ABOUT WELCOME TABLE PRESS
"The world is everywhere whispering essays." --Alexander Smith
We are an all-volunteer, independent nonprofit press devoted to publishing & celebrating the essay, in all its forms. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.
The essay is a chameleon, at once formal and scholarly, lyrical and narrative, personal and political, educational and secretive, humorous and curmudgeonly, loud and quiet. It is endangered and dangerous, adaptable and perishable. Your contributions will help us put bold and provocative literature into the hands of readers, writers, students, and teachers.
ALL OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS WE RECEIVE COME FROM INDIVIDUALS WHO BELIEVE IN INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING.
HOW YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT OUR WORK
All contributions collected from this Indiegogo campaign will be directed toward the continued printing and distribution of our first two print books, YOU. AN ANTHOLOGY OF ESSAYS DEVOTED TO THE SECOND PERSON, edited by Kim Dana Kupperman, with Heather G. Simons & James M. Chesbro, and ESSAYING THE ESSAY, edited by David Lazar.
YOU. AN ANTHOLOGY is a first-of-its-kind collection, featuring essays that explore failure, planetary movement, and love, among a variety of topics. The up close and personal candor of these autobiographical, lyric, personal, and segmented narratives is tempered by the distance, intimacy, humor, and unsentimental tenderness that the second-person point of view affords both writer and reader.
ESSAYING THE ESSAY is a must-have compendium of essays on the essay, showcasing diverse meditations on the form by a wide range of writers throughout history, including Michel de Montaigne, Samuel Johnson, Virginia Woolf, Cynthia Ozick, Phillip Lopate, Robert Atwan, Lia Purpura, and John D'Agata.
Your support will help build our self-sufficiency (pre-press, printing, and advertising are expensive; the larger the print run, the lower the cost per title; distributing books costs money too).
The more funding we secure, the greater the possibility for us to offer:
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Discounts for students, teachers, and writers.
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Letterpress-printed, limited-edition versions of our titles, whose sales will help futher support our publishing and educational activities.
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Publishing internships to more students.
OUR TRACK RECORD
Welcome Table Press has published (and distributed at no cost) ten electronic and six limited-edition, print issues of its periodical pamphlet series, OCCASIONAL PAPERS ON PRACTICE & FORM, featuring spoken essays derived from talks delivered at symposia, conferences, and other gatherings where friends of the essay might be found. Currently in production are six additional issues.
Click HERE to download FREE PDFs of these important essays.
Welcome Table Press is home to FOOD FOR THOUGHT, a hand-sewn, miniature/limited-edition periodical whose two volumes were published between 2002-2006 and featured lyric essays, poetry, and recipes for local, seasonal dishes. The twelve issues of FOOD FOR THOUGHT are preserved at SUNY Buffalo's Special Collections library.
We plan to re-create FOOD FOR THOUGHT NOTES as a series of video essays.
Because we are dedicated to spreading the word about the essay, our press has hosted and co-sponsored several low-cost or free educational events, including:
- Two symposia on the essay, co-sponsored by Fordham University's Creative Writing Program and featuring Robert Atwan, Vivian Gornick, Phillip Lopate, Jerald Walker, Brian Doyle, Lia Purpura, Barbara Hurd, Robin Hemley, Idiots' Books, editors from national periodicals, and many other writers and teachers of the essay.
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Internships for creative-writing students: we have been working with editorial interns for several years and are currently working with the Fairfield University's low-residency MFA Program to launch a publishing concentration.
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A book arts workshop in a rural community.
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Fundraiser readings by the literary touring group Three Genres in the Rain, which benefitted organizations devoted to the reading and writing.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE. Welcome Table Press was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2008 and granted 501(c)(3) status in 2009.
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP:
We know that not everyone can contribute to this fundraising campaign. But here's what you can do:
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Whisper essays everywhere and then make noise about this Indiegogo campaign, via e-mail, social media, on your website or blog, in your community, classes, and at your office.
- Use the Indiegogo share tools.
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Buy one of our publications.
- Consider partnering with us to co-sponsor an event.
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Please purchase our titles--priced well below the cost of producing the physical books-- through our distributor, Itasca Books (and spread the word).
To order the YOU Anthology ($20 cover price + 4.50 S&H minimum), please click HERE.
Welcome Table Press derives more income per book if you order through ITASCA BOOKS instead of through other distributors or chain bookstores. We’d also love it if you worked with independent and/or college bookstores near you to order our books. If you need a quantity of books for a class, workshop, or other reason please e-mail welcometablepress@comcast.net, let us know what you need, and we will work with you.