Dear Friend,

Hanging Loose Press is still going, and hoping to do so for many years to come with your support. And so, we're coming to you with an end of year appeal for donations. Along with the summer release of The Becoming Game, Girlfriend, and Portable City, December brings story collections by Steven Schrader and Loose Translation Award winner, Esther Karin Mngodo, translated by Jay Boss Rubin. And in 2026 we’ll be celebrating our 60th anniversary!

WE REMAIN PRINTED––AND WE’RE PROUD OF THAT

As we approach this 60th birthday, we’re mindful of our history, which is also the history of the small press movement that began in the mid-‘60s. We’ve moved from the mimeograph to the printing press; from loose pages in an envelope to a perfect-bound journal with full-color covers and artist’s portfolio featured in each issue, along with poetry and prose from

New York writers to national and international contributors. Plus each issue has a dedicated section for high-school-age writers, taking their own place in the literary world.

OUR 60^th ANNIVERSARY IN 2026

Our special 60th anniversary anthology featuring poems by the more than 100 authors of HLP books will come out next year. And we’re planning celebrations, readings, and panels to which you’re all invited!

OUR MISSION REMAINS STEADFAST

Three of our 1966 founders—Ron Schreiber, Emmett Jarrett, and Bob Hershon—have passed away; their memory keeps inspiring us to move ahead.

Our mission remains steadfast: to seek out and support exciting new writers and artists, as well as the acclaimed and established. One of our achievements in recent years has been the establishment of the Founders Award, our commitment to publish a first poetry collection. We are grateful to the Russell Freedman Foundation, among other donors, for support of this prize. The next award winner is Starr Davis for her book, Affidavit.

WE COULDN’T DO IT WITHOUT YOU

Finally, a new (and ironic) development in the world of funding for the arts. The Literary Arts Fund, a coalition of seven charitable foundations has just announced a total of $50 million, to be donated in “an unprecedented effort to dramatically boost the essential yet critically underfunded nonprofit literary arts field in the United States.” Good news, except for the ironic twist: to qualify for a grant, your “critically underfunded” operation must have an annual revenue of at least $50,000. That handily leaves out Hanging Loose Press, and so many others of our small press colleagues. Oh, well.

So here we are again, coming to you, our community, in the hope that we can continue to count on your interest and generosity. Thanks to our friends at the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, all donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Just make out your check to CLMP and note on the memo line: Hanging Loose Press. Then mail to HLP at our PO Box using the return envelope and enclosed reply form.

And, as always, we thank you.

The Editors

HLP 60: We remain printed—and we’re proud of that

We couldn't do it without you!