A Midnight Match

I can nearly see the ball begin to drop at Times Square. The last hours of 2010 are dissolving, but there is still time to support Paris Press, our books, our educational outreach programs, and the many literary, film, and stage projects that are in the works.

If you already donated to the Press, thank you so much. If you haven't yet, please consider offering a tax-deductible contribution before the year ends. We are down to the wire, with $4,000 more to raise and a promise from our Board of Directors to match every gift to the Press dated, called in, or pledged before midnight on December 31.

2010 marked our 15th anniversary, and we are proud of all that the Press has accomplished while remaining true to our founding mission: to publish high quality, groundbreaking, yet overlooked literature by women writers. And educating the public about these books and writers. Our mission is as essential now as it was in 1995.

In the past month, we've received enthusiastic notes and donations from many new donors, continuing donors, and individuals who supported the Press years ago and have returned to support it again. Please help launch Paris Press into the new year, to assist in the publication of our fall book combo (a CD of Ruth Stone reading from NBCC-Award-winning Ordinary Words and Simplicity, along with a new edition), and a soon-to-be-announced collection of short stories or novel.

We welcome your help, and hope you will forward this letter to friends who will also support the groundbreaking literature by women writers that Paris Press publishes, keeps in print, and educates the public about: Sisters: An Anthology (with well-known and emerging writers as diverse as Gwendolyn Brooks, Delia Ephron, Ana Maria Jomolca, Audre Lorde, M.F.K. Fisher, Jeanne Leiby, and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala); On Being Ill by Virginia Woolf; Visa for Avalon by Bryher (as politically timely as when it was first written in 1964); and our raison d'etre, Muriel Rukeyser's The Life of Poetry, her verse drama Houdini, and Irish memoir The Orgy; Zdena Berger's Tell Me Another Morning (which so profoundly and perfectly complements The Diary of Anne Frank and Night); and all the other extraordinary and previously neglected works of literature that the Press has championed during the past 15 years.

Sisters: An Anthology has become its own story, resonating with readers from all walks of life. And it has led to SISTERS Celebrations across the country, with readings from the book by family and community members, teens and adults, the authors included in the Anthology, and other acclaimed writers and women from a variety of fields such as Rose Styron, Carol Gilligan, Jessica Harris, Margaret Roach, and Marion Roach Smith. All singing Irving Berlin's "Sisters - Sisters" at the end of every program!

Thanks to supporters like you, we were able to give Sisters to 300 teens and women - including cancer survivors in support groups, teen mothers at the Holyoke Care Center, and teens from Girls Inc. In the spring we will begin Sisters writing workshops. Sisters Celebrations are scheduled to take place around the U.S. (check our website), we will continue to pursue a staged adaptation of the collection, and transform and expand the "Sisters Talk" interviews into a documentary that - if our dream comes true - will launch on International Women's Day at Times Square in 2012.

Which leads us back to the Ball Drop on New Year's Eve. Please help Paris Press thrive.

We look forward to sharing our 2011 plans as we begin new projects in the coming months. Please visit our website, or become a "fan" on FACEBOOK to learn more about our forthcoming activities and publications, and to share your ideas with us.

Your tax-deductible contribution can be mailed to Paris Press, P.O. Box 487, Ashfield, MA 01330 or you can send it electronically by visiting our secure website and click on "Donations". You may also phone our office at 413.628.0051 to speak with us directly regarding pledges, stock contributions, and other matters related to your interest in Paris Press. Thank you for helping to make the past 15 years bountiful, and the future of the Press possible.

Wishing you inspiration, good health, and great reading in 2011!

Snow Days and SISTERS TALK

It's blizzard-ing up and down the East Coast right now, and Paris Press is enjoying a little post-holiday snow day. Since the weather outside is so frightful, it's a perfect time to introduce our new film project, "Sisters Talk"! We're recording hundreds of sisters, brothers, parents, and friends, talking about sisters—real and imaginary, famous and infamous, loved, feared, admired, young, old, and everything in-between.

We'll be posting clips as the project progresses, and we'd love to hear what you think! Check out our first sampler here, and let us know your thoughts:

Click here to watch a clip from "SISTERS Talk", the new film project by Paris Press!

Happy holidays, and happy 2011 from Paris Press. Stay warm!

"Recipes" for a Perfect SISTERS Celebration

When putting together a SISTERS Celebration, selecting the right mix of pieces from SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY is the key to creating a memorable gathering. We’ve found it works best to keep readings from five to seven minutes long, and to limit the number of readers to five  (unless you’re planning a marathon Celebration, in which case make sure you have plenty of refreshments on hand!).

Below are some combinations of readings that have worked particularly well for Paris Press SISTERS Celebrations around the country—providing a good balance of humor and a intensity. These are just suggestions—remember, you’re only limited by your own imagination!

