Aunt Lute Books |
Aunt Lute Books |
As a multicultural women's press founded in 1982, Aunt Lute publishes books that "emerge out of and reflect contemporary issues for minority and/or immigrant women as these issues manifest in women's own lives and communities." Their books coming in all forms and genres, from dramatic works and poetry to memoirs and historical documents range from the 1987 groundbreaking Chicana text "Borderlands/La Frontera" by Gloria Anzaldua to 2002 Before Columbus American Book Award winner "Shell Shaker" by Choctaw author LeAnne Howe. In addition Aunt Lute has published the first US collection of Filipina/Filipina American women writers, the first collection of Southeast Asian women writers, and has brought numerous translated texts - including writing by Bosnian women refugees - to US audience. Their books have won numerous awards for literary merit and the sales of some titles have far exceeded predictions. "Junglee Girl," eleven short stories that combine class, caste, gender and eroticism sold out 10,000 copies in its first year. Another classic now published by Aunt Lute is Audre Lorde's "The Cancer Journals." Joan Pinkvoss, co-founder and co-director of the press, didn't want to be "just another white publisher doing women of color," so a decision was made to consciously build a staff that reflected the racial, ethnic and sexual diversity of the women's movement. In 1989, Aunt Lute went nonprofit to help support the kinds of books that they publish and to fund women from diverse backgrounds to participate in their intern program. Their small staff purposely publishes only two to three books a year so that more time can be devoted to developing and promoting each writer's work. |