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SEATTLE'S IMPASSIO PRESS LAUNCHES WITH THREE TITLES
Impassio Press Dedicated to the Publication of Diaries, Journals, Notebooks and Other Fragmentary Writing
Writer and editor Olivia Dresher today announced the formation of Impassio Press, the first independent publisher dedicated to establishing fragmentary writing as a distinct literary genre, especially diaries, journals, notebooks and letters, as well as fiction and poetic prose written in fragment form. Dresher, who founded and currently serves as the curator of the Diaries, Journals and Notebooks Collection for the library at the Richard Hugo House literary center in Seattle, has been reading, writing, collecting and publishing fragmentary writing for more than 30 years."While many writers utilize journals and notebooks as sources for other work, for some authors the journal or diary itself is the main work and exists as a valid literary art form of its own," said Dresher. "Impassio Press is not interested in journals or diaries which simply serve as tools for personal enrichment or self-help. Instead, we will discover and publish writers whose inner lives are already so rich that they spill out into their notebooks. Impassio seeks writing which is provocative and revealing, offering insights into the self and the world."
Prior to founding Impassio Press, Dresher worked as a freelance editor as well as an editor at the University of Washington. She is the co-editor of Darkness and Light: Private Writing as Art (iUniverse: 2000), an anthology of contemporary journals, diaries and notebooks. It was Dresher's experience of working on the anthology that prompted her to found Impassio Press.
"When I was looking for a publisher for Darkness and Light, I was very disheartened by how closed the established presses were to non-traditional literary forms. While independent publishers now account for 30 percent of all trade books sold, I've seen too many quality small presses fold over the years as the mainstream houses squeeze out their smaller colleagues. My goal is to bring something new to small press publishing, while also helping to keep alive the spirit of freedom and diversity that small press publishing offers."