“Reach out SISTERS!” at Amherst Senior Center, Amherst, MA (October 22, 2010):

with MA Representative Ellen Story

Young at Heart Chorus member Shirley Stevens

Actress and PVPA theater teacher Irene Thornton

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press director Jan Freeman

From Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

From Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years

“Sister—Sister” by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

“Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks

“The House Slave” by Rita Dove

“I Needed to Talk to my Sister” by Grace Paley

“Shlug da Kleine” by Tsipi Keller

“A SISTERS Sampler” at Gloriosa and Company, Ashfield, MA (October 9, 2010):

with Amelia and Annalise Cain

Patricia Donohue

Clare Donohue-Meyer

Renee Rastorfer

Susan Todd  

Excerpt from “The Headless Horseman” by Margaret Atwood

“The House Slave” by Rita Dove

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“Reprieve” by Claire Bateman

“Letter to Helen Rothschild Droste” by Dorothy Parker

From Daybreak by Joan Baez

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at the University of Connecticut Co-op, Storrs, CT (September 28, 2010):

with novelist and SISTERS contributor Catherine Chung

Poet Laureate of Rhode Island Lisa Starr

Poet and Litchfield Writing Project Director Davyne Verstandig

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press assistant editor Emily Wojcik

From Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Basque Guide” by Myra Shapiro

“Sister—Sister” by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

“Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks

“I Needed to Talk to my Sister” by Grace Paley

“Hannah” by Catherine Chung

“Reach Out SISTERS!” at The Inn at Lathrop, Easthampton, MA (September 14, 2010):

with Harriet Weinroth

Lisa Colt

Jan Freeman

Emily Wojcik

“A Family Resemblance” by Audre Lorde

“Reprieve” by Claire Bateman

“The House Slave” by Rita Dove

“Shlug da Kleine” by Tsipi Keller

From Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years

“A SISTERS Celebration” at the Chilmark Library, Martha’s Vineyard, MA (July 14, 2010):

with Cookbook author and food historian Jessica Harris

Novelist and psychologist Carol Gilligan

Poet and philanthropist Rose Styron

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press director Jan Freeman

“sisters” by Lucille Clifton

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

“Everyday Use” by Alice Walker

“The Last Good War” by Maxine Kumin

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“A Family Resemblance” by Audre Lorde

“I Needed to Talk to My Sister” by Grace Paley

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Letter to Helen Rothschild Droste” by Dorothy Parker

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at McNally Jackson Books, NYC (June 17, 2010):

with SISTERS contributors:

Novelist Catherine Chung

Playwright and actress Ana Maria Jomolca

Poet Myra Shapiro

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press director Jan Freeman

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Hannah” by Catherine Chung

“I Needed to Talk to My Sister” by Grace Paley

“sisters” by Lucille Clifton

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“Basque Guide” by Myra Shapiro

“Twin Bed” by Ana Maria Jomolca

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at Leverett Library, Leverett, MA (May 19, 2010):

with Nicki Robb

Janine Roberts

Chris Nelson

Jan Freeman

“Hannah” by Catherine Chung

“The House Slave” by Rita Dove

“Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks

“sisters” by Lucille Clifton

“Twin Bed” by Ana Maria Jomolca

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at Town of Vail Public Library, Vail, CO (April 13, 2010):

with SISTERS contributor and novelist Tsipi Keller

Susan Cody

Lori Ann Barnes

Jan Freeman

“Not Enough” by M.F.K. Fisher

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“Sadie and Maud” by Gwendolyn Brooks

“I Needed to Talk to My Sister” by Grace Paley

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

“Sister—Sister” by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Shlug da Kleine” by Tsipi Keller

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, Troy, NY (March 15, 2010):

with SISTERS contributor and novelist Catherine Chung

Author and gardening expert Margaret Roach

Author and news commentator Marion Roach Smith

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press director Jan Freeman

“Don’t Tell Mother” by Wendy Wasserstein

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“sisters” by Lucille Clifton

“Sister—Sister” by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

“Hannah” by Catherine Chung

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

“Celebrate International Women’s Day!” at Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA (March 8, 2010):

with SISTERS contributor and novelist Julia Glass

SISTERS contributor and poet Barbara Greenberg

Singer, LIBANA percussionist, and teacher Marytha Paffrath

“Twin Bed” by Ana Maria Jomolca

“sisters” by Lucile Clifton

“Borderline” by Robin Becker

“I Needed to Talk to My Sister” by Grace Paley

“Close to the End” by Barbara Greenberg

From I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass

“A SISTERS Celebration!” at The Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, MA (March 7, 2010):

with Red Lion Inn owner and chair of the Berkshire Creative Economy Council Nancy Fitzpatrick

Author and gardening expert Margaret Roach

Author and news commentator Marion Roach Smith

SISTERS co-editor and Paris Press director Jan Freeman

“Don’t Tell Mother” by Wendy Wasserstein

“Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor

“sisters” by Lucille Clifton

“Sister—Sister” by Marie Luise Kaschnitz

“Letter to Helen Rothschild Droste” by Dorothy Parker

“Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser

Excerpt from Daybreak by Joan Baez

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

The holidays are upon us, and that means it's time to reflect on where we have been, and where we are going. Paris Press had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we are thrilled to announce that Zdena Berger's Tell Me Another Morning just received a fantastic review from Alyce at At Home With Books, just in time for Hannukah! A wonderful way to kick off the season of light and family.

