Littoral Books
Littoral Books is a small, independent, literary press based in Portland, Maine, dedicated to publishing the work of Maine writers and artists. Originally founded in 1975 by members of the Portland Women’s Group in order to publish the work of women writers, they were one of the founding presses of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance. Littoral Books is proud to be a Maine press, and to play an active role in Maine’s literary community through their virtual programming, Littorally Alive!, and by holding live readings and other events, such as the Portland Poetry festival. In this way, they do their best to contribute to the cultural life of the state. Their goal as publishers is to create books which reflect the richness and diversity of our state, and offer readers the dual pleasures of insightful writing and beautiful design.
Co-owner, editor, publisher, and novelist Agnes Bushell responded to the following questions:
In 1975, Littoral Books began as a project to publish more female authors. How does that mission still reflect in your work today?
Our mission was to publish only female authors because at the time women were excluded from many male-dominated publications. Thankfully, this situation has changed dramatically over the years, and so when we revived Littoral in 2018, the original mission changed, and we didn’t have publishing female writers as a goal. A glance at our list reveals that most of our writers still are women, and that may be because we began our new incarnation with books by women, especially Balancing Act 2: An Anthology of Poems by 50 Maine Women. However, our other poetry and short fiction anthologies include work by male as well as female poets and writers. Now, we are more interested in the quality of the work than the gender of the writer, and are always looking for the best work we can find by Maine writers, whatever their gender may be.
As one of the founders of MWPA, how has the organization impacted your work as a Maine publisher?
I am very proud of being one of the founders of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance in1975. I think it is noteworthy that MWPA was not begun by writers but by a group of small press publishers. The idea was for publishers to join together in an alliance in order to apply collectively for grants and buy a printing press that we could all use. The printing press never materialized, but the alliance held and over the years has remained a hub of communication for publishers and writers throughout the state as well as a network of mutual support. Littoral Books has always relied on the excellent staff at MWPA for advice, assistance, and expertise, and for their good work in keeping us all in touch, publishers and writers alike. They provide us all with a strong and united organization and that same mutual aid we aimed for back in 1975. It’s an incredible achievement for Maine to have such an organization and we at Littoral are always grateful for its continued existence.
What stories are you most interested in telling and representing at Littoral Books?
Over the years, we have published poetry, essays, short fiction and novels. We are interested in many different stories, and in presenting the many different voices of Maine writers. Our anthologies of essays and short fiction are particularly representative of our goal of publishing skilled, insightful writers from all parts of the state of Maine.
You host a reading series called “Littorally Alive!” What’s it like to bring authors in front of an audience? How has the community responded?
Littorally Alive! was the idea of one of our writers, Robert Diamante, who felt that in lieu of live readings and events – made impossible because of the covid pandemic – Zoom technology would allow us to create a virtual space for writers to connect with each other and the literary community. So “Littorally Alive!” was born, and it was greeted enthusiastically. We created programs that offered poetry readings and fiction readings, interviews with writers, and conversations between writers and audience members, and these were all met with enthusiasm from those who participated and as well as those who attended. Best of all, they were lots of fun. During the worst of the pandemic, people looked forward to our monthly Zoom events which reached all parts of the state and even beyond the state’s borders. We continue to produce Littorally Alive programs almost monthly. They are recorded and can be seen on our webpage.
What do you believe makes Littoral Books most unique?
We blend accomplished writing and visual art to produce beautiful books which are themselves works of art, and we have managed to do this since 2018 while retaining our independence and keeping our books affordable and locally accessible for our readers.
Is there an event, publication or any kind of change happening in the next year that you are particularly excited about and would like to share?
Our upcoming list includes two books of short stories, one, Euphoria, by Dave Patterson, and another, Positivity Bias, an anthology of stories by ten writers. We are also always excited by the annual Portland Poetry Festival which we began in 2023, and which is held in the fall.
Littoral Books
P.O. Box 4533
Portland, ME 04112