Mountains and Rivers Press was the third small press publishing company I worked with. I co-founded North Lake Press in 1992 and Irving St. Press in 1995. In 2001, I founded Mountains and Rivers Press in order to publish books that reflect the continuing influence of mid-twentieth century poetics on American poetry. Over almost twenty years, I continued this work with the help first of Julie Moffenbier and then of Elise Penning. Our titles illustrated how contemporary poets have adopted the formal techniques and themes of Objectivism, English-language haikai, the Black Mountain Writers, and the San Francisco Renaissance among others to address their present day concerns and experiences.
Our books ranged in size, scope, and style from 100-plus page, perfect bound collections to small, hand-sewn chapbooks signed and numbered by the authors. Some were designed by award-winning book designer, Jonathan Greene, at Gnomon Press, and many were printed on letterpress by Ed Rayher of Swamp Press in Massachusetts.
Our website was beautifully designed and maintained by Rick Qually.
My academic research involves American poetry and, more specifically, the relationship between Japan and American poetry. As part of this research, I explore how American modernist poets participated in the Orientalist discourse first theorized by Edward Said. My hope is that some of the titles from Mountains and Rivers Press help disrupt this discourse rather than perpetuate it.
Here are the authors we published between 2001-2018:
Arnold, Bob,
Chula, Margaret,
Corman, Cid
Crowe, Thomas Rain
Davenport, Nancy P.
Green, Melanie
Greene, Jonathan
Haislip, John
Harr, Lorraine Ellis
Harter, Penny
Higginson, William J.
Laird, Donald
Martone, John
McMonagle, Rick
Miller, Sabine
Moore, Lenard D.
Muller, Erik
Petersen, Paulann
Rosenow, Ce
Starbuck, Scott T.
Watson, Scott
West, Harriot
Winter, Laura
Wolthers, Brad
In the winter of 2019, I closed the press after the final title, The Geography of Jazz by Lenard D. Moore, sold out.
Ce Rosenow 