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== | == Description of Ugly Ducking Presse == | ||
The Ugly Duckling Presse is an American nonprofit small publisher that specializes in poetry and nonfiction. The press has published over 400 titles to date, many of which receiving awards such as, “the Lambda Literary Award, the Whiting Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Big Other Book Award, the Bisexual Book Award, the Firecracker Award, the Anna Rabinowitz Award, the Best Translated Book Award, and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.”<ref>https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/ | The Ugly Duckling Presse is an American nonprofit small publisher that specializes in poetry and nonfiction. The press has published over 400 titles to date, many of which receiving awards such as, “the Lambda Literary Award, the Whiting Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Big Other Book Award, the Bisexual Book Award, the Firecracker Award, the Anna Rabinowitz Award, the Best Translated Book Award, and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.”<ref name=":0">[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/ “Mission - Ugly Duckling Presse.” ''Ugly Duckling Presse'', 15 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | ||
=== References | [https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/ ]</ref> The Ugly Duckling Presse favors publishing smaller authors who take more creative liberties with their bookmaking, such as including handmade elements in their chapbooks, broadsides, or books.<ref>[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/event/magic-child-repository-handmade-book-exhibition/ ““Magic Child Repository” Handmade Book Exhibition - Ugly Duckling Presse.” ''Ugly Duckling Presse'', 8 Jan. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/event/magic-child-repository-handmade-book-exhibition/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.]</ref> They are based in Brooklyn, NYC. | ||
== Mission and History == | |||
=== Mission === | |||
The mission of the Ugly Duckling Presse is “to create an experience of art free of expectation, coercion, and utility.”<ref name=":0" /> They do this primarily through publishing works that are unique in their bookmaking or style, or by “forgotten” authors.<ref name=":1">[https://www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/#:~:text=Ugly%20Duckling%20Presse%E2%80%94or%20UDP,has%20had%20many%20lives%20since “Member Spotlight: Ugly Duckling Presse - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.” ''Community of Literary Magazines and Presses'', 24 Oct. 2023, www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/#:~:text=Ugly%20Duckling%20Presse%E2%80%94or%20UDP,has%20had%20many%20lives%20since ]</ref> They have released works such as erasure poetry from Shakespeare<ref>[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/product/nets/ “Nets.” ''Ugly Duckling Presse'', 8 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/product/nets/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/product/nets/ ]</ref>, which goes against the cultural norm of treating his work as sacred. | |||
=== History === | |||
The Ugly Duckling Presse was founded in 2003 and has released more than 400 publications since then. It was founded by the UDP collective, consisting of Matvei Yankelevich, G. L. Ford, Ellie Ga, Yelena Gluzman, Filip Marinovich, Marisol Limon Martinez, and Julien Poirier<ref>[https://www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/#:~:text=While%20members%20overlap%2C%20the%20labor,and%20a%20culture%20of%20collaboration “Member Spotlight: Ugly Duckling Presse - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.” ''Community of Literary Magazines and Presses'', 24 Oct. 2023, www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/.] | |||
[https://www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/#:~:text=While%20members%20overlap%2C%20the%20labor,and%20a%20culture%20of%20collaboration ]</ref>. The UDP Collective was formed by this group of friends and was named after a college zine one of them had started in 1993, incorporating a decade later<ref name=":1" />. Their team as of 2024 consists of Yelena Gluzman, Anna Moschovakis, Daniel Owen, Kyra Simone, Rebekah Smith, Lee Norton, Chuck Kuan, Silvina López Medin, Marine Cornuet, Serena Solin, and Milo Wippermann<ref>[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/participants/ “Welcome to Zscaler Directory Authentication.” ''Uglyducklingpresse.org'', 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/participants/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/participants/ ]</ref>. | |||
