Firebrand Books
Firebrand Books is a publishing house established in 1984 by Nancy K. Bereano---a lesbian/feminist activist in Ithaca, NY. Karen Oosterhouse, publisher since 2003, describes Firebrand as "the independent publisher of record for feminist and lesbian fiction and nonfiction," championing "authors whose work has been marginalized: women of color, women coming out of poverty, transwomen, the genderqueer, and other underrepresented voices." [1] It is among the many feminist and lesbian publishing houses that grew out of the Women's Press Movement; other presses of that period include Naiad Press, Persephone and Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press.
| Founded | 1985[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Nancy K. Bereano |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Headquarters location | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Publication types | Books |
| Nonfiction topics | feminist and lesbian works |
| Official website | www |
From 1984 to 2000, Firebrand Books published literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on lesbian and feminist themes, placing publisher Nancy Bereano "at the forefront of lesbian and small press publishing."[2] Firebrand was the first publisher of Dorothy Allison's short story collection Trash, which subsequently won double Lambda Literary Awards in the categories of Lesbian Fiction and Small Press, and of the "Dykes to Watch Out For" series by Alison Bechdel.
The press has published poetry, fiction, and non-fiction by many luminary authors, including Jewelle Gomez, Leslie Feinberg, Cheryl Clarke, Ruthann Robson, Lesléa Newman, Mab Segrest, Leslie Feinberg, Judith Katz, Audre Lorde, and Minnie Bruce Pratt, earning four American Library Association Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Book Awards and 12 Lambda Literary Awards, including the Publisher's Service Award for Bereano, in 1996. On Bereano's influential role as an editor and publisher, Alison Bechdel writes: "she discovered me and published my first book when I was a punk kid....She also urged me to write a graphic novel long before the current craze, and that was the beginning of Fun Home."[3]
Bereano has emphasized the importance of small independent presses in supporting and promoting "new ways of thinking," especially for readers marginalized by large publishing houses. Citing her experiences publishing the work of Audre Lorde, Bereano writes:
The fact that [Lorde's] prose was published exclusively by small independently owned women’s presses was both a result of the major houses’ narrow perspective and the fact that Audre Lorde’s prose, particularly her myth-shattering essays, was instrumental in framing a changing reality for many women, primarily lesbian women (a readership long dismissed by the mainstream publishing world).[4]
After Bereano's retirement in 1994, Firebrand Books was sold, first to distributor LPC Group, and eventually to Karen Oosterhouse, who relocated the press from Ithaca to Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2003.[5] In a 2009 interview, Oosterhouse stated that, "perhaps there will come a day when there is no longer a need for a specifically lesbian and feminist press, but for now Firebrand is that press."[1]
Books published
- A Gathering Of Spirit: A Collection by North American Indian Women
- Jewish Women's Call For Peace: A Handbook for Jewish Women on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
- This Is What Lesbian Looks Like
- To Be Continued...
- Before Our Eyes by Joan Alden
- Skin: Talking About Sex, Class And Literature by Dorothy Allison
- The Women Who Hate Me by Dorothy Allison
- Out In The World: International Lesbian Organizing by Shelley Anderson
- Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
- Restoring The Color Of Roses by Barrie Jean Borich
- Sans Souci by Dionne Brand
- Mohawk Trail by Beth Brant
- Eight Bullets: One Woman's Story of Surviving Anti-Gay Violence by Claudia Brenner with Hannah Ashley
- Falling to Earth by Elizabeth Brownrigg
- The Woman Who Loved War by Elizabeth Brownrigg
- Too Queer: Essays from a Radical Life by Victoria A. Brownworth
- The Threshing Floor by Barbara Burford