We also want to thank you for valuing the work of Paris Press — for supporting, reading, and enthusiastically sharing our books and attending our events and outreach programs. With your generosity, Sisters: An Anthology reached more readers than any book in our fifteen-year history!

In December 1995, Paris Press began our publishing venture with the determination to bring back into print The Life of Poetry. Our mission: to publish groundbreaking literature by women writers that was overlooked by the publishing world, and to educate the public about the writers and their literature. Each year we have worked to build on these founding principles, which are as necessary today as they were fifteen years ago. We have published 16 books and one CD, and continue our commitment to creative educational programming.

We hope that you will continue to support Paris Press. Please consider increasing your financial contribution in this challenging time. The Press must raise 30% more funds than in previous years to maintain our programming, expand the diversity of our audience, and qualify for grants that will stabilize the Press’s operations.

Paris Press’s goals for 2011 include increased collaboration with arts and social-service organizations, board expansion, gradual staff expansion, and programming strategies to secure the Press’s future and mission. We depend on your financial support and your ideas. Your generosity will enable a fall publication, and stage and film projects inspired by Sisters: An Anthology. (Sample clips will be available on YouTube at “Paris Press Books.”)

During the past year, the publication of Sisters introduced Paris Press to a broader audience and provided opportunities for expansive outreach. The subject of sisters transcends all boundaries in this socially disconnected time, providing a poignant ground note about family and “chosen” family when we need it most.

In addition to Sisters, the Press focused on our previous releases: We published a third printing of Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson, which was featured in Joshua Wolf Shenk’s essay about creative partnerships in SLATE. Mass Humanities gave Muriel Rukeyser's The Life of Poetry to every participant in the new Mass POP program for secondary-school teachers, encouraging the integration of poetry throughout the curricula. And San Francisco’s Mercy High School adopted Zdena Berger’s Tell Me Another Morning for their 2010-2011 All School Read.

Please help Paris Press continue to bring groundbreaking literature by women into the world—books that offer inspiration, strength, and solace to readers in the U.S. and beyond. Gifts of all sizes are tax-deductible. Donations of $250 or more will receive a signed and numbered print of Jane Lund's original, "Sisters Dresses"—a perfect holiday gift for friends, colleagues, daughters, granddaughters, nieces, aunts—and of course, sisters!

2010: A BANNER YEAR FOR PARIS PRESS’S 15TH ANNIVERSARY

As we move into the season of giving thanks and celebrating the year, we here at Paris Press are so grateful for your generosity, the support of our volunteers, Board and Advisory Board members, readers, writers, and public and private foundations. The following accomplishments are yours as well as ours. You helped bring Sisters to life!

MEDIA ATTENTION AND BACK TO PRESS

• Sisters: An Anthology received rave reviews in Ms., People Magazine, RealSimple.com, Library Journal, Curve, The Chicago Tribune Reader’s Blog, The Greenfield Recorder, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, and the Amherst Bulletin. It was highlighted on TheSisterProject.com, a blog by Margaret Roach, Marion Roach Smith, and Paige Orloff. 

• NPR-affiliate WFCR interviewed actress, playwright, and Sisters contributors Ana Maria Jomolca, Tsipi Keller, and co-editor Jan Freeman about Sisters on “Morning Edition.” Sisters authors Jeanne M. Leiby and Ana Maria Jomolca, Jan Freeman and her sister, anthropologist Carla Freeman, were interviewed about sisters on WAMC’s “Roundtable.” WGBH’s “The Callie CrossleyShow” featured Jan Freeman for International Women’s Day. Vail Public Television interviewed Jan Freeman about SISTERS Celebrations.
   
• Chilmark Library SISTERS Celebration participants Carol Gilligan, Rose Styron, and Jessica Harris were interviewed about sisters for Martha’s Vineyard PlumTV and MVTV. NBC Affiliate, Channel 22’s MassAppeal featured Jan Freeman speaking about SISTERS Celebrations, and previewed clips from the new SISTERS film project. (For links to interviews, visit www.parispress.org.)
   
• Open Me Carefully went back to press for its 3rd printing following Joshua Wolf Shenk’s essay in Slate about the creative partnership between Emily Dickinson and Susan Huntington Dickinson.

SISTERS EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN THE COMMUNITY

• Teacher and writer Helen Gallagher hosted two interactive Celebrations in Chicago and Winnetka, IL. Painter Elizabeth Stone hosted a SISTERS Celebration in Northampton, MA with poet and teacher Patricia Lee Lewis and actor and producer Jeannine Haas reading from the Anthology.
   
