Episode 2: Danielle Dutton - “Women Talking About Women Publishing Women (Mostly)”

In this episode, Hilary talks to the writer Danielle Dutton, who is co-founder, editor, and designer of Dorothy, a publishing project. Subjects include feminist structures and practices in publishing, the patriarchies of the oughts, social media, new books by Amina Cain and Giada Scodallero, the meanings of “small,” success and going on, moving the books out of your basement.

In the conversation we celebrate Danielle’s early books Attempts at a Life and SPRAWL—find all her work here, and you’ll want to read this recent story.

(We mention a profile of the writer Nell Zink that appeared in the New Yorker, and its manner of describing small presses. The profile in question is this one, but actually the New Yorker used this same move twice.)

More.

Episode 1: Matvei Yankelevich - “The New Obsolescence”

In our first episode, we talk to Matvei Yankelevich, poet, translator, critic, editor, and publisher. You may know him as a founding member of the editorial collective Ugly Duckling Presse, current publisher of Winter Editions, and editor at World Poetry Books. His recent work includes the chapbook Dead Winter from Fonograf Editions and the co-translation, with Eugene Ostashevsky, of Alexander Vvedensky’s An Invitation for Me to Think, from NYRB Books.

Our discussion explores Matvei’s four-part essay series, first published on Harriet in 2020: here’s part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. Along the way we discuss professionalization in the writing world, money and how small presses do and don’t get it, the struggles and beauties of collectivization, the autonomy of the small press vs. the compromises of capital, amateurism, middle age, antagonism in the market, moving forward with obsolescence.

More.