frank X. Gaspar,

Mary Szybist Mary Szybist (born 20 September 1970) is an American poet. She won the National Book Award for Poetry for her collection ''Incarnadine''. Life She grew up in Pennsylvania, earned her Bachelor of Arts, B.A. and M.T. (Master of Teaching) from the ...

, Forrest Hamer,

Sarah Manguso Sarah Manguso (born 1974) is an American writer and poet. In 2007, she was awarded the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize Fellowship in literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her memoir, ''The Two Kinds of Decay'' (2008), was named an "E ...

Kazim Ali Kazim Ali (born April 5, 1971) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, and professor. His most recent books are ''Inquisition'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2018) and ''All One's Blue'' (Harper Collins India, 2016). His honors include an Individu ...

Ellen Doré Watson Ellen Doré Watson is an American poet, translator and teacher. Career Watson is author of six collections of poems, most recently, ''pray me stay eager'' (Alice James Books). Her book, ''Ladder Music,'' was a New York/New England Award winner fro ...

Fanny Howe Fanny Howe (born October 15, 1940, in Buffalo, New York) is an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Howe has written more than 20 books of poetry and prose. Her major works include poetry ...

B.H. Fairchild B.H. Fairchild (born 1942) is an American poet and former college professor. His most recent book is ''An Ordinary Life'' ( W.W. Norton, 2023), and his poems have appeared in literary journals and magazines including ''The New Yorker'', '' The Pa ...

and

Matthea Harvey Matthea Harvey (born September 3, 1973) is a contemporary American poet, writer and professor. She has published four collections of poetry. The most recent of these, ''If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?'', a collection of poetry and images, ...

. Authors have been recipients of

Lannan Literary Awards The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

, the Witter Bynner Award,

Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship The Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship is given annually to a U.S.-born poet to spend one year outside North America in a country the recipient feels will most advance his or her work. When poet Amy Lowell died in 1925, her will established ...

, American Book Award,

Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards are a pair of American prizes based at Claremont Graduate University. They are given to poets for their collections of poetry written in the English language, by a citizen or legal resident alien of the U ...

, 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 Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, NEA fellowships, and many other honors. B.H. Fairchild's ''The Art of the Lathe'' (1998) and Cole Swensen's ''Goest'' (2004) were

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

finalists. Alice James Books authors have been interviewed on

PBS NewsHour ''PBS News Hour'', previously stylized as ''PBS NewsHour'', is the news division of PBS and an American daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stat ...

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BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

, and profiled in print media including

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

, and many other publications. Alice James Books titles have been reviewed in ''The New York Times Sunday Book Review,'' ''The New Yorker,'' ''ALA Booklist, Publishers Weekly,

Library Journal ''Library Journal'' is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey. It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional prac ...

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

,'' and many other publications. Alice James Books itself has been featured in such magazines as ''Ms, Poets & Writers,'' ''Publishers Weekly,'' ''Slate,'' and ''Poetry Daily.'' The press received the 2021 Golden Colophon Award for Paradigm Independent Publishing from the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.

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." ''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). 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, and offered a publishing internship program for UMF students which offers the students work experience and education. Since 2022, Alice James Books has its headquarters in Pineland Farms in

, where they host 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 The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

, 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

* ttp://www.bookrags.com/highbeam/alice-james-books-andamp-the-collective-hb/ 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
{{Authority control 1973 establishments in Maine Book publishing companies based in Maine Maine culture Non-profit organizations based in Maine Poetry publishers Publishing companies established in 1973 University presses of the United States University of Maine at Farmington