ABOUT SAND PAPER PRESS

Sand Paper Press is an independent publishing venture based in Key West, Florida, in limited operation since 2003. In 2010 the Press has entered a new intensive phase with the release of its first series of perfect-bound books. While the focus thus far has been on poetry, the current series includes the Press's first book of short fiction; future plans include publication of criticism, novels, and anthologies in addition to a continuing and abiding interest in poetry.

Key West has long been a thriving hub of literary endeavor. A surprisingly eccentric cross-section of writers has called the city home or visited regularly and for extended periods of time. Authors as diverse as Elizabeth Bishop, Judy Blume, Annie Dillard, Harry Mathews, Charles Olson, Shel Silverstein, and Robert Stone are associated with Key West and the vibrant community of ideas it has surreptitiously engendered; but their presence is or was due in equal part to the opportunities for extra-literary activity in the city's unique subtropical environment. It is this combination of literature and embodied, even hedonistic, pleasure in a disarmingly beautiful setting that sets Key West apart from other literary haunts.

Though the writers it publishes hail from distinct corners of the country, Sand Paper Press seeks to harness the energy of Key West, distinguished as it is by its distance and difference from the larger literary centers that dominate the landscape. Like many new small presses, it does its best to capitalize on emergent technologies and viral outreach to spread the word; however, Sand Paper Press's geographical site is treated as a crucial local asset, a specific point of reference in the physical world, and a philosophical foundation.

Given the illustrious roll call of poets who have passed through Key West, it is only fitting that Sand Paper Press has gravitated toward poetry in its early stages. 2010 sees the publication of Arlo Haskell's Joker and Stuart Krimko's The Sweetness Of Herbert. (The Press published chapbooks, with hand-sewn bindings and letterpress covers, by both authors in 2003 and 2006, respectively.) With blurbs by John Ashbery and Harry Mathews, the new books are ambitious first full-length collections. Representative of Sand Paper Press' plans to expand its reach, the third new title for 2010 is Portland-based writer Shawn Vandor's Fire At The End Of The Rainbow, a collection of stories.

All three new books were designed as parts of a complementary set by Los Angeles-based designer David Janik, and demonstrate Sand Paper Press's commitment to producing rigorous and aesthetically pleasing volumes.

For review copies, please write to sandpapereditor@gmail.com

Sand Paper Press • 716 Love Lane • Key West, Florida • 33040