Puckerbrush Press

from Maine Perspective, University of Maine 10/21/1996, reprinted with permission

AUTHORS HAVE BEEN MAKING INROADS INTO THE LITERARY WORLD

FOR 25 YEARS VIA PUCKERBRUSH PRESS

One of Maine's foremost private presses is observing its 25th anniversary and next month, its founder will be honored by the many authors she has published, the aspiring writers she has mentored and the colleagues who have watched her leave an indelible mark on the state's literary community.

University of Maine Professor of English Constance Hunting and her contributions to literature via the Orono-based Puckerbrush Press and the biannual literary magazine, Puckerbrush Review, will be celebrated at a reception Thursday, Nov. 7, 4-6 p.m., in the Lynch Room of Fogler Library. Members of the University community are invited to join invited guests who include the more than 40 authors who have had works published in the Review.

One of the hallmarks of the Puckerbrush Press legacy is the publication of authors who were first published by the Press or in the Review and subsequently went on to even wider literary recognition, including James Kelman, Carolyn Chute and Sanford Phippen. In its 25 years, the Press has succeeded in publishing works by and about renowned writer May Sarton, and equally exciting efforts by up-and-coming or first-time authors such as Tema Nason, Patricia Ranzoni and Lee Sharkey.

For these authors living in Maine, across the country and the globe, theirs has been an intimate interaction with Hunting and her small press as they have corresponded regularly during the past quarter century. Ironically, Hunting has never met a number of these authors, including a Benedictine nun living in Bethlehem, Conn., who has had three books of poetry published by the Press. What binds them is a love of language and literature.

"Language is a mystery," says Hunting, a poet and widely published author. "How you know when something is right, I can't tell you. Part of the mystery of language is the cluster of resonance that surrounds a certain word like an aura. Some people use thesauri and think synonyms are equal, and as a result, they are attempting to communicate rather than to make something."

"Caring about literature, what I regard as good literature, is very personal, but I've swum about in this element all my life and feel I can choose what I like."

Hunting's first book was published by Scribners in 1969. With the royalties she started Puckerbrush Press in 1971, which was early in the generation of small presses in Maine. The Review followed seven years later.

"I have always been interested in anything having to do with writing and with publishing--from the paper to the process to the actual publication," she says. "As a Virginia Woolf aficionado, I have an interest in the Hogarth Press and those of the 1920s. I also naively believe that there is room for all sorts of presses and literary endeavors."

Puckerbrush started with "very small plans--one book at a time," says Hunting. "It was an adventure for me, a process of gaining enough capital by one book to publish the next. I've been publishing things I believe should be in print--works I enjoy and others might enjoy. these are books that are not going to be on a national best-seller list. Instead, they are part of a literary enterprise--experimental, probably elitist, and done for the love of literature."

Literature published by Puckerbrush either contains Maine or English/European threads, according to Hunting. There are works like those of Phippen, whose first collection of Down East stories, The Police Know Everything, was published by the Press. Publishing first-works of such Maine authors is a particular pleasure of owning a small press, says Hunting, an early member of the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance.

And then there are translations that Hunting has sought out, like Leonard Wolf's translation of Checkov's notebooks and Maxim Gorky's Reminiscences of Tolstoy that will be saved from obscurity with their republication as a combined volume next month.

"One of the pleasures of a small press is you need not think in terms of best sellers," says Hunting. Instead, books are printed in quantities up to 1,000 at a time, sales are steady through mailorder and few titles go out of print; only four Puckerbrush titles are out of print.

Sarton's Writings on Writing and Phippen's The Police, both in their 11th printings, and An Old Pub Near the Angel, the first published work by Kelman, winner of the Booker Prize two years ago, are all considered "best-sellers" by small press standards.

Having been selected by Hunting for publication by Puckerbrush speaks to the literary quality and contributions of the works. All have stories behind them, like Dearest Andrew, a collection of letters between a famous British writer and a former American actor who retired to Maine. Edited by Nancy MacKnight, the popular volume was first published by Scribners, but the original press plates were lost in a warehouse fire. Puckerbrush was permitted to republish the book, which continues to be a strong seller, especially among garden enthusiasts.

Similarly unique works that continue to be popular include Notes from Sick Rooms, an essay by Mrs. Leslie Stephen, mother of Virginia Woolf, that was published in 1883. Printed as a facsimile by Puckerbrush, it is still requested by hospitals and by Woolf scholars who can trace similar literary style and sense of humor between mother and daughter.

An average of 10 manuscripts are submitted to Puckerbrush every week; two to four works are published annually. The literary energy and level of activity that Hunting found in Maine remains stronger than ever, and the reach of the Press ever-increasingly extends beyond the state. In her role as a mentor and a gate-keeper to the literary world, Hunting takes pride in pointing to authors like Mary Gray Hughes, the first author published by the Press, whose 1992 work of fiction was favorably reviewed by the New York Times; and Nason, who wrote a well-received novel. Their success reflects back on Puckerbrush.

"The continuity of the Press has made a difference in its credibility and ability to keep the dialogue going," says Hunting. "As for the future, I will continue to wait for the mail. In a way, that is the most exciting part."

ALSO:

http://www.ume.maine.edu/~npf/cat53.html

table of contents

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BOOK ORDER

TO: Puckerbrush Press

76 Main Street

Orono, ME 04473

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____ COPIES CLAIMING , ISBN 0-913006-59-9, @ $8.95 plus $1.50 shipping ___________

_____ COPIES SETTLING , ISBN 0-913006-73-4, @ $14.95 plus $2.00 shipping ___________

TOTAL ENCLOSED ___________

Please make checks payable to Puckerbrush Press.

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Patricia Ranzoni's books can also be ordered through any bookstore, and will always be available through BookStacks, her hometown bookshop.

At this time, Claiming is available through Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com where back cover material can be viewed.