In 2006, they became permanently based in Brooklyn, NYC. This one location functions as their nonprofit headquarters, letterpress printshop, and editorial office. They also offer multiple educational services at this location, such as, “seminars, writing workshops, and site tours, and hosts poetry readings, class visits, and specially-tailored book arts classes”<ref>[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/#:~:text=Our%20studio%20%E2%80%94%20located%20at%20The,please%20email%20office@uglyducklingpresse.org “Mission - Ugly Duckling Presse.” ''Ugly Duckling Presse'', 15 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/.] | |||
[https://uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/#:~:text=Our%20studio%20%E2%80%94%20located%20at%20The,please%20email%20office@uglyducklingpresse.org ]</ref>. | |||
In 2013, they initiated the Digital Proofs programs, inspired by author Noel Black who was published by the Ugly Duckling Presse. This helps them maintain one of the Presse’s core values of making literature more accessible<ref name=":1" />. | |||
=== Current Problems === | |||
The Ugly Duckling Presse is plagued with problems most nonprofits and publishers alike face, rolled into one. Unreliable funding threatened UDP in 2018, and with current political climates, this significant part of their budget affects not just UDP, but many other nonprofits<ref>[https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2018/04/ugly-duckling-presse-harbors-unconventional-texts/#:~:text=The%20featured%20editors%20spoke%20gaily,to%20generate%20movement%20from%20it.%E2%80%9D Woodward, Annabelle. “Ugly Duckling Presse Harbors Unconventional Texts.” ''The Brown Daily Herald'', 10 Apr. 2018, www.browndailyherald.com/article/2018/04/ugly-duckling-presse-harbors-unconventional-texts/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2018/04/ugly-duckling-presse-harbors-unconventional-texts/#:~:text=The%20featured%20editors%20spoke%20gaily,to%20generate%20movement%20from%20it.%E2%80%9D ]</ref>. The transition into digital publishing has also affected UDP, as most of their content can be found through a free online resource, as opposed to customers financially supporting the Ugly Duckling Presse through purchases<ref name=":1" />. | |||
== Structure == | |||
The Ugly Duckling Presse only has one location based in Brooklyn, NYC. However, most of the books they have published are available on their website, and are archived through the Online Chapbook Archive and Digital Proofs programs, which make them easier for classroom use<ref name=":1" />. | |||
=== Financial Information === | |||
The Presse is a privately owned nonprofit, and is largely volunteer run with a small part-time employee list<ref>[https://brooklynrail.org/2016/04/criticspage/ugly-duckling-presse/ “Ugly Duckling Presse | the Brooklyn Rail.” ''Brooklynrail.org'', The Brooklyn Rail, 19 Aug. 2024, brooklynrail.org/2016/04/criticspage/ugly-duckling-presse/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://brooklynrail.org/2016/04/criticspage/ugly-duckling-presse/ ]</ref>. | |||
== Publishing Program == | |||
Three publications from Ugly Duckling Presse are Nets by Jen Bervin, Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magadela Zurawski, and Notes of the Phantom Woman. | |||
=== Nets by Jen Bervin === | |||
Nets by Jen Bervin takes traditional Shakespeare sonnets and uses the blackout poetry method to let only a few words and phrases visible to the sonnet and takes on a whole new meaning<ref name=":2">[https://asterismbooks.com/blog/post/10-titles-of-note-ugly-duckling-presse “Asterism Books | Online Bookstore and Wholesale for Independent Publishers.” ''Asterismbooks.com'', 2025, asterismbooks.com/blog/post/10-titles-of-note-ugly-duckling-presse. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.] | |||
[https://asterismbooks.com/blog/post/10-titles-of-note-ugly-duckling-presse ]</ref>. This represents the Ugly Duckling Presse due to their poetic concentration in genre and their trend of finding postmodern meaning in old or “forgotten” texts<ref name=":0" />. The book is available on the UDP website for $14. | |||
[[File:Excerpt from Nets.webp|thumb|An excerpt from Nets<ref>Bervin, Jen, and William Shakespeare. ''Nets''. Brooklyn, Ugly Duckling Presse, 2019. | |||
</ref>]] | |||
=== Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magdalena Zurawski === | |||
Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magdalena Zurawski talks about poetry as a form of literature that has the potential to detach Americans from the hustle culture they’re rooted in<ref name=":2" />. This represents Ugly Duckling Presse values as they have implemented archives and systems in order to make literature more accessible<ref name=":0" />. This is available on the UDP website for $12. | |||
