Schaffner Press

Coming soon to a book spine near you: our new logo, designed by Victoria Brenman. It has a living quality to it like a starfish or anemone. It's also comprised of the letter S.

TODAY at 6 PM CT on Zoom: Boman Desai (Schaffner Award-winning author of the novel "Brahms Comes to Dinner") reads for Sunday Salon Chicago with Kimberly Priest, Marc Meierkort, Amanda ReCupido, and Ben Niespodziany (@neonpajamas.bsky.social). Sign up: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

TOMORROW at 6 PM CT on Zoom: Boman Desai (Schaffner Award-winning author of the novel "Brahms Comes to Dinner") reads for Sunday Salon Chicago with Kimberly Priest, Marc Meierkort, Amanda ReCupido, and Ben Niespodziany (@neonpajamas.bsky.social). Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Brahms Comes to Dinner ( @schaffnerpress.bsky.social) author Boman Desai reads online this weekend: sundaysalon-chicago.com

Diana Catchpole, contemporary UK printmaker #Womensart

“Every act of art is an act of resistance” -Tom Morello

Literary fiction I’m working on publicity for now that will be published in upcoming months, in November and January by @schaffnerpress.bsky.social and @coffeehousepress.bsky.social respectively, that should absolutely be on your cultural radar.

“Q: What is your idea of perfect happiness? A: Reading.” David Bowie answers the Proust Questionnaire www.themarginalian.org/2014/07/10/d...

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Paying Fee-Free Mainstream Fiction feat. @schaffnerpress.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

Kendal Ross, contemporary fiber artist from the US (via Instagram) #Womensart

Jasmin Attia, author of "The Oud Player of Cairo," will be reading at the Barnes & Noble at University of Rochester on October 2nd.

Our September roundup features @contramundumpress.bsky.social, @poetose.bsky.social, @graywolfpress.bsky.social, @sfwp.bsky.social, @upittpress.bsky.social, @twolinespress.com, @schaffnerpress.bsky.social, @regalhouse.bsky.social, @antiphonyjournal.bsky.social, and more: www.clmp.org/news/books-l...

More news in our end-of-summer newsletter: mailchi.mp/4c402d26e948... Here's to a terrific season of cool temps, falling leaves, and plenty of apple and pumkin pie for dessert!

We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of rights for Elie Piha's debut novel MULE from Ian Bonaparte of the Janklow/Nesbit Literary Agency. A thriller about an ex-serviceman who joins his best friend’s marijuana business, MULE is slated for 2027 and is already generating high praise (sorry).

Surprise! The summer's almost over! This little guy was certainly taken aback at the news the other day when discovered foraging on our windowsill. And with the end of summer comes the start of our favorite season, as we ramp up for some fantastic new titles to share with you.

Sundress Publications is open for submissions for our 2026 Poetry Broadside Contest until November 30! Learn more here: https://www.sundresspublications.com/news/2026/09/sundress-publications-open-for-2026-poetry-broadside-contest/

Submissions for our annual issue close tomorrow! Our first-ever novella window closes tomorrow! Submissions for our weird flash fiction special issue edited by @andrewkozma.net close Oct 31! Guidelines here: reckoning.press/submit/ reckoning.press/submit/novel... reckoning.press/reckoning-fl...

Featuring @dorothyproject.bsky.social, @schaffnerpress.bsky.social, @deepvellum.bsky.social, @regalhouse.bsky.social, @arrowsmithpress.bsky.social, @tupelopress.bsky.social, @unsolicitedpress.bsky.social, and more indie presses: www.clmp.org/news/a-readi...

The Smart Search List of the Day is: General Literary Novels feat. @biblioasis.bsky.social @schaffnerpress.bsky.social @evewhiteagency.bsky.social @kategarrick.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

In Hostages: A Counter-History of Colonial Plunder, Paris-based Finnish journalist Taina Tervonen returns to Senegal, where she was raised, to tell a story about people and cultural artifacts that were forcibly taken and trace their silent histories to the present day. @schaffnerpress.bsky.social

And for the latest @thecontinent.org, on Taina Tervonen's immensely absorbing and heartbreaking Hostages: A Counter-Narrative of Colonial Plunder, out in English translation by Sara Hanaburgh from @schaffnerpress.bsky.social. Download the issue here: www.thecontinent.org/_files/ugd/2...

