Support independent literary publishers by picking a read from the list below, which features new books published in August 2024 from CLMP members.
Confession of a Heliophiliac by Rochelle Germond
Choeofpleirn Press | August 1, 2024
The poems in this collection are “part ode to sunlight, part elegy for home” and grapple “with loss, womanhood, religion, and longing—for people, the past, places where we belong.”
Choeofpleirn Press | August 1, 2024
The poems in Shrum’s debut chapbook “wrestle with childhood and home, spotlighting firsts and lasts and struggles and joys and all the in-betweens, in ways that feel like a perfect road trip partner for a drive through your life, be it literal or metaphor.”
The Bee Telephone by Jane Wiseman
Choeofpleirn Press | August 1, 2024
According to Amy Beeder, this debut—winner of the 2024 Jonathan Holden Poetry Chapbook Contest—”brims with wit and lyrical invention” and “poems musical and skillfully layered.”
Poetose | August 1, 2024
This poetry chapbook is “the account of a bygone age in which an array of long-forgotten zealots and seekers propound contending visions of the firmament characterized in terms of gemstones peculiar to their schools.”
Washing a Myna by Hwang InChan
Translated from the Korean by Eun-Gwi Chung
Black Square Editions | August 1, 2024
This poetry collection “unveils the myriad questions caused by the relationships of things and people, and curiosities about existential exercises generated by points where prosaic language does not reach.”
Chaos in Kinshasa by Baruti Kandolo Lilela and Thierry Bellefroid
Translated from the French by Ivanka Hahnenberger
Catalyst Press | August 1, 2024
In this graphic novel, “a Harlem gangster’s trip to Central Africa to attend the legendary 1974 Ali-Foreman ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ boxing match becomes a one-way ticket to the seedy underground of Zaire.”
Fernwood Press | August 6, 2024
Bornman “draws upon Biblical imagery—water and fire, bleeding and cleansing, birth and crucifixion—to audaciously poeticize her own experience as a mother.”
Shutter of Snow by Emily Holmes Coleman
Dalkey Archive Press | August 6, 2024
First published in 1930, this novel “portrays the post-partum psychosis of Marthe Gail, who after giving birth to her son, is committed to an insane asylum.”
The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due
Akashic Books | August 6, 2024
In some of these stories—which include elements of horror, science fiction, and suspense—”the monster is racism itself; others address the monster within, each set against the supernatural or surreal.”
I Don’t Want To Be Understood by Joshua Jennifer Espinoza
Alice James Books | August 6, 2024
This poetry collection “is a work of resistance against the conventional trans narrative, and a resistance against the idea that trans people should have to make themselves clear and understandable to others in other to deserve human rights.”
The History of the Baker’s Dozen by Gary Fincke
Pelekinesis | August 6, 2024
The characters in these short stories “deal with anger, frustration, sexual desire, cultural shifts, work issues, and an assortment of other common issues deepened and made singular.”
Hotel Room Trilogy: Three One-Act Plays by Barry Gifford
Seven Stories Press | August 6, 2024
This trio of one-act plays depicts “the spooky, strange, and tragic passage of guests through the same New York City hotel room (number 603).”
Kurdistan +100: Stories from a Future State
Deep Vellum | August 6, 2024
This anthology “poses a question to twelve contemporary Kurdish writers: might the Kurds have a country to call their own by the year 2046—exactly a century after the last glimmer of independence (the short-lived Kurdish Republic of Mahabad)?”
Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta by Bill “Blade” Howell, with Hélène Lee
Akashic Books | August 6, 2024
Pinnacle: The Lost Paradise of Rasta “provides a crucial and highly informed new perspective on the Rastafari subculture that Bob Marley would later help to spread across the globe.”
The Age of Loneliness by Laura Marris
Graywolf Press | August 6, 2024
In this debut essay collection, Marris “reframes environmental degradation by setting aside the conventional, catastrophic framework of the Anthropocene in favor of that of the Eremocene, the age of loneliness.”
