The mission of Backwoods Literary Press is to reclaim, expand, and document narratives about rural and small towns and reservations.
In the era of book bans and attempts to control what information we have access to, we publish and support diverse artists with relationships to rural places— namely LGBTQIA2S+ folks.
By documenting and sharing these stories, we are expanding understandings of rural culture through publications, digital media, and in-person and virtual events.
Photo by Trish J. Gibson
Reclaiming the Narrative
Documentation is political. Who gets remembered and how their story is told is often controlled by those who are at the top of power structures that do not serve the majority of us. The power of writing is in being able to tell the truth, and the power of documenting is in having access to being believed. When history is being meticulously erased, and has been for centuries, it is our responsibility to create an archive of who we actually are, not who power structures say we are. By documenting our truths, in our way, we pave a path for future generations to be informed by our true experiences.
