The editors at Vol. 1 would like to draw your attention to a new non-profit publisher, Madras Press.  A literary and philanthropic project, this new printing press publishes individually bound stories and novella-length booklets featuring writers such as Aimee Bender, Trinie Dalton, Joy Williams, and Rebecca Lee.  All of their proceeds are donated to a list of charitable organizations chosen by their authors.

Directly from their website, “The format of our books provides readers with the opportunity to experience a story on its own, with no advertisements or unrelated articles surrounding it; it also provides a home for stories that are often arbitrarily ignored by commercial publishing outfits, whether because they’re too long for magazines but not trade-book length, or because they don’t resemble certain other stories.  These are clumsy, ill-fitting stories made perfect when read in the simplest possible way.”

At Vol. 1, we also believe in the perfectly simple power of a story, as well as the great possibilities for a thriving, locally-minded  independent printing press (even in today’s “big-business Internet age”).  As we rev ourselves up for our our own upcoming print venture, Julius Singer Press, we’re proud to hear from and highlight similar small-press undertakings.

Madras Press will host a reading event on December 11th to celebrate the launch of their first series of titles with Trinie Dalton, founding editor Sumanth Prabhaker, and Dorothea Lasky at the Outpost Lounge in Brooklyn.  The party is planned by Ben Fama of Brooklyn’s own Akashic Books as part of the SUPERMACHINE reading series.

Hope to see you there!