- Stardust Bound by Karen Cadora
- Experimental Love Cheryl L. Clarke
- Humid Pitch by Cheryl L. Clarke
- Living As A Lesbian by Cheryl L. Clarke
- The Wolf Ticket by Caro Clarke
- Shoulders by Georgia Cotrell
- Natural Birth by Toi Derricotte
- Tender Warriors by Rachel Guido deVries
- Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
- Legal Tender by Marion Foster
- The Monarchs Are Flying by Marion Foster
- Crybaby Butch by Judith Frank
- Exile In The Promised Land by Marcia Freedman
- The Other Sappho by Ellen Frye
- The Fires Of Bride by Ellen Galford
- Moll Cutpurse by Ellen Galford
- Parker & Hulme: A Lesbian View by Julie Glamuzina and Alison J. Laurie
- Don't Explain by Jewelle Gomez
- The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
- Oral Tradition by Jewelle Gomez
- Forty Three Septembers by Jewelle Gomez
- Presenting... Sister NoBlues by Hattie Gossett
- Beneath My Heart by Janice Gould
- Sacred Space: A Feminist Vision of Astrology by Geraldine Hatch Hanon
- Artemis In Echo Park by Eloise Klein Healy
- Dish It Up, Baby! by Kristie Helms
- The Escape Artist by Judith Katz
- Running Fiercely Toward A High Thin Sound by Judith Katz
- Horseshoe Sky by Catherine Koger
- Along The Journey River by Carole LaFavor
- Evil Dead Center by Carole LaFavor
- And Then They Were Nuns by Susan J. Leonardi
- Love And Death, & Other Disasters: Stories 1977-1995 by Jenifer Levin
- Letting In The Night by Joan Lindau
- Bruised Fruit by Anna Livia
- A Burst Of Light by Audre Lorde
- The Worry Girl: Stories from a Childhood by Andrea Freud Loewenstein
- Just Say Yes by Judith McDaniel
- Metamorphosis: Reflections on Recovery by Judith McDaniel
- Sanctuary by Judith McDaniel
- Staying The Distance by Franci McMahon
- The Rooms We Make Our Own by Toni Mirosevich
- Waiting In The Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood by Cherríe Moraga
- Getting Home Alive by Aurora Levins Morales and Rosario Morales
- A Restricted Country by Joan Nestle
- Good Enough To Eat by Lesléa Newman
- Women On The Row: Revelations From Both Sides of the Bars by Kathleen O'Shea
- Jonestown & Other Madness by Pat Parker
- Movement in Black by Pat Parker
- Crime Against Nature by Minnie Bruce Pratt
- We Say We Love Each Other by Minnie Bruce Pratt
- Rebellion: Essays 1980-1991 by Minnie Bruce Pratt
- This Is About Incest by Margaret Randall
- Cecile by Ruthann Robson
- Eye Of A Hurricane by Ruthann Robson
- Lesbian (Out)law: Survival Under the Rule of Law by Ruthann Robson
- Now Poof She Is Gone by Wendy Rose
- The Black Back-Ups by Kate Rushin
- Simple Songs by Vickie Sears
- My Mama's Dead Squirrel: Lesbian Essays on Southern Culture by Mab Segrest
- Normal Sex by Linda Smukler
- Sister Safety Pin by Lorrie Sprecher
- Post-Diagnosis by Sandra Steingraber
- Venus of Chalk by Susan Stinson
- Breathless by Kitty Tsui
- The Sun Is Not Merciful by Anna Lee Walters
- Talking Indian: Reflections on Survival and Writing by Anna Lee Walters
- The Price Of Passion by Jess Wells
- The Mandrake Broom by Jess Wells
- Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender by Riki Anne Wilchins
- Scuttlebutt by Jana Williams
- The Big Mama Stories by Shay Youngblood
- Diamonds Are A Dyke's Best Friend: Reflections, Reminiscences, and Reports from the Field on the Lesbian National Pastime by Yvonne Zipter
References
- "Scenes: Firebrand Books: an interview with Karen Oosterhous". American Book Review. 30 (5): 31.
- Marsten, Brenda (2001). "Guide to the Firebrand Books Records, 1984-2000, Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University. Description of Organizational History". Guide to the Firebrand Books Records, 1984-2000. Cornell University Library. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- Bechdel, Alison (April 13, 2008). "Ithaca: archival kisses, drunken birds, firebrand". Alison Bechdel. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- Bereano, Nancy K. (February 19, 2014). "Dismantling the Master's House". The Feminist Wire. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
- Blake, Amy (April 15, 2004). "Firebrand Books Rises from the Ashes". PrideSource. Between the Lines. Retrieved March 5, 2016.