The Curve of Equal Time by Thomas McGuire
Red Hen Press | August 6, 2024
In this novel, “Nora Tyler returns to Alaska after many years away and finds work on a salmon fishing boat, but the long, hard season brings both deep friendships and unexpected violence.”
Wanjikũ, Child of Mine by Ciiku Ndung’u-Case
Catalyst Press | August 6, 2024
In this picture book illustrated by Karen Vermeulen and set in the lush Kenyan countryside, “a young Gikũyũ girl helps her grandmother with daily tasks.”
Life After Kafka by Magdaléna Platzová
Translated from the Czech by Alex Zucker
Bellevue Literary Press | August 6, 2024
This novel follows Franz Kafka’s one-time fiancée, Felice, and “illuminates the bravery required to move forward through the shattered remains of one world to rebuild life in a new one.”
Jellyfish Have No Ears by Adèle Rosenfeld
Translated from the French by Jeffrey Zuckerman
Graywolf Press | August 6, 2024
In this novel, Rosenfeld “shines an extraordinary light on the black hole of losing a sense and on the vibrancy that can arise to fill the void.”
Fernwood Press | August 6, 2024
According to Allison Pitinii Davis, in Santer’s thirteenth poetry collection “social justice and surrealism bat their eyelashes at each other across the Anthropocene.”
We the Gathered Heat: Asian American and Pacific Islander Poetry, Performance, and Spoken Word
Haymarket Books | August 6, 2024
This anthology features “some of the brightest voices in contemporary American poetry who challenge, expand, and illuminate the meaning of the label ‘Asian American and Pacific Islander’ in today’s world.”
After Dinner Conversation: Business Ethics
After Dinner Conversation | August 7, 2024
This anthology includes short stories about the philosophy and ethics of business.
First Matter Press | August 10, 2024
According to Bruce Beasley, in this genre-bending memoir Hall narrates “a West Virginia childhood of divorce and anti-capitalism and poverty where a fallen satellite dish becomes the family swimming pool and a child makes a generator from lawn mower parts to provide power.”
Suspended In My Insecticide Jar by Clara McAuley
First Matter Press | August 10, 2024
According to Zachary Kluckman, “the determination to be the author of her own literal and figurative narrative is an impelling force” behind this “visceral and nuanced collection of poems.”
Gastromythology by Jessica Manack
Sheila-Na-Gig Editions | August 12, 2024
This poetry chapbook is “a meditation on how the ways we nourish—or fail to nourish—one another can form an origin story.”
Another Woman by Hannah Bonner
EastOver Press | August 13, 2024
This poetry collection “explores female sexuality, anguish, and abjection within the decline of a romantic relationship as well as through biblical, mythical, or pop cultural figures such as Delilah, Aphrodite, or Karen Carpenter.”
The Avian Hourglass by Lindsey Drager
Dzanc Books | August 13, 2024
Drager’s novel is “at once an ode to birds, an elegy to space, and a journey into the most haunted and uncanny corners of the human mind.”
Delinquents and Other Escape Attempts by Nick Rees Gardner
Madrona Books | August 13, 2024
The characters in these Ohio-based linked stories “battle addictions, build scrap-metal rocket ships, and tether themselves to plans that will either get them out of dodge or blow up in their faces.”
Quince, Rose, Grace of God by Trina Gaynon
Fernwood Press | August 13, 2024
In these poems, Gaynon “claims the roles of first-time home buyer, resident in the troubled town of Richmond, second language tutor, writer, and church member before she comes to love them.”
Red Hen Press | August 13, 2024
In this novel, Hong is “recasting the myths of Eurydice, Orpheus, Persephone, and Hades through the lens of a Korean American family.”
Spinoza: The Outcast Thinker by Devra Lehmann
Seven Stories Press | August 13, 2024
This biography for young adults is “an entertaining and accessible introduction to the radical philosopher of freedom of thought and religion.”