• Ana Maria Jomolca and Tsipi Keller read their work from Sisters to a packed house at Books and Books in Coral Gables, FL. McNally Jackson Books in NYC hosted a packed SISTERS Celebration, featuring contributors Catherine Chung, Ana Maria Jomolca, and Myra Shapiro. The Co-Op Bookstore at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, hosted a Celebration with contributor Catherine Chung, co-editor Emily Wojcik, poet and director of the Litchfield County Writers’ Project Davyne Verstandig, and Lisa Starr, poet laureate of Rhode Island.
   
• Women’s History Month SISTERS Celebrations: Media consultant and master gardener Margaret Roach and her sister, author Marion Roach Smith, joined Nancy Fitzpatrick, arts advocate and owner of the Red Lion Inn, for a Celebration at the Berkshire Botanical Garden. International Women’s Day Celebrations: Porter Square Books in Cambridge, with Sisters contributor and award-winning novelist Julia Glass, contributor and poet Barbara Greenberg, and Libana percussionist Marytha Paffrath; NYC’s Madame X, with Ana Maria Jomolca, organized by the I Can Still Do That! Foundation; and an Upper West Side psychoanalytic reading, hosted by Robi Akeret, with Nancy Carroll and analysts, and contributors playwright Clare Coss and poet Myra Shapiro.
   
• Sisters contributor and novelist Catherine Chung, Margaret Roach, and Marion Roach Smith took part in a SISTERS Celebration at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, in Troy, NY.The Vail, CO, Public Library hosted a Celebration with contributor and novelist Tsipi Keller, librarian Lori Ann Barnes, and Susan Cody. Advisory Board member Barbara Alfange organized an overflowing Celebration at the Leverett Library, with community members Chris Nelson, Janine Roberts, and Nicki Robb reading their favorite pieces from the Anthology. The Chilmark Library, on Martha’s Vineyard, hosted a SISTERS Celebration with cookbook author and culinary historian Jessica Harris, psychologist, novelist, and Advisory Board member Carol Gilligan, and poet and human rights activist Rose Styron.
   
• Gloriosa & Company hosted an Ashfield’s Fall Festival SISTERS Celebration with community members. Teens Amelia and Analise Cain and Clare Donohue-Meyer joined Renee Rastorfer, Susan Todd, and Patricia Donohue to read poetry and prose from the Anthology. The Hampshire County Smith College Book Club hosted a Celebration and discussion of Sisters with co-editors Jan Freeman and Emily Wojcik. Amherst Senior Center hosted a SISTERS Celebration with MA Representative Ellen Story, Young at Heart Chorus-member Shirley Stevens, and actress and PVPA theater teacher Irene Thornton.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN THE CLASSROOM

• Mercy High School (San Francisco, CA) selected Zdena Berger’s Tell Me Another Morning for their 2010-2011 All-School Read. Zdena will travel to the girls’ high school in March 2011 to discuss her autobiographical novel with students.
   
• Paris Press welcomed Smith College student Sarah Green for a six-week Praxis internship.
   
• The MassPOP Poetry Retreat for High School Teachers, dedicated to helping teachers incorporate poetry into their classrooms, gave copies of The Life of Poetry to participating teachers. Mass Humanities made this generous donation possible. A Paris Press dream come true!
   
• The Press offered SISTERS Celebrations throughout the Pioneer Valley. Contributor Ana Maria Jomolca traveled from NYC to read “Twin Bed” and discuss it with students at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, Holyoke’s Girls’ Inc., and the CARE Center of Holyoke.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH IN CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY FESTIVALS

• Paris Press attended the Associated Writers Program Conference in Denver, where Sisters contributors Catherine Chung, Martha Rhodes, and Robin Becker read from the Anthology. Jan Freeman participated in a panel discussion about Muriel Rukeyser in the 21st century. The Press reconnected with readers, writers, teachers, students, publishers, friends, and fans.
   
• Assistant editor Emily Wojcik and Advisory Board member Nikki Lloyd-Kimbrel represented the Press at the Juniper Literary Festival, at the University of Massachusetts.

• Advisory Board members Barbara Alfange, Laurie Slap-Shelton, and Nikki Lloyd-Kimbrel joined intern Sarah Green and Emily Wojcik at the Paris Press book table during Ashfield Fall Festival. Jan Freeman and Advisory Board member Lisa Newman launched the SISTERS film project, interviewing children, teens, and adults about sisters throughout the Ashfield Fall Festival.

How to Host a SISTERS Celebration!

Click here to watch Jan Freeman discuss SISTERS CELEBRATIONS on "MASS APPEAL" on WWLP 22!
 
How to Host a SISTERS CELEBRATION:
It’s easy to hold your own SISTERS CELEBRATION. Whether you choose to host friends in your home, or organize a community reading at a public space, these ideas have helped Paris Press create memorable, meaningful events.

WHAT: A SISTERS CELEBRATION is a gathering of five people or more who read from Sisters: An Anthology.

WHY: It’s a great way for friends, relatives, and strangers to discover extraordinary stories and poems by well-known and emerging women writers, while exploring the unique, complicated, humorous, difficult, loving, heartbreaking world of sisters.

