Throughout the centuries, poetry has remained a unique outlet for human emotion. It has survived war, famine and political unrest, and now, thanks to Sundress Publications, it will also survive the digital era.
In 1999, Erin Smith, a lecturer in poetry, brought poetry to the Internet by starting her own literary journal, “Stirring.” After purchasing web space, she decided to host other online journals, allowing the publications to promote each other and avoid printing costs. However, not long after the inception of “Stirring,” Smith noticed a distinct lack of recognition for poetry published online.
“None of the best of those ‘Best of the Year’ anthologies, like ‘Best American Poetry,’ had anything on online publishing,” Smith said, “I decided I wanted to do something about it.”
Smith then started the “Best of the Net,” an anthology celebrating the best work published in online journals. The anthology, which is published online, is now celebrating its eighth year.
“We’ve had some amazing people come through,” Smith said. “We’re really excited about it.”
Both “Stirring” and “Best of the Net” fall under the larger group, called Sundress Publications. While the group does publish print books, it primarily focuses on online publishing. Under its umbrella is a group of journals, the “Sundress Academy for the Arts” and two imprints.
T.A. Noonan, a new lecturer at UT this year, joined the Sundress Publications staff in September 2011 and runs one of the imprints.
“I had previously been, and still am, an author with them,” Noonan said. “After my book came out, I was talking to Erin a lot about formatting books and things like that. Eventually she said, ‘Why aren’t you working for me?'”
Several people have joined the editorial staff since Noonan was invited on board, including Andrew Koch, an alumnus of UT. Koch first heard of the publication group while a student in Smith’s poetry class. Since graduating, he has worked as an editor and will become the head editor of “Stirring” in October. Koch points out that Sundress Publications is about more than publishing poetry though.
“One of the cool things about the publications that they have under their umbrella is that it’s women oriented,” Koch said. “They have always made a specific effort to be more inclusive to the female voice.”
The group also works to help other minority groups express themselves through the arts. Last year, the Sundress Academy for the Arts, a branch of Sundress Publications, hosted a workshop titled “Outspoken” where those identified with the LGBTQ community were invited to work together on projects they were already working on, whether it be a play, poem or a sketch.
Since no employee is paid, all the proceeds from their published works go back into making more books.
“Every day that I get to read new work by our authors is an opportunity to be inspired,” Noonan said. “It’s a labor of love. We do it because we love it.”
Smith encourages those who find publishing out of reach or nerve-wracking to take the step to share their work.
“Don’t hide your stories and poems under your bed,” she said. “Bring them into the world. We write to be heard.”