Possible women in translation month options for me for August. A month where you can join in and read one, a few or lots of books by women in translation. Join in or get some reading ideas via #witmonth

The Bullet Inside Me (November, @schaffnerpress.bsky.social). Absolutely searing fiction out of Buenos Aires, set during the World Cup of 1978, and translated by Andrea G. Labinger.

Monifa Love is the winner of the 2026 Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature! As a result, we will publish her poetry collection "After the Rain" in 2027.

Clara Schumann’s Diaries: I was a little surprised with some of this information! Author Boman Desai in this clip from the podcast. Boman's wonderful novel "Brahms Comes to Dinner" is published by @schaffnerpress.bsky.social

Southern Humanities Review (Fiction Poetry Nonfiction; pays) opened to fee-based submissions https://duotrope.com... #amwriting

"Brahms Comes to Dinner" a wonderful novel about Clara Schumann and Brahms. Hear how this work came out of Boman Desai’s larger novel “Trio” and he shared stories about several of his other acclaimed novels: www.leahroseman.com/episodes/bom... @schaffnerpress.bsky.social @laurencerand.com

Calling all translators! You have until this Sunday, August 2 to submit to our Calico Series call for translations of poetry and flash fiction about S-E-X! See the full submission guidelines here: www.twolinespress.com/submissions#...

Leonora Carrington in her Greenwich Village apartment, New York.

Excited to see our very own "Translating Disability" collection on here! Check it out to find works touching on disability, translated from French, Korean, and Russian (plus original writing in English). wordswithoutborders.org/read/collect...

newly posted: Gregory Crosby @monostich.bsky.social : Stephen Dobyns 1941-2026 / @uchicagopress.bsky.social @ampoetryreview.bsky.social ; periodicityjournal.blogspot.com/2026/07/greg...

NOW OPEN!!✨✨ It's the most wonderful time of year! The Sarabande Open has begun. Send your manuscripts directly to our editors this July! We’re reading poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid work, and proposals for literature in translation. Link in bio to learn more!

Here is a nice thing I found down a research rabbithole: sheet music transcriptions of animal sounds. The musician wren is particularly good, as you might expect boingboing.net/2021/01/06/c...

What AI Earbuds Can’t Replace: The Value of Learning Another Language www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ar... #languagelearning #langsky

“Diana deserves a book to herself, maybe a dozen books, but let me dedicate at least a couple of paragraphs to this lovely woman.” Boman Desai, @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social: chireviewofbooks.com/2026/06/23/i... (cc: @damianbarr.bsky.social, the first person to press one of her books into my hands)

SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going— SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti— SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE

We celebrate this summer solstice with an image taken just after a deluge heralded an early start of the monsoon season this year! While no pots of gold have turned up, we are viewing the rainbow as a sign of hope and good fortune for all in the coming months.

📣 @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social is accepting submissions of poetry-in-translation. Translators are invited to submit a 15–20 page manuscript sample along with a query letter and a short bio. The open reading will be capped at 850 submissions.

Isele Quarterly (Fiction Poetry Nonfiction Art; pays) opened to submissions https://duotrope.com... #amwriting

"I thought it over, I was 28, it was only going to get harder to give up the good life, but give it up I did." Read Boman Desai on his book "Brahms Comes to Dinner" ( @schaffnerpress.bsky.social)

If you're in NYC from now til December, there's an exhibit on Basquiat's early works on display thebishopgallery.com/our-friend-j...

May Sarton 💙

final! day!

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Novels feat. @biblioasis.bsky.social @schaffnerpress.bsky.social @veloxbooks.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

Happy publication day to "Brahms Comes to Dinner" by Boman Desai! This novel won the Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature and we're pleased to introduce it to the world. Tonight at 7 PM CT, Boman launches the book at Secret World Books (owned by author @gaylebrandeis.bsky.social).

Happy Publication Day to Boman Desai & Brahms Comes to Dinner, out now @schaffnerpress.bsky.social! "By dramatizing the high-voltage, yet tender, minds of three legendary musicians, Boman Desai has written a When We Cease to Understand the World for 19th-Century classical music." —The Brooklyn Rail

Louise Gluck