In 1982, Ronald Reagan was president, 51% of Americans thought homosexuality was abnormal, and a little press that would become Aunt Lute Books was just getting started. A full generation later, the press is still publishing work by and for women usually ignored by traditional publishing—and keeping each work in print. To celebrate our 30th anniversary, we are now running a month-long series of features that will bring our older, yet pressingly relevant, texts back into the spotlight. Each week we will acknowledge a group of titles that relates to an aspect of our mission or history and discuss both the impact and continuing legacy of those titles. As always, Aunt Lute would love to hear any reflections you have in response to our posts or about your experience relating to our press or published works.
You may already be familiar with some of our more popular titles: Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa, Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde, or Shadow on a Tightrope: Writings by Women on Fat Oppression edited by Lisa Schoenfielder, Barb Wieser, and Vivian Mayer. Our 30th anniversary celebration is a great opportunity to learn about our other texts that hold just as much ground shaking power as our books you may already be familiar with.
Bookmark our 30 anniversary homepage here, or check back to our tumblr for weekly updates on our featured texts. We hope to see you there!
We are Aunt Lute Books, a non-profit press located in San Francisco. 2012 marks the 25th anniversary of Gloria Anzaldua’s Bordelands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza and we are launching our first ever Kickstarter campaign to help keep this vital queer Chicana text in print and distribution.
Recently, Borderlands/La Frontera, along with a great number of other works, has been challenged and restricted as a text in Arizona public schools. We know the people who are actively working to ban Ethnic and Raza studies are also working to ban this text is because Borderlands is a site of inspiration, friction, sparks, change for young queer people of color…
Since its first publication, Borderlands/La Frontera has educated and inspired countless artists, students, and academics. Named by Ms. Magazine as one of the top 100 greatest feminist books and having received countless other instances of praise, the trajectory and impact of this book cannot be measured in its entirety. Your contribution to our publishing of the fourth edition of Borderlands means the potential to spark powerful projects, movements, and personal transformations far beyond its physical printing.
As a small, non-profit multicultural women’s press staffed with part-time employees, we understand on multiple levels what tough economic times mean. We know that many folks are not able to donate, and we don’t want to put economic strain on the very communities we come from and seek to support. Historically, Kickstarters have been funded with very small donations. Every small bit helps, and every amount is appreciated. Signal boosts on tumblr, facebook, twitter, and listservs are all greatly appreciated; and here you can find a page of internet and print promotional images.
Please help us get the word out so we can raise our goal of $10,000 by July 28th. Remember, Kickstarter is all-or-nothing, so every small bit counts! Follow us on tumblr or facebook for updates on our campaign and news relating to our mission and titles. And check out our Kickstarter page to hear more of our story. Thanks!
