Tulane University Special Collections Acquires Collection of Antenna Press publications
Tulane University Special Collections (TUSC) is pleased to announce the acquisition of nearly a complete record of Antenna Press publications, from the beginning of the press as a small printing shop on Press Street in 2005 to today. The collection archives over 70 multidisciplinary works of fiction, poetry, illustration, memoirs, essays, art, performance, and photography. Among the local and regional writers and artists represented in the collection are Kalamu ya Salaam, Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo, Brad Richard, Brad Benischek, Caesar Meadows, Polo Silk, Tiana Nobile, Kate Lacour, Barbara Hammond, Theral Harris, Lorna Williams, Sarah White, John Slade, Santos Calavera, S*an D. Henry-Smith, and Imani Elizabeth Jackson.
Antenna Press is the publishing arm of Antenna, a multidisciplinary cultural institution in New Orleans. It focuses on the production of projects at the intersection of gender and identity, the environment, equity, renewable resources, abolition, restorative justice, and the histories of the Gulf South by local, regional, and national contributors. All books are printed at Antenna’s Paper Machine, a print shop and bookbindery located in the Lower Ninth Ward. Paper Machine is one of the few places in New Orleans dedicated to promoting book arts and providing opportunities and resources for printing, bookbinding, and self-publishing.
Antenna Press began in 2005 as a non-profit literary and visual arts collective known as Press Street. Through local partnerships and community outreach, Press Street/Antenna organized performances, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, readings, and Draw-A-thons. In 2006 it produced its first book, INTERSECTION/NEW ORLEANS, a collaboration between 25 writers and 25 artists inspired by 25 specific street intersections in New Orleans. In 2017, Paper Machine, an independent and artists driven print shop, began operating under the Antenna umbrella. It produced an array of collaborative books, chapbooks, and artists' books, under the imprint of Antenna Press. ‘Antenna Press is part of New Orleans lineage of small book publishers. We are currently one of the only small press imprints in the Gulf South region. We use our energy and resources to publish the book-based ideas of artists and writers from this under-represented region.” says Jessica Peterson, Paper Machine Distributions and Outreach Coordinator.
“The acquisition of the Antenna Press publications by Tulane Libraries is an important addition to our growing collection of local, national, and international fine, private, and independent, small presses such as Loujon Press, Cheap Street Press, Perishable Press, Cuala Press, Kelmscott Press, and Wattle Grove Press. TUSC is honored to be stewards of the collection. We hope the acquisition will evolve into an exciting partnership between Antenna Press and TUSC to promote book arts and local and regional book artists and printers,” says Agnieszka Czeblakow, curator of rare books. “This acquisition validates the work Antenna Press has accomplished over the last 18 years. We are so excited to have a home in Tulane Special Collections, to preserve our legacy and have our titles accessible to researchers and students”, says Peterson.
The collection is currently being cataloged and will be open and accessible to the public within the next few months. Class visits are welcome and faculty members interested in all facets of book arts and contemporary printing are encouraged to create course activities and assignments around the collection.
For more information, contact Agnieszka Czeblakow at aczeblakow@tulane.edu. To learn more about Tulane University Special Collections, visit the TUSC website at library.tulane.edu/tusc, or follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
Photo Caption: Selections from Antenna Press publications.
9/28/2023
