Futurepoem

Abstract

Futurepoem Dan Machlin (bio) Futurepoem is not small because we can't. Futurepoem is small because we can. We embrace small. We draw strength from it. Our smallness empowers us to bring great care to the books that we publish and to the process that we use to select those books. Our smallness allows us to remain at a level of detail and consideration, which, were we significantly larger, would simply be impossible to maintain. Being small also makes our collaborative approach to editorial decision making a feasible one. It allows our rotating panel of distinguished guest editors to carefully read over the numerous submissions that we receive each year and fully consider which works will most challenge and inspire our readers. Our smallness affords us time to be able to make the publication of each of our books a singular event—with a design that reflects an involved collaboration between author, publisher, and graphic artist. I believe that our smallness is a key reason why our books seem to have resonated with a growing number of readers, writers, teachers, and students of innovative literature. I believe that it is a key reason why our authors continue to trust us with their work and want to be part of the author community that we are continuing to build. Our smallness affords us the ability to present the books that we publish within the context of a thoughtfully curated series. And it allows our audience the space and time between individual publications to anticipate and fully take in the literary works that we bring to the table. We have always thought of the name of our press (Futurepoem) as a question and our mission as one of investigation. By remaining relatively small and presenting just a few carefully chosen works each year, I think we hope to frame each book publication as a new potential future literary landscape for our readers. A future that they can choose to embrace, question, or respond to within their own work. Dan Machlin Dan Machlin is the founder and senior editor of Futurepoem. He is the author of the poetry collection Dear Body (2007), which received a "Face Out" grant for emerging writers from CLMP/Jerome Foundation. Previous collections include 6x7, This Side Facing You, and In Rem. He has also taught creative writing at Naropa University and St. Mark's Poetry Project and is a former reading series curator of The Segue Series at The Bowery Poetry Club. Copyright © 2010 American Book Review