West Warwick Public Library Press
Since 2020, the West Warwick Public Library Press has conducted five workshop incubators that have resulted in five published anthologies. These workshops are designed to support new and early-career writers from marginalized and underrepresented communities and provide real experience with the editing and publishing process while fostering creative community.
Afterthoughts, 2024
Servicemen are often thanked but seldom understood.
Afterthoughts is a multi-genre collection of fiction and poetry by Rhode Island Veterans that explores themes of comradery, service, disillusionment, and the duality of civilian-soldier identity.
The authors featured in these pages offer an unflinching look at the people behind the uniform, sharing not only their challenges and traumas, but their passions, joys, humor, and triumphs. You'll find intimate works about warfare and violence, but also works about hope, community, aggressive AIs, and fishing on Block Island with zombies. But most of all, you'll find stories about he love and relationships worth fighting for.
Featuring the work of Benjamin Fortier, John Gillard, Patrick Lachey, Tom Morissey, SSgt. Jacob Parkinson, Vincent Scirocco, and Dennis Zambrotta.
The Shape of Home, 2022
What exactly does "home" mean when you've moved from one country to another, fled everything you once knew, or witnessed the destruction of the place you loved? The Shape of Home explores themes of place, motherhood, community, and identity through the stories and poetry of seven Middle Eastern and North African women.
The tales within this book cross regions and countries and span time and space, but they seek community--whether through found family in a new place, lifelong neighbors pulling together despite adversity, or the resolve to build something new. These are stories that walk the lines of duality between connection and isolation, tradition and innovation, acceptance and rejection, and in the end, they teach us that some of the most rewarding choices are not either or, but both.
The true shape of home is what you make it.
Featuring the work of Nayiri Baboudjian Bouchakjian, Alizeh Farhad, Maryam Ghatee, Malack Jallad, Jowan Nabha, Koloud Fawzi Omar Abdul Aziz Tarapolsi, and Gizem Zencirci.
Voices of the Prism, 2022
Just as a prism splits white light into color, the nine Rhode Island authors in this collection break fiction into a spectrum of genres. From romance to horror, these tales cover a range of styles, themes, and experiences.
Join a reluctant hero with a big heart on a dangerous quest, or navigate the cruel halls of high school with a young witch. Remember love found and lost over the course of a lifetime, or battle with dead men and addiction. Punch in at the Office to make sure the Product flows on time, or grab your gear and cross the galaxy to save beautiful creatures on strange worlds. You may even discover the dark secret of Begonia Drive...if you dare.
Celebrate the colors that shape our lives with Voices of the Prism.
Featuring the work of Lou Blair, Sarah DeCataldo, A.M.H. Devine, Theresa Katin, C. H. Kim, Nathan Moone, K. Parr, Charles Reis, and Lauren Starnino.
Voices of the Warp and Weft, 2021
In this collection you'll find tales and poetry from six Indigenous authors from tribes across the United States. The passions and stories of these young writers span a variety of genres, from psychological horror and science fiction to fables and fantasy. Join a young academic as her eyes are opened to the truth buried in the bones of an institution, or find out what really happened on the night of a troubled woman's last drive. Gather your family for a fable about unlikely friendship, or adopt different perspectives through poetry. Perhaps you'll accept an unusual stranger's invitation to a night at a gallery unlike any other, or take up arms with a soldier who stands between a vicious enemy and the last of the human race. No matter which world you turn to, whether it's inhabited by familiar woodland friends, a terrible contagion, or unquiet bones, each one is sure to weave the familiar with the new in a cover to cover experience of fear, heartache, family, and hope.
Featuring the work of Abi Bentium, Rachel Gruner, Madeleine Hutchins, V.N. Keane, Leah Olson, Angel Beth Smith, and Gola Yona.
Voices of the Lost Year, 2020
In this collection you'll find tales from eight Rhode Island teens across a variety of genres. Join a young woman in a technologically advanced utopia who has to make a big choice, or discover the dark secret of an artist's touch. Will you accept an invitation from an estranged father with a disturbing secret, or join a bold young woman in a fight for justice? Perhaps you'll find the beast within amid a crumbling kingdom or lift an ancient curse below the waves. Walk a ways down quiet suburban streets, but are you sure you're alone? A bargain is waiting for you in the deep, dark woods, if you'll pay the price.
Featuring the work of Toshiro Brooks, Ali Bryant, Kaia Dahlin, Kerith Fontenault, Theresa Katin, Nathan Moone, Linden Philo, and Brianna Timpson.
A huge thank you to our community partners, funders, and all who have supported WWPL Press!
Leila Aboulela | Linda Addison | Mai Al-Nakib | Dima Alzayat | Jennifer Dugan | Omar El Akkad | Rajia Hassib | Stephen Graham Jones | Silvermoon LaRose | Dr. Darcie Little Badger | Dr. Melissa Michaels-Slocum | Sahar Mustafa | Mark Oshiro | Dawn Quigley | Andrea Rogers | Alyssa Taft | Carlisle Webber | Brian Young