Dear Calypso friends,
It’s been a minute! I’m Jenny Minniti- Shippey, author of After the Tour, and one of the new members of Calypso’s editorial board. True to Calypso’s cooperative, collaborative model, the press has brought four members on board since our last post: Breeann Kyte Kirby, Adrian Belmes, and Tamaria del Rio, in addition to yours truly. You can check out our bios over here. While we’re dispersed around the country, we’re very glad to be sharing virtual space with the Calypso community. This is just a brief note to say hello to you again, to share a couple of pieces of good literary news, and to let you know that our online store is here to help you meet your reading needs during this time.
First, a big congratulations to friend of the press, Jericho Brown, for winning the PULITZER PRIZE IN POETRY for his incredible collection, The Tradition. Read this stunning book, if you haven’t.
Second, a bit of a throwback-thanks, but I wanted to recognize the San Diego literary community for their outstanding support of the Writers for Migrant Justice reading in September of last year (aka 100 years ago), which benefited Immigrant Families Together. The fair city raised over $3000 that night, joining a national effort that raised more than $100,000 to support our most vulnerable families. In this moment, I’m buoyed by remembering what we can do as communities to care for each other.
Kazim Ali at Writers for Migrant Justice event, Sept. 4th, San Diego. Hosted by Verbatim Books.
Calypso’s most recent release, The Child Who, is on shelves now–this stunning novel by Jeanne Benameur is 
garnering rave reviews from around the world. Translated from the French by Bill Johnston, this intimate, luminously imagined group portrait introduces a stunning new voice to English-language readers. Buy your copy today!
And upcoming later this spring, Calypso is glad to partner with Poetry International, Detainee Allies, and Poetry@Tech to offer a chapbook of poems from the Dignity Not Detention Prize. Writers from around the world submitted poems in support of folks detained in the Otay Mesa Detention Center; people detained at the center also submitted poems. All proceeds were directed to the “canteens” of Otay Mesa; all submissions were read by Ilya Kaminsky. You can see the winning poems, from inside and outside, and read the judge’s citations, over at Poetry International. We plan to publish the selected poems (winners and finalists) in English, Spanish, and the language of origin, if possible. All proceeds from this chapbook will be donated to the Detainee Allies, to support their important work. Stay tuned for more!
Thanks for being part of our Calypso family–wishing us all a healthy spring and a restorative summer. –Jenny