WHO: Invite friends, your book group, neighbors, colleagues, and  relatives (including your sister, if you are speaking to each other). For large gatherings, ask each person you invite to bring two or more people. Paris Press is happy to send you a sample press release that you can use.

AGE: Anyone fourteen or older can join in.

WHERE: SISTERS CELEBRATIONS can take place in a living room, around a kitchen table, in a library, a community center, a bookstore, a synagogue or church, in a café, or in an auditorium or theater.

HOW: Read a copy of SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY (available through your local bookstore, library, and from Paris Press.www.parispress.org) Select the readers/participants and the poems and stories you would like them to read. For CELEBRATIONS that will include people outside your intimate circle of pals, invite one or two women to read who are high-profile individuals in your community (any field is fine; especially people with sisters and daughters).

Generally, keep readings to 5-7 minutes per person (3- 5 pages), and limit the number of readers to five. Unless you decide to have a SISTERS MARATHON, in which case you should have several 10-minute breaks with refreshments!

Before assigning stories and poems, ask readers if there are favorite pieces they would like to read from SISTERS.For best results, mix emotional tones, poetry and prose. And always include one funny story or poem.

The Table of Contents offers one example of the order in which pieces can be read: The three sections progress from childhood to old age, and include many kinds of relationships between sisters (loving, competitive, supportive, cruel). 


THE READING: The host and the readers should introduce themselves before their piece, and establish their own sister-experience: (Do they have sisters? Are they the oldest? Youngest? Middle?) For this part, comments are often introductory; additional thoughts and discussion tend to work best in the second part of the event, the post-reading Q&A or discussion.

AFTER THE READING: Paris Press encourages audience members and readers to participate in a Q&A, and/or to discuss with the audience their reactions to the stories and poems, etc. Readers or the host might prepare an anecdote from their own lives to kick things off. This often leads to discussions with the audience: What did audience members relate to from the reading or the anthology overall? What is unfamiliar? How do people who don’t have sisters respond—does the reading make them wish they had them or grateful they don’t?

Remember, SISTERS CELEBRATIONS are not therapy session; they are opportunities to listen to and read great writing, and think about how the literature in the anthology connects to their own life and the lives of people they know.

EXTRAS: While the core part of the Celebration is reading a sampling of prose and poetry from the Anthology, other activities can be included to make this a memorable experience. Before and after the SISTERS reading, singing or listening to Sisters songs can be moving and fun (see list below). Ask one participant to sing or hand out song sheets (for a one-time use only!) and get your group bellowing. Piano or guitar can make this particularly lively.

To encourage some good sister-storytelling, ask everyone to tell their funniest sister memory. Describe one favorite sister outfit (silliest or most elegant). List movies about sisters, novels about sisters, infamous sisters who you’d like to know more about. Or less about! Describe the closest sisters you know. The most detached sisters you know. Which sisters swapped boyfriends, girlfriends, were most alike, most different, wore matching outfits, wanted to be twins, didn’t want to be twins., moved far away from each other, live in the same neighborhood, talk every day, never talk.

ENDING A CELEBRATION: Many SISTERS CELEBRATIONS last 1½ - 2 hours. If it feels time to wrap-up a gathering, suggest that a pre-appointed person in the group read Joan Baez’s excerpt from DAYBREAK on page xvii.
 
Paris Press LOVES to receive feedback about SISTERS CELEBRATIONS. Send your descriptions, high points, low points, and suggestions to info@parispress.org.

Enjoy Sisters: An Anthology – in solitude and with friends. Spread the word!   

A few sister songs…
“Sisters-Sisters” — Rosemary Clooney
“Two Sisters” (an Irish folk song)
“We Are Family” — Sister Sledge
“Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves” — Eurythmics
“Side by Side” — McGuire Sisters
“Sister’s Coming Home” — Emmylou Harris
“Little Sister” — Elvis Presley
“Wind Beneath My Wings” — Bette Midler

 

October was SISTERS month!

It's a bit of a shock to realize that October is nearly over—we had so many amazing events, projects, and of course the Ashfield Fall Festival, that we barely had time to take a breath. We couldn't have done it without the support of Florence Savings Bank, The Art Angels, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and our wonderful supporters, volunteers, and fans!

At Fall Festical, we had our usual spot next to Gray's Sugar House fried dough stand—books and sweets are such a fantastic combination. And we also had a booth on the village green, with the Ashfield History Project. We invited people to tell their own SISTERS stories on camera, and have their pictures taken as the cover of SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY! Such a wonderful array of stories, from young and old, men and women—we'll post them to the Paris Press channel on YouTube in the coming weeks and hope you'll check them out!

Writer and SISTERS contributor Ana Maria Jomolca ("Twin Bed") came to the Pioneer Valley for three SISTERS celebrations for young adults. The first was a reading and poetry workshop at Holyoke's Girls Inc, a nonprofit organization that empowers girls through academic achievement and community service. The next day, Ana Maria read "Twin Bed" at the Holyoke Care Center, an alternative education program for pregnant and parenting teens. The girls were part of a spirited discussion about the nature of family and secrets. The day ended with a reading at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, in South Hadley, featuring songs by students as well as Ana Maria's story.

