Dear SRP family and friends,
When I founded SRP in 2010, I envisioned a space where underground, marginalized, and underrepresented voices were nurtured, protected, and given opportunities for visibility. What we, together, accomplished over the next decade was beyond my wildest dreams. All I did was say yes. The rest? It was each of you. It was the writers and the artists and the audiences who collaborated to open doors, amplify stories, and change lives. I’ve watched with awe and gratitude as our writers and artists have taken individual journeys with SRP as a stop on their paths to their next best things. Whether that next best thing was a place on a bestseller list, a degree, a family, other books with other publishers, the microphone at a music festival, a name on the credits of a film, holding space as a community builder, teaching and nurturing students, caring for elders, fighting for the oppressed and vulnerable, or finding beauty in silence, magic, or in however they interpreted our shared universal spirit, the joy they've brought to my life and the pride in which I’ve watched them live their lives cannot be overstated. I feel like these people have changed the world for the better, as difficult as this world can be, in large and small ways.
I hope, if you're reading this, in whatever capacity these words reach you, you've also been impacted by Sibling Rivalry Press.
In that light, I’d like to invite you to Poets House on Tuesday evening, July 16, for an outdoor celebration of the collective work we’ve done together. The current plan is to hold a reception in Kray Hall (on the first floor) from 6pm – 7pm, followed by the event in the outdoor space adjacent to Kray Hall from 7pm – 8:30pm. We envision a night of sharing poems and stories featuring the writers of Sibling Rivalry Press. How did they get involved with SRP? Where has their work taken them? What does the community need, and how can we build the future together? How does their work manifest now?
It's true we’ve slowed things down over the past few of years as we focused on other ways of service and of survival. Renewal was necessary. Rest was necessary. Witnessing was necessary. Still, we were (and are) never far from SRP. We’ve kept our books in print. We’ve fulfilled orders and made sure SRP titles remained available to distributors, educators, and reviewers. That will continue. We have no plans to move books out of print. But what else do we plan to do?
Recently it’s felt like the universe has conspired to pull me back in—in some way. If you're reading this as a writer or artist, or even if you're not, I’m sure you know what it feels like to step into the flow of joyful and purposeful work. When it’s right, there’s a certain alignment that’s undeniable. It’s like you—like we—have no say in the matter. Part of this alignment for me showed up through a text from Bushra Rehman and Jubi Arriola-Headley proposing that we have an event celebrating SRP. After saying no for a few years to things, which, many of you know, goes against everything that brought me to this dance, I heard myself saying yes, which brings us to FAMILY REUNION: A CELEBRATION OF SIBLING RIVALRY PRESS.
So, here's the pitch. Let’s make it a celebration of the collective us. I want the chance to show gratitude and share the love and recalibrate toward the next decade and our next big things. I want to celebrate all of YOU. Our writers and artists and our readers. The big picture for what the press did become and can become. I care about showing people (our audiences across the world) they have value, that their voices and talents can be a bridge, and that we can save lives across geographies and generations. I don’t want this event to be something we want to put on our resumes but rather something that speaks to the intentions of our ancestors and angels and the power of our work to open and connect and enchant and enhance. I want this to encourage alignment with our best selves and remind each other there are people rooting for you who are family not by blood but by choice and circumstance. Can you feel the alignment? Can you feel the universe conspiring, the same way it did over a decade ago when I first said yes to Ocean Vuong, and then I kept saying yes?
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO DO THIS. The press has been operational over the last few years but all funds have gone to keep titles in print and maintain our books. We'd love to be able to offer support to assist our authors in getting to New York and to cover the costs of their needs and accessibility. To that end, we're asking for your support to kick off this relaunch and reunion. All funds raised will go to the authors and artists you love who'll be attending and who identify a need for assistance for transportation, lodging, accessibility, childcare, or anything else that would support their participation.
If you're in a position to help, we'd gratefully accept it. If you're in a position to share this call, we'd gratefully accept that, too. The link to donate is:
Thank you for changing my life, and I hope to see you in New York in July.
-- Bryan