Sometimes, when the mission is clear and the heart is aligned with that mission, recognition and success come quick.
BLF Press, based in Clayton, published their first collection in 2016. Dedicated to “amplifying the work of women of color” and providing a a space for “forward thinking, creative women of exceptional talent,” their titles have been widely reviewed and praised.
Authors include Krystal A. Smith, whose short-story collection, Two Moons: Stories, was published this month.
Solace, a collection of poetry and prose (January, 2017), was a 2017 Foreword Review INDIES Book of the Year finalist (LGBT: Adult Nonfiction). The anthology Lez Talk, a collection of short fiction by black lesbian writers, has garnered glowing reviews in Library Journal and Atticus Review, and was named a 2017 Goldie Finalist by the Golden Crown Literary Society.
BLF Press is currently seeking submissions for the anthology Black From the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing. They also are open year-round to “various types of literary work,” especially work that centers around “women of color and same gender loving women.” They publish prose manuscripts that are between 40 and 80K words and poetry manuscripts that are at least 50 pages.
Like many small presses, BLF is deeply involved with the community they serve. Founding editor Stephanie Andrea Allen is available to speak to classrooms by video chat, as part of the Higher Learning Diverse Books program, which seeks to increase black lesbian and queer writers of color representation in the classroom.