The following Wednesday, Jan and Emily were invited to the Hampshire County Smith Club's book group, which was reading SISTERS. It was a packed house (17 members!) and a great opportunity to talk about the book with readers. Getting to hear other people's opinions, and to share our own experience with choosing the stories and poems, and publishing the book, was such a treat! Many many thanks to Georgia for hosting and Lissa for inviting us to join them. (For more information about using SISTERS or any Paris Press book for your book group, email us at info@parispress.org)

October ended with a reading at the Amherst Senior Center last Friday, featuring state representative Ellen Story, Young-At-Heart Chorus member Shirley Stevens, and PVPA drama teacher Irene Thornton reading stories, poems, and essays from SISTERS. It was an extraordinary afternoon—made even brighter by the sisters-dresses cookies donated by Henion Bakery!

As the month came to a close, we began expanding our SISTERS Story project, and getting to work on a book for 2011! Stay tuned for videos, pics, and more details to come!

SISTERS at the UConn Co-op!

It's fall, and that means the beginning of some fabulous SISTERS CELEBRATIONS! First up, Tuesday, September 28 at The UConn Co-op, featuring readings by Catherine Chung, Lisa Starr, Davyne Verstandig, and Emily Wojcik. Reading begins at 6:30pm.

Catherine Chung, a contributor to SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY, recently completed her first novel, Forgotten Country, forthcoming from Riverhead Books. Named a “New Voice” by Granta in April 2010, she lives in New York City.

Lisa Starr is Poet Laureate of Rhode Island, as well as an... inn-keeper and teacher. The author of three books, Starr is the founder and director of the Block Island Poetry Project. She is owner and operator of the Hygeia House, a 10-room inn on Block Island.

Davyne Verstandig is a lecturer in English and Creative Writing at the UConn Torrington Campus, and director of the Litchfield County Writers Project. She has published two books of poetry, and has performed at libraries, galleries and performances spaces throughout New England and in New York City. She is currently working on a memoir and a novel.

Emily Wojcik is completing a PhD at the University of Connecticut, where she teaches in the English department. She is the assistant editor of Paris Press and co-editor of SISTERS.

SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY includes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that capture the unique and profound relationship between sisters. Writers include Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver, Edwidge Danticat, Alice Walker, Joan Baez, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Mary Karr, Grace Paley, Wendy Wasserstein, Maxine Kumin, Rita Dove, Dorothy Parker, M.F.K. Fisher, and many other contemporary and modern acclaimed and emerging writers. Visit www.parispress.org and sistersananthology.blogspot.com for more information about the Anthology.

Chilmark Library: A Perfect Summer Evening!

Here in Ashfield, it may still be August, but the trees are turning orange, and the nights are beginning to dip down to 50 degrees. While we might normally be sad, we've had such a wonderful summer—and are planning a fantastic fall—that we can't help looking forward to the changing of the seasons. 

Our SISTERS celebration at Chilmark Library, on Martha’s Vineyard, was an incredible experience. We had fantastic readers, which was, of course, what made the evening so magical. Many many thanks to cookbook author Jessica Harris, who’s new book High on the Hog hits stores in January; psychologist and novelist Carol Gilligan; and the inimitable Rose Styron, poet and human rights activist, for an incredible evening. Thanks, too, to the Chilmark Library staff, especially Ebba Hierta, who put in a 12-hour day and still somehow managed to be amazingly cheerful and helpful throughout! 

Yet again, the reading was full to overflowing. Ebba actually had to turn people away at the door! Luckily, PlumTV and MVTV caught the whole reading on tape, and interviewed the readers and Jan, for those who missed it. We’ll post the link as soon as we get it. Jan started the reading, which was dedicated to the memory of Marcy Slater, with two poems from SISTERS: “sisters,” by the late great Lucille Clifton, and “Two Years” by Muriel Rukeyser. Jessica Harris followed with a deeply moving, funny reading of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”—a meditation on roots, separation, and family history. Carol read several poems, including Maxine Kumin’s “The Last Good War,” “Sweet Dreams” by Joyce Armor, “A Family Resemblance” by Audre Lorde, and “I Needed to Talk to My Sister” by Grace Paley, before finishing with Joan Baez’s charming excerpt from Daybreak. Rose brought the reading to a happy close with Dorothy Parker’s arch and heartbreaking “Letter to Helen Rothschild Droste.” 

Afterward, the readers mingled with audience members and PlumTV’s intrepid reporter conducted interviews. Then a private post-reading dinner at the home of a Press supporter, and the day was over! It went by in a flash. We are so grateful to Ebba Hierta and everyone at Chilmark Library; to Jessica Harris, Carol Gilligan, and Rose Styron; to Bruce and Anne Slater; and to everyone who came out to support Paris Press! 

