Welcome

Since 1976, West End Press has published progressive, community-based poetry, drama, fiction, and memoir, with a concentration on women and multicultural writers. Our books are oriented toward social change, though we don’t subscribe to a single political agenda. We see no contradiction between literature and politics; we believe all art has a social dimension.

Insides She Swallowed by Sasha Pimentel Chacon
Patricia Clark Smith
and John Crawford, 1997
 
Patricia Clark Smith, the publisher’s wife, died in 2010.
She was a major inspiration
in the work of the Press for
twenty years, a gifted teacher
at the University of New Mexico, and a mixed blood Micmac Indian poet and memoirist.

We publish relevant writing for the new century, reflecting the growth of an international, cosmopolitan culture. We seek to capture the rhythm and substance of people’s art, music, and spoken performance. We seek a broader audience through digital technology and by working with grassroots organizations for social change.

We believe literature contains powerful symbols capable of transforming reality. We believe people must develop their societies in freedom, with respect for all their members and the natural world around them. In particular we oppose racism and class oppression and support open borders.

We are grateful for all our associations. We remember our authors and elders: Meridel Le Sueur, Thomas McGrath, and Paula Gunn Allen. Our friends include Carolyn Forche, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Michael Henson, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Glenna Luschei, Fred Whitehead, Cherrie Moraga, Margaret Randall, Tony Mares, Janet Zandy, Mandy Gardner, and Lisa Gill.