December 2020 – News from Simian Press

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to introduce myself and Simian Press to you, as well as to thank our authors for their participation in Volumes 1 and 2 of LINEA, a journal of micro fiction published annually by Simian Press. Volume 2 of LINEA is currently in production. We will begin hand-stitching our little jewel in late December and will ship to our authors in mid-January. In late January, we’ll send you an invitation to the on-line launch of Volume 2. The publication will be available for general shipment on February 1st. Producing our hand bound periodicals is a slow, painstaking process and we appreciate your support of our artful journal. Please consider purchasing additional copies of LINEA for your friends and family. We are largely self-funded, with love and labor provided by myself and editors Elizabeth George and Carol Edelstein.

In 2016, I founded Simian Press with Caterina Coelho, my friend and colleague. We are now a collaboration of artists, writers and educators. We produce limited editions of hand bound books for artists and writers. We also produce prints and broadsides and publish the literary journal of micro fiction, LINEA. We are a small and versatile shop, employing both digital and analog technologies to create beautiful prints, books and broadsides.

This has been an eventful year for Simian Press as well as for me personally. Catarina’s work is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Simian Press studio Assistant Josh Perkins is currently exhibiting his work at the Heritage Museum in Tarpon Springs, FL. This year, my broadside collaboration with poet Richard Carella joined several public and private collections in the United States. Additionally, in 2020, Simian Press received a grant from the Northampton Center for the Arts in support of our work with LINEA.

In 2020, I participated in and oversaw the production of three broadside publications with writers Richard Carella, Elizabeth George and Carol Edelstein. In conjunction with web designer Amanda Sellars, Josh and I have been involved in a redesign of the Simian Press website. Additionally, I’m delighted to announce the publication of Carol Edelstein’s book of poetry, Past Repair, a project I am honored to have designed and shepherded with Carol over the past two years. Past Repair is among my proudest achievements as an artist and publisher.

It has been a hard year for so many of us around the world. On April 15th of this year, my sister Katy (Kathleen Elizabeth Peloquin) died from complications related to COVID-19. In the waning light of December, as this year winds inexorably to its close, I’m reminded of the first lines of Charles Dicken’s Tale of Two Cities:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”
I continue to find solace and even joy in my studio work, honoring my sister’s memory through a series of drawings dedicated to her and published in Volume 2 of LINEA.

I wish you and your families the joys and blessings of the season – including good health and continued belief that “the spring of hope” will arrive.

All good thoughts,
Adell Donaghue
Publisher, Simian Press