As summer turns to fall, we’re gearing up for great events around the Pioneer Valley, thanks to a generous grant from the western Massachusetts-based foundation, the Art Angels, as well as a late-September reading at the UConn Co-op, with Catherine Chung (”Hannah”), co-editor Emily Wojcik, poet and director of the Litchfield Writer’s Project Davyne Verstandig, and Lisa Starr, Poet Laureate of Rhode Island! More details to follow soon!

McNally Jackson—Great Store, Great SISTERS Celebration!

There are some events that involve a lot of stress and hustle, and then there are some that just go beautifully from beginning to end. Our SISTERS Celebration at the wonderful independent bookstore, McNally Jackson Books in NYC, was a dream from beginning to end. We are so grateful to Dustin Kurtz, who took great care of us while the reading was happening and let us store everything afterward—we couldn't have done it without him!

The reading was packed! We actually ran out of chairs, and people were standing in the aisles of the store. Audience members came from all over the city came to hear Catherine Chung, Ana Maria Jomolca, and Myra Shapiro read their work from SISTERS. Editor Jan Freeman kicked off the reading, which was dedicated to the memory of Rhonda Copelon, a lifelong fighter for women and women's rights, with Joan Baez's excerpt from Daybreak and Muriel Rukeyser's poem "Two Years."

Cathy followed with her heartbreaking and beautiful story, "Hannah," leaving people visibly moved, and Myra's reading of her own poem and those of Lucille Clifton, Joyce Armor, and Grace Paley was powerful and restorative. Ana Maria's amazing comic performance of "Twin Bed" was the perfect end to the night: funny, energetic, and emotionally charged.

Afterward, the three editors—Jan, Deborah Bull, and Emily Wojcik—mingled with the writers and audience members, answering questions about the anthology and the Press. It was such a thrill to meet our readers, to be able to talk about this oft-neglected subject, and to sign books for fans! Perhaps best of all, the NYC audience got the chance to sample the famous SISTERS macaroons, made by Lisa Newman.

All in all, the McNally Jackson celebration was a great success. We were thrilled to be able to have an event at such a wonderful store, and hope to return soon!

Our next SISTERS Celebration will be at the Chilmark Library on Martha's Vineyard, on July 14, at 5:30pm. We hope to see you there!

Celebrate SISTERS at McNally Jackson Books in NYC!

Paris Press is hosting a SISTERS Celebration at McNally Jackson Books, featuring SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY contributors Catherine Chung, Ana Maria Jomolca, and Myra Shapiro, and Jan Freeman, director of Paris Press and co-editor of SISTERS. Participants will read their work and more from SISTERS! Bring your sister, your friends, your sister-in-law, your daughters, nieces, cousins, neighbors! “The stories, poems, and memoirs in the new anthology Sisters call forth sweetness and light, fury and a fierce devotion.” —THE BOSTON GLOBE “Writers including Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker explore sisterhood in this intelligent collection.... The book makes clear that sisters don’t outgrow their bond… Once a sister, always one.” —PEOPLE MAGAZINE WHEN: Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m. Free of charge!

WHERE: McNally Jackson Books 52 Prince Street (Between Mulberry and Lafayette), NYC WHO: Catherine Chung recently completed her first novel, Forgotten Country. Recently named a “New Voice” by Granta, she lives in New York City Ana Maria Jomolca is a Cuban-American writer, producer, and director. Her plays have appeared Off-Broadway and her film everygirl was screened at film festivals in New York City and Chicago. Her most recent play, Chiquitina, debuted in New York in 2009. Myra Shapiro is the author of I’ll See You Thursday, and a memoir, Four Sublets: Becoming a Writer in New York. Her poems have appeared in The Best American Poetry 1999 and 2003. She teaches at the International Women’s Writing Guild in New York City. Jan Freeman is director and founder of Paris Press, based in Ashfield, MA. She is one of the editors of SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY, and the author of three books of poetry: Simon Says, Hyena, Autumn Sequence, and a new manuscript, Blue Structure

Celebrate SISTERS at the Arts Center of the Capital Region!

Paris Press is hosting A SISTERS CELEBRATION at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, featuring Marion Roach Smith and Margaret Roach founders of The Sister Project; Jan Freeman, poet and director of Paris Press; and writer Catherine Chung, contributor to SISTERS. Participants will read from SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY, and the Roach sisters reading from their new prose collaboration.

Bring your sister, your friends, your sister-in-law, your daughters, nieces, cousins, and neighbors.

“The stories, poems, and memoirs in the new anthology Sisters call forth sweetness and light, fury and a fierce devotion.” —THE BOSTON GLOBE

“Writers including Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker explore sisterhood in this intelligent collection.... The book makes clear that sisters don’t outgrow their bond… Once a sister, always one.” —PEOPLE MAGAZINE

WHEN: Monday, March 15 at 7 p.m. Free of charge!

