PUBLISHING NEW WOMEN POETS SINCE 1997
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Thanks for considering a year-end gift to Perugia Press!
Dear Friends of Perugia Press,
We want our donors to know about one of the important new decisions we made toward becoming a more diverse and equitable organization. This decision has to do with submission fees for our annual contest—one of the main sources of income for the press.
First, in 2020, we started collecting demographic information (optionally and anonymously) from the poets who submit their manuscripts for consideration. This gave us a sense of who was even interested in becoming a Perugia Press poet.
The results didn’t satisfy us, so in 2021, we have instituted contest fee options. Now, poets can opt for (1) full-rate, which includes a complimentary book, (2) reduced-rate, or (3) fee-free, available to Black, Indigenous, and women of color poets. We consider this a reparation and not an assumption of financial need. Our intention is to offer to repay BIWOC poets for the extra time and energy it takes to navigate systemic racism in the publishing industry.
The results are heartening! We have successfully encouraged more poets of color to enter our contest, which will lead to more poets of color on our list of authors, readers for our contest, participants in events we produce, and on our board of directors.
If this success in removing barriers feels important to you too, we hope you’ll help us balance the good news with the downside, which is a loss of income. Submission fees are integral to our operations and go directly toward the mission and work of our nonprofit press.
Please give us your vote of confidence and help us keep submissions more accessible for all by making a generous donation to Perugia Press so we can continue to offer fee options.
Gratefully,
Susan Kan, Founder and President of the Board of Directors
Rebecca Olander, Director/Editor
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Invest in Your 2022 Reading Goals while Doing Good!
Did you know that Perugia Press donates 5% of annual book sales to nonprofit organizations that support the work and lives of Black, Indigenous, and women of color? In 2020, we contributed to the Audre Lorde Project, the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, and the Hurston/Wright Foundation, and we'll send 5% of our book sales this year to those orgs as well. When you shop our bookshop to invest in your reading list, you're also supporting Perugia Press in our mission and making a gift to honor BIWOC folx!
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Emerging BIWOC Poet Spotlight
December 2021 Poet: DeMisty D. Bellinger
Not Grass. Weeds.
Emily, stay in Amherst, watch the train
Weave through the brush of Fitchburg.
Fitzgerald, the American Dream doesn't involve
Dandelion yellow or sun-colored goatsbeard.
And Toni, even jazz—even the desired blue of
New England aster—won't suffice.
Maya, maybe the bird sings for untasted greens
Growing wantonly in our moneyed gardens.
And Phil, maybe this is the new pastoral:
Long green lawns without a speck of color.
Claudia, may the books brought to rallies
Be full of flowers and fruit mistaken for weeds.
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* Another Way to Support the Press - open till 12/31! *
Are you a Florence Bank customer? Florence Bank is donating $100,000 again this year to local non-profit organizations in their Annual Customers' Choice Community Grants Program, and account holders decide who gets the money! Please consider voting for Perugia Press this year. It takes just a moment to vote, and any nonprofit with at least 50 votes gets a share.
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PERUGIA PRESS
PO Box 60364, Florence, MA 01062
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