For twenty years, with over 900 titles, Haymarket Books has published literary luminaries such as Angela Y. Davis, Arundhati Roy, Eve L. Ewing, José Olivarez, Howard Zinn, and many more. I’d argue that some of the most politically important books in this country are being published by Haymarket—living up to the tagline on their website: “Books for changing the world.” If you’re seeking timely books that engage with social justice issues, look to Haymarket. While they are an independent publisher, they’re also a nonprofit and have human rights initiatives you won’t find at other small presses, such as Free Books for a Free Palestine. And because of their nonprofit status, they can accept donations, enabling them—in the words of editor Dao Tran—“to be more expansive in our publishing decisions and less focused on the tyranny of P&L calculations for every title.”
Tran, who has been with Haymarket Books since its founding in 2001 with the publication of their first title, The Struggle for Palestine, and I spoke about Haymarket’s vibrant past and forthcoming titles.
Tran began as a corporate proofreader, editing manuscripts pro bono. She has worked on many aspects of the publication process since then, including acquisition, developmental editing, copyediting, as well as project management. I asked about her day-to-day activities. “A day at Haymarket for me might be a couple meetings—with the editorial board, with other staff in the marketing and publicity or production departments, or with authors and editors for projects in progress. I might attend a talk, workshop, or showcase for some fellowship program, scouting for people and projects I’d like to work with. Some days involve research and keeping up with political and publishing trade developments. Other days I reserve a good chunk [of time] for evaluating proposals and editing manuscripts. “
“Visualizing Palestine, edited by Jessica Anderson, Aline Batarseh, and Yosra El Gazzar, presents 200 full-color infographics of Israeli settler colonialism and the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation. For obvious reasons, this one is timely and necessary.”
THE TEAM
Tran is one of about thirty people currently at Haymarket, and their editorial board includes staff from across the organization. Tran says all staff are encouraged to be both ambassadors for Haymarket’s work and scouts for potential projects. “There’s a deep commitment for people to work on what excites and motivates them, which I think also leads to many folks being eager to champion authors and projects they love and to being resourceful when it comes to growing into new roles or finding the right editor-author matches, for example.”
Further, she says while Haymarket is first and foremost a publisher, they don’t define that mission narrowly. They see themselves as part of an ecosystem of independent publishers, cultural institutions, political education projects, and organizing efforts in which they have many vital collaborators. Haymarket “ultimately depends on the strength of the social movements and institutions that we hope we can be in service of and contribute to building,” she says.
Tran is passionate about uplifting seldom-heard stories. She finds curiosity about our world essential, so work that has an inquisitive stance appeals to her. She doesn’t think everything needs to be a primer or a manifesto. She’s most keen to work with writers and projects that seek to be immersive, illuminating, rigorous, and even paradigm-shifting. She noted, “Sometimes we love an author or project, but with our [publishing] seasons usually being pretty full and being mindful of our internal capacity, we tend to accept books that really meet the moment and have something crucial and original to share. Something I’ve (maybe paradoxically) encouraged authors to think about is that not everything has to be a book! We really need to weigh if a book is the best form for a project or intervention. I’ve been thinking about what Naomi Klein says in her latest, Doppleganger (I’m paraphrasing here), that words and books are important, but they don’t in and of themselves have the capacity to change the world. It’s when they connect with people, and in particular, people who take action, that they matter most. So authors need to think about their audience and if their writing says something new and important, and also how their writing is expressing those new, important ideas. And related to the question you asked about Haymarket House and our other program Initiatives, like Books Not Bars and the Writing Freedom fellowship, even if we don’t take on a book project, we might be able to collaborate in other impactful ways.”
“Enemy Feminisms, by Sophie Lewis, breaks down the feminisms that we dismiss at our own peril—TERFs, white feminism, “girlboss” feminism—and pinpoints the need for truly radical anti-fascist, left transfeminism.”
BOOKS NOT BARS
In addition to Free Books for a Free Palestine, another Haymarket initiative is Books Not Bars, which makes their titles available for free to people who are incarcerated. The initiative is a way the press can support individuals dealing with the violence of the prison system. “Books Not Bars developed organically out of our strong abolitionist titles,” Tran said. “We were being approached to donate books on a very regular basis and we realized that we had both the capacity and resources to share books more systematically with people who are incarcerated. The initiative grew quickly through word of mouth of those inside, and we’ve been thrilled to donate many thousands of books to individuals and organizations across abolitionist and anti-carceral movements.”
“Country Queers: A Love Letter—curated and edited by Rae Garringer—is a memoir/oral history collection/photobook that makes an essential contribution by illuminating small town and rural queer life. Motivated by intense frustration with the scarcity of rural queer stories and the isolation that comes with that lack, Rae has been steadfastly working on this project for a decade, and we can’t wait for this one to hit library and bookstore shelves.”
HAYMARKET HOUSE
Another endeavor is its physical space to host political, cultural, literary, and community events: Haymarket House. Located in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, Haymarket House is described as a place to “uplift the work of writers, artists, thinkers, and educators who are committed to all struggles for a better world.” Tran noted the aim was to have a “physical embodiment of a collective literary and political imagination. And it’s proving to be a truly transformative movement and cultural space that we’re thrilled to share with hundreds of organizations over the couple of years it’s been open. We’ve hosted political, literary, organizing, and cultural events, including book launches, poetry readings, convenings, lectures, trainings, organizing and fundraising events, art builds, and more. That a former mansion can be the setting for folks to grow deep roots and play a critical role in Chicago’s culture of resistance is satisfying, no? We’re hosting an immersive play this fall on book banning, so that’s a little something fun to look forward to. We also have multiple book discussion groups coming up as well.”
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