What a year it’s been. Through all the awful of the last months, we’ve had a big bright spot here in Gold Leaf land (besides getting our vaccines!): July 2021 brings us to 5 years in business!
We’ve got some fun ways we’ll be celebrating that in the months ahead, so make sure you’re on our newsletter list and follow us on Instagram (@goldleafliterary) for giveaways, news, and other five-year fun!
In 2021, we’ve had, and have, the honor to work on a number of great projects. We continued our ongoing work with Alan Gratz (Ground Zero), Denise Kiernan (We Gather Together), Joe D’Agnese, aka Joey D (Sorceress Kringle), Jo Watson Hackl (Smack Dab in the Middle of Maybe), and Joseph Snyder (Baltimore and Ohio), and added Adrienne Young (Namesake), Isabel Ibañez (Written in Starlight), and Rebecca Hanover (The Similars) to the fold.
We got to help launch, and continue to support, Kim Ruehl’s fabulous biography of a little known and exceptional woman, A Singing Army: Zilphia Horton and the Highlander Folk School. Want to know how “This Little Light of Mine” and “We Shall Overcome” became the powerful protest songs we know and love? Read this book.
Working with one of our favorite publishers, Blair, we’re helping get the word out about To Drink from the Well: The Struggle for Racial Equality at the Nation’s Oldest Public University by Geeta N. Kapur, a look at the long tail of racism going all the way back to the literal foundation of the school and including the legal battles for black students to attend in the 1950s. It pubs September 21.
We started new projects with Ruth Behar (Letters from Cuba/Cartas de Cuba), Shannon Hitchcock (She Sang for the Mountains), and Lisa Williams Kline (One Week of the Heart), and continued work with Bobbie Pyron (Stay), Dr. Jack Allison (The Warm Heart of Africa), and Matthew Duffus (Dunbar’s Folly).
We’ve helped set the stage for Literally the Coolest Book, an illustrated romp through what “literally” really means, written by Levi Plesset and illustrated by Genevieve duCharme-Hill (coming next month from Asheville’s Pisgah Press)!
We’re also gearing up for a new linked short story collection coming from stellar writer and human Heather Newton in January called McMullen Circle. Plus a new one from Christopher Brookhouse out next month, Messing with Men.
Our May We Introduce? Program, bringing authors to schools virtually and partnering with indie bookstores, kept us sane and connected this last year. As things remain a little on the iffy side for schools this coming year, we’ll continue that program through at least the 2021-22 school year.
Caroline and Lauren will teach the Literary Ecosystem class for the Great Smokies Writing Program again this fall, so if you know anyone who wants a primer on the book industry and likes their learning with lots of laughs, please share the link with them.
Add in our consulting and editing clients and we’re keeping plenty busy! Here’s to many months and years ahead. Thanks for joining us on this journey!