WHERE: The Arts Center of the Capital Region
265 River Street, Troy, NY 12180
(518) 273-0552 • www.artscenteronline.org

WHO:
Catherine Chung, a contributor to SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY, recently completed her first novel, Forgotten Country, which includes “Hannah.” She received her MFA from Cornell University and lives in NYC.

Marion Roach Smith is the author of The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning and Sexual Power of Red Hair, Dead Reckoning, and Another Name for Madness. Formerly a staff writer for the New York Times, she is a commentator for “All Things Considered” and co-founder of The Sister Project.

Margaret Roach is an author, editor, and media consultant. Formerly the editorial director of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she is now president of Margaret Roach Incorporated. She currently writes a series of blogs about gardening, sisters, and is collaborating on a book with her sister, Marion.

Jan Freeman is director and founder of Paris Press, based in Ashfield, MA, in the foothills of the Berkshires. She is one of the editors of SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY and the author of three books of poetry: Simon Says, Hyena, Autumn Sequence, and a new manuscript, Blue Structure.

An Amazing International Women's Day!

What a wonderful start to Women's History Month! First Katheryn Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director at the Oscars, and then Paris Press held an amazing lineup of events on Monday, March 8 (International Women's Day).

Paris Press is so grateful for and thrilled by the SISTERS "happenings" that took place at the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, MA; at Porter Square Books in Cambridge; at Madame X in New York City; and on the Upper West Side of New York. With readings, songs, and music, these were a truly extraordinary way to celebrate International Women's Day, Women's History Month, and the contributors to, and subject of, SISTERS!

Special thanks to our hosts, who ensured that each celebration was a great success: Molly Boxer, Executive Director of the Berkshire Botanical Garden; Ellen Jarrett at Porter Square Books; Dan Schneider and the fabulous people at Madame X; and Nancy Freeman and Robi Akaret! Special thanks to Lisa Newman.

Paris Press is also grateful to our participants and readers, who brought new life to the pieces in the anthology and helped create memorable evenings:

How to Host a SISTERS CELEBRATION:

It’s easy to hold your own SISTERS CELEBRATION. Whether you choose to host friends in your home, or organize a community reading at a public space, these ideas have helped Paris Press create memorable, meaningful events.

WHAT: A SISTERS CELEBRATION is a gathering of five people or more who read from Sisters: An Anthology.

WHY: It’s a great way for friends, relatives, and strangers to discover extraordinary stories and poems by well-known and emerging women writers, while exploring the unique, complicated, humorous, difficult, loving, heartbreaking world of sisters.

Upcoming SISTERS Celebrations in Massachusetts!

Paris Press invites you to celebrate Women’s History Month with two exciting SISTERS Events in March!

Sunday, March 7, at 2pm. at The Berkshire Botanical Garden
Stockbridge, MA (413-298-3926; www.berkshirebotanical.org)

Monday, March 8, at 7pm at Porter Square Books
Cambridge, MA (617-491-2220; www.portersquarebooks.com)

“The stories, poems, and memoirs in the new anthology SISTERS call forth sweetness and light, fury and a fierce devotion.” — The Boston Globe

“Publishing is not dead, it’s merely getting more fabulous. At least that’s how things look now that we’ve discovered Paris Press ... [It] became known to us because of their new book, Sisters. A collection of marvelous authors writing on our favorite topic, this is the single book that all of us must read.” — The Sister Project

“Writers including Margaret Atwood and Alice Walker explore sisterhood in this intelligent collection.... The book makes clear that sisters don’t outgrow their bond… Once a sister, always one.”
— People Magazine

Happy Hearts!

In celebration of Valentine’s Day, I wanted to suggest that you think about celebrating your sisters or friends who have sisters, daughters, granddaughters, your aunts, nieces, sisters-in-law. SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY is a perfect gift for everyone between the ages of 13 and 103. And a signed and numbered print of the original cover art by Jane Lund is a truly luscious expression of love.

Jane Lund’s print (unlike the cover of SISTERS) is a giclee print of the collage, with the original pink background. It is 25 1/2” X 20” — and $200 of the $250 gift to Paris Press is tax deductible.

There are only 100 prints being made by Oak Tree Press, and several have already found new homes, so please let me know if you would like one or more for someone special (including yourself!).

To order SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY ($20.95) directly from Paris Press, please visit our website or phone 413.628.0051. Or purchase the anthology from your local bookseller or online bookstore (Amazon, etc.). For a signed and numbered print, call me or order through the Paris Press website.

Wishing you an early happy Valentine’s Day. May it be filled with love love love.

Heartily yours,
Jan

More on SISTERS...

Helen Gallagher's review of SISTERS: AN ANTHOLOGY.
blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-sisters-an-anthology-edited/

A bit about Helen from her website blogcritics.org
Helen Gallagher reviews non-fiction books and shares insights when attending author and publishing events on Chicago's North Shore. She is a national speaker on technology, writing and publishing. She's a member of American Society of Journalists & Authors,and the International Women's Writing Guild. Helen is the author of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way. She is also a member of National Book Critics Circle.