Welcome to the Small Press Spotlight: the column where we learn more about the many excellent (and often overlooked) small presses out there who are publishing some really great books. This week, I had the opportunity to learn a bit more about Lummox Press from its founder, RD Armstrong.
ABOUT LUMMOX PRESS
RD Armstrong is a poet and entrepreneur who founded Lummox Press in 1993 as a means to publish his own poetry. Things progressed quickly for Armstrong. "By the end of ’95 I had a couple of chapbooks under my belt and, along with Vinegar Hill Press had published a collection of 5 poets. I also began publishing the Lummox Journal that year." The Lummox Journal, a poetry journal, ran bi-monthly until 2006. In 1998, Lummox Press began publishing The Little Red Book series, a series of small 30 to 52-page chapbooks that feature the work of both known and unknown poets. There are 59 titles in the Little Red Book series to date. Lummox Press has also published 15 bound titles so far from a variety of authors. "My mission has always been to bring the best of the small press to my readers," says Armstrong, "but lately, Lummox seems to have become a home for 'wayward' poetry manuscripts – the ones that no one else seems to want to publish. As always, the work must be topnotch." Lummox Press currently publishes 6-8 books per year in the genres of poetry, short fiction, literary critique and essays.
THE BOOKS
Wondering where to start with Lummox Press titles? Here is a list of some current books worth noting:
- Down This Crooked Road: Modern Poetry From The Road Less Traveled
ed. William Taylor, Jr. (a collection of poems from 7 poets)
- Sea Trails: Poems and 1977 Passage Notes
by Pris Campbell
- Modest Aspirations
by Gerald Locklin and Beth Wilson
- Steel Valley
by Michael Adams
- Fire And Rain: Selected Poems 1993-2007 (Volume 1) by RD Armstrong
HOW TO FOLLOW LUMMOX
Stop by the Lummox Press website to keep up to date on new titles and happenings related to both Lummox Press books and The Lummox Journal.
***This article originally appeared my blog, The Lit Witch: A Book Blog, where the Small Press Spotlight is a new weekly feature.
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