Mia Zapata & The Gits: A Story of Art, Rock, and Revolution by Steve Moriarty
Feral House | August 13, 2024
In this memoir, “Zapata’s friend and bandmate, Steve Moriarty, tells her story—and the story of their band, The Gits—from their first meeting in 1985 to their last goodbye.”
The Owl Prowl Mystery by Diana Renn
Regal House Publishing | August 13, 2024
In this children’s book, Milo and the other Backyard Rangers must “band together and solve the mystery before more owls get hurt.”
ALL OF THEM ALL OF THEM by Akira Ritos
fifth wheel press | August 13, 2024
The poems in this collection “explore family, generational trauma, traditions, and grief in their life as a queer Filipino-American.”
Self Portrait of Icarus as a Country on Fire by Jason Schneiderman
Red Hen Press | August 13, 2024
Schneiderman “confronts the rise of extremism and antisemitism in the United States while grappling with the end of his marriage and finding his feet as a newly single gay man.”
Diary of a Hunger Striker and Four and a Half Steps by Oleh Sentsov
Translated from the Ukrainian by Dmytro Kyyan and Kate Tsurkan
Deep Vellum | August 13, 2024
This two-book volume includes Sentsov’s account of his 145-day-long hunger strike in a Russian prison, and his collection of short stories.
Country of Under by Brooke Shaffner
Split/Lip Press | August 13, 2024
According to Helen Benedict, “Country of Under is a novel about the pain and wonder of being between identities. Between male and female. Citizen and immigrant. Fulfilled and empty.”
Captain Chicano Draws a Line in the American Sand by Stephen D. Gutierrez
University of Tampa Press | August 15, 2024
In this novella, “Captain Chicano is out to save the country! White supremacy is on the rise and he is the only one capable of beating it with a secret weapon. Love. But will it work?”
Correspondence with My Greeks by Scott Cairns
Slant Books | August 20, 2024
Correspondence with My Greeks is “a work at once deeply human and hauntingly transcendent, the full flowering of the poet’s lifelong devotion to the generative power of the word.”
Long Man’s Pillow by Julie Ann Castillo
Regal House Publishing | August 20, 2024
In this novel set in an Appalachian town, “Vicki’s land is the only source of water, and she’s left to decide who gets water and who dies.”
The Trees by Claudia Peña Claros
Translated from the Spanish by Robin Myers
Relegation Books | August 20, 2024
In these short stories, Claros “piercingly renders a world in perpetual tumult, marked both by convulsive disputes over property and power and by nature’s resistance in the face of human injustice.”
Sonnets for a Missing Key by Percival Everett
Red Hen Press | August 20, 2024
These experimental sonnets are “inspired by the Preludes of Chopin and the piano solos of Art Tatum.”
Wife to Mr. Milton by Robert Graves
Seven Stories Press | August 20, 2024
This novel is “a tender story of the romance Marie Powell found outside the walls of her tyrannical husband’s house” as well as “a brilliant account of one of the most breathtaking epochs in English history.”
The Stuff of Hollywood by Niki Herd
Copper Canyon Press | August 20, 2024
In this book-length poem, Herd “relies on various modes—images, prose, lyric and documentary poems—to reflect upon the quotidian nature of gun culture, police killings, and political unrest.”
Circle of Animals by Sadie Hoagland
Red Hen Press | August 20, 2024
This novel “tells the story of a woman, Sky, grappling with a sexual assault in her workplace and the disappearance of her troubled ‘hippie’ mother the same week.”
Anima: A Wild Pastoral by Kapka Kassabova
Graywolf Press | August 20, 2024
In Anima, Kassabova “introduces us to the ‘pastiri’ people—the shepherds struggling to hold on to an ancient way of life in which humans and animals exist in profound interdependence.”
Alice James Books | August 20, 2024
The secret in Larkin’s sixth collection “begs to be seen and known, even when faced with her aging and her own mortality.”
Haymarket Books | August 20, 2024
Economist Rob Larson “combines wit, righteous anger, and clear-eyed analysis as he dissects the lifestyle, moral bankruptcy, and stupidly large sums of money hoarded by the disgustingly wealthy.”
