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Are you curious about the role of small presses in our contemporary literary landscape? Do you have questions about how they operate, who they’re for, and what they have to offer that the Big 5 don’t? (Hint: ongoing editorial relationships, collaborative marketing and design, and an affinity for the innovative and unusual.) Two editors and publishers from Rescue Press—Caryl Pagel and Daniel Khalastchi—will talk small press definitions, aesthetics, communities, and priorities alongside one of Rescue Press’ authors, novelist Madeline McDonnell. We’ll save plenty of time for audience questions and additionally provide a list of exciting publishers to check out and consider working with.

Daniel Khalastchi is the author of four books of poetry, including The Story of Your Obstinate Survival (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024). A graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, he lives in Iowa City, where he directs the University of Iowa’s Magid Center for Writing. He is the cofounder and managing editor of Rescue Press.

Madeline McDonnell is the author of three books of fiction, including the forthcoming novel Lonesome Ballroom (Rescue Press, 2024). She has an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow, and has taught most recently at the MFA program at Portland State University. She lives in Oregon with her family. 

Caryl Pagel’s most recent books are Free Clean Fill Dirt (poetry, University of Akron Press and Out of Nowhere into Nothing (essays, FC2). Pagel is a publisher and editor at Rescue Press and the director of the Cleveland State University Poetry Center.