PALIMPSEST PRESS INTERVIEW WITH DAWN MARIE KRESAN
By Daniel Wells

Though Palimpsest Press published its first book in the fall of 2003, Anne F. Walker's The Exit Show, you have been involved in publishing for many years. Can you tell me a bit about your experiences with Kaleidoscope?

I started Kaleidoscope in 2000, as a way to learn about the publishing process, and to network and become acquainted with the work currently out there. I always wanted to publish poetry collections, and this was a way to learn the ropes. Kaleidoscope is all poetry, with feature interviews, articles, and translations. I met Anne after she sent a submission in, and later decided to publish her work. So it has definitely been worth the experience, although doing a journal by myself was daunting and at times tedious.

What were some of the most important things you learned from your years running Kaleidoscope? Has your experiences as a book publisher been different in any way thus far?

With Kaleidoscope there were continual submissions. It seemed like the mail was endless. Doing books, so far at least, has lessened the mail load. People tend to query first. They don't want to bother preparing and mailing in an 80 page manuscript if they know there isn't a chance it will be published. Also, with Kaleidoscope there were many people to deal with, competing egos. It can be a little overwhelming at times. I much prefer the one-on-one nature of dealing with a single manuscript. You get to know the person, build trust, and share enthusiasm over the work. It feels more like a partnership.

Kaleidoscope focused exclusively on poetry. Will Palimpsest Press being doing the same? Or will you be expanding into other forms: short fiction or children's
literature, for example?

Palimpsest will be exclusively poetry, although I would like to expand into translations and children's poetry. But that will come in time. For now I am want to publish single author poetry collections, and maybe do some smaller handmade poetry chapbooks.

What are the plans for Palimpsest in 2004? How many collections are you planning on publishing in the upcoming year?

In 2004 I will be publishing one or two books at most. The same with the following year. After that, if all goes well, I would like to start working up to 4 -6 books a year. I'll never go higher than six books. I want to stay small, even if I have the money to do more. I feel there is a real need to have small presses. They allow people to get published who would never get that chance working in a larger system.

www.palimpsestpress.ca

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