The Fabulist Words & Art | August 20, 2024
Saremi’s “fantastical narrative lays bare the exploitation and compromise at the heart of a society obsessed with sex, power, and filthy lucre.”
Graywolf Press | August 20, 2024
Bluff is “a book of awakening out of violence, guilt, shame, and critical pessimism to wonder and imagine how we can strive toward a new existence in a world that seems to be dissolving into desolate futures.”
After Dinner Conversation: Examining the Past
After Dinner Conversation | August 21, 2024
This anthology features short stories “about the philosophy and ethics as we revisit and examine our past as individuals.”
Refugee Number 33,333 by Farhad Pirbal
Translated from the Kurdish by Pshtiwan Babakr and Shook
Deep Vellum | August 22, 2024
Pirbal’s poetry is “a chronicle of exile and displacement, longing and not belonging.”
Wandering Aengus Press | August 26, 2024
The personal essays in this collection “explore, respectively, the illusions and disillusions of childhood, the search for right livelihood, and the reflections and discoveries of age.”
From Savagery by Alejandra Banca
Translated from the Spanish by Katie Brown
Restless Books | August 27, 2024
Banca’s debut short fiction collection “throws its arms around a displaced generation of young Venezuelan migrants, reveling in the clamor and beauty of their day-by-day survival.”
Beautiful Dreamers by Minrose Gwin
Hub City Press | August 27, 2024
This novel is “a story of a precocious teen and her mother, their gay best friend, and the con man who unravels their family.”
Meronymy by Rachel Jendrzejewski
53rd State Press | August 27, 2024
In Meronymy, Jendrzejewski “builds a space in which to reckon with memory, loss, intrusion, and overflow amidst the cacophonic practice of living in language together.”
How to Disappear and Why by Kyle Minor
Sarabande Books | August 27, 2024
Minor assembles a collection of essays “centered on the concept of disappearance,” considering “a wide scope of cultural, historical, spiritual, and philosophical figures and ideas.”
A Public Space Books | August 27, 2024
This memoir “asks what it means to write with full honesty about one’s life—to explore who we were, and how our choices shape and allow who we become.”
SN_33P’sCoolZine.pdf by Tenacity Plys
fifth wheel press | August 27, 2024
In this graphic novel, “when SN_33P (aka Sneep) learns their creator Carol is going to be executed and turned into a living neural net, their digital punk zine becomes an exegesis of their grieving process.”
Red Hen Press | August 27, 2024
Set in contemporary Iran, Mirage “delves into the complicated relationship between Roya and her identical twin sister, Tala.”
Pancho Villa: A Revolutionary Life by Paco Ignacio Taibo II
Translated from the Spanish by Todd Chretien
Seven Stories Press | August 27, 2024
This biography is “a wild ride and revealing portrait of the controversial Pancho Villa, one of Mexico’s most beloved (or loathed) heroes.”
The Last Tale of Norah Bow by J. P. White
Regal House Publishing | August 27, 2024
This coming-of-age novel is “a tale filled with characters steeped in betrayal, remorse, and a fierce desire for more lives.”
Aram’s Notebook by Maria Àngels Anglada
Translated from the Catalan by Ara H. Merjian
Swan Isle Press | August 28, 2024
This novel follows “a mother and son’s fictional journey to escape the Armenian Genocide and start anew.”
Alias Caracalla by Daniel Cordier
Translated from the French by Rupert Swyer
Swan Isle Press | August 28, 2024
Cordier’s memoir is “a major contribution to our understanding of the fraught and historic relations between General Charles de Gaulle’s Free French and the fractious resistance movements under the Occupation during World War II.”
En otra voz: Antología de literatura hispana de los Estados Unidos
Arte Público Press | August 31, 2024
Originally published in 2002, the updated and revised edition of this multi-genre collection contains “newly discovered texts, many by women whose work was even less available than their male contemporaries, and complete versions of masterpieces” by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, Luis Valdez, and Tomás Rivera.
