About Tarpaulin Sky: The Press, Literary Journal, Editors, and Staff

Founded in 2002 as an online literary journal, Tarpaulin Sky took the form of 12.5 internet issues (see the archive) before its first paper edition in November 2007, and the magazine continues to publish new work both online and in print. In addition to these issues, Tarpaulin Sky publishes work by individual authors in its "chronic content" section, as well as online-only book reviews (more details below).

Tarpaulin Sky focuses on cross-genre / trans-genre / hybrid forms as well as innovative poetry and prose. The journal is not allied with any one style or school or network of writers; rather, we try to avoid some of the defects associated with dipping too often into the same literary gene pool, and the diversity of our contributors is evidence of our eclectic interests—eg., Juliana Spahr, Brian Evenson, Chris Abani, John Yau, Matthea Harvey, Dodie Bellamy, Brian Henry, Brenda Iijima, Douglas A. Martin, Laird Hunt, Eleni Sikelianos, Bin Ramke, Ethan Paquin, Michelle Naka Pierce, Renee Gladman, et al. Several of our contributors were first published in our magazine; many had published only a few times before; and other Tarpaulin Sky contributors have published numerous books and received numerous awards (the Glatstein Award, Fence Books Alberta Prize, Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship, Slope Editions Book Prize, Sawtooth Poetry Prize, National Poetry Series, Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Whiting Award, Iowa Poetry Prize) along with grants and fellowships from the likes of NYFA, the MacDowell Colony, the Camargo Foundation, the Karolyi Foundation, and the NEA.

Tarpaulin Sky also publishes online reviews of small press books, and we pay reviewers in the form of free trade paperbacks from Tarpaulin Sky Press (please see our guidelines page for details). We are particularly interested in books published by our journal's contributors, or books published by the presses that publish our contributors, or books published by the presses run by our contributors, etc--as we hope to multiply and widen the concentric circles rippling around the work of some of our favorite writers.

Tarpaulin Sky Press was founded in 2006 with the intent of bringing out new books by contributors to Tarpaulin Sky Literary Journal. Now, via open reading periods, we are also publishing books by writers who are new to us. Like the journal, the press focuses on cross-genre / trans-genre / hybrid forms as well as innovative poetry and prose.

We are an author-centered press endeavoring to create books that, as objects, please our authors as much their texts please us. We produce both trade paperbacks and handbound books. Most of our handbound books are chapbooks, but some are full-length, and some are even hardcovers. When time and resources allow, we create perfectbound and handbound editions of full-length books.

Tarpaulin Sky Press trade paperback titles include the genre-bending book of prose poetry/lyric essays by Jenny Boully, [one love affair]*; the debut poetry collection of Croatia-born Ana Božičević, Stars of the Night Commute; of the first full-length collection of fiction by Danielle Dutton, Attempts at a Life; a collaborative book of poetry by Noah Eli Gordon and Joshua Marie Wilkinson, with images by Noah Saterstrom, Figures for a Darkroom Voice; perhaps the most disturbing collection of poetry ever written, Gordon Massman's The Essential Numbers 1991 - 2008; the first full-length work of fiction by poet Joyelle McSweeney, Nylund, the Sarcographer; the first full-length collection of poems by Max Winter, The Pictures; and the gorgeous sadness that is the debut novella/photo essay from Andrew Zornoza, Where I Stay. Our chapbooks include prose-poetry and verse by Sandy Florian, Paul McCormick, Andrew Michael Roberts, Brandon Shimoda, Chad Sweeney, and G.C. Waldrep.

A list of forthcoming authors and titles may be found on our authors page.

Yes. Many. Please see our Tarpaulin Sky Readings & Events page for updates.

We offer an extensive list of links to other presses and literary journals online and print. Some are publishing very different work than we publish, and may be good venues for writers whose work is not suited to Tarpaulin Sky.

Please see our guidelines page for details regarding submissions of poetry, prose, hybrid forms, etc, as well as submissions of reviews and review copies.

We welcome your questions and comments.

Email (In order to avoid the spam filters, please be sure to include "Attn: Editors" in the subject line).