=== Notes of the Phantom Woman by Iana Boukava === | |||
Notes of the Phantom Woman by Iana Boukava is a combination of poetry and informative text, thinking introspectively about natural sciences and facts of life<ref name=":2" />. This represents Ugly Duckling Presse due to their unique way of combining unconventional mediums to create deeper meaning<ref name=":0" />. This text is available on the UDP website for $20. | |||
[[File:Cover of Notes of a Phantom Woman.png|thumb|This is the cover of Notes of a Phantom Woman by Iana Boukava.<ref>Boukava, Iana. ''Notes of a Phantom Woman''. 2018. Brooklyn, NYC, Ugly Duckling Presse, 1 Apr. 2025, p. 88. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025. | |||
</ref>]] | |||
== Audience and Community == | |||
The audience and community for Ugly Duckling Presse is mostly academic. They have specific archives in place for ease of educator use<ref name=":1" />, and most of their published works are by established college professors<ref name=":2" />. | |||
=== Brand Identity === | |||
The Ugly Duckling Presse doesn’t have a well-established brand, which is why their publications are mainly used in academia. | |||
== References == | |||
[[Category:Publishers]] | [[Category:Publishers]] | ||
Latest revision as of 15:53, 17 October 2025
Description of Ugly Ducking Presse
The Ugly Duckling Presse is an American nonprofit small publisher that specializes in poetry and nonfiction. The press has published over 400 titles to date, many of which receiving awards such as, “the Lambda Literary Award, the Whiting Award, the Pushcart Prize, the Big Other Book Award, the Bisexual Book Award, the Firecracker Award, the Anna Rabinowitz Award, the Best Translated Book Award, and the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation.”[1] The Ugly Duckling Presse favors publishing smaller authors who take more creative liberties with their bookmaking, such as including handmade elements in their chapbooks, broadsides, or books.[2] They are based in Brooklyn, NYC.
Mission and History
Mission
The mission of the Ugly Duckling Presse is “to create an experience of art free of expectation, coercion, and utility.”[1] They do this primarily through publishing works that are unique in their bookmaking or style, or by “forgotten” authors.[3] They have released works such as erasure poetry from Shakespeare[4], which goes against the cultural norm of treating his work as sacred.
History
The Ugly Duckling Presse was founded in 2003 and has released more than 400 publications since then. It was founded by the UDP collective, consisting of Matvei Yankelevich, G. L. Ford, Ellie Ga, Yelena Gluzman, Filip Marinovich, Marisol Limon Martinez, and Julien Poirier[5]. The UDP Collective was formed by this group of friends and was named after a college zine one of them had started in 1993, incorporating a decade later[3]. Their team as of 2024 consists of Yelena Gluzman, Anna Moschovakis, Daniel Owen, Kyra Simone, Rebekah Smith, Lee Norton, Chuck Kuan, Silvina López Medin, Marine Cornuet, Serena Solin, and Milo Wippermann[6].
In 2006, they became permanently based in Brooklyn, NYC. This one location functions as their nonprofit headquarters, letterpress printshop, and editorial office. They also offer multiple educational services at this location, such as, “seminars, writing workshops, and site tours, and hosts poetry readings, class visits, and specially-tailored book arts classes”[7].
In 2013, they initiated the Digital Proofs programs, inspired by author Noel Black who was published by the Ugly Duckling Presse. This helps them maintain one of the Presse’s core values of making literature more accessible[3].
Current Problems
The Ugly Duckling Presse is plagued with problems most nonprofits and publishers alike face, rolled into one. Unreliable funding threatened UDP in 2018, and with current political climates, this significant part of their budget affects not just UDP, but many other nonprofits[8]. The transition into digital publishing has also affected UDP, as most of their content can be found through a free online resource, as opposed to customers financially supporting the Ugly Duckling Presse through purchases[3].
Structure
The Ugly Duckling Presse only has one location based in Brooklyn, NYC. However, most of the books they have published are available on their website, and are archived through the Online Chapbook Archive and Digital Proofs programs, which make them easier for classroom use[3].
Financial Information
The Presse is a privately owned nonprofit, and is largely volunteer run with a small part-time employee list[9].
Publishing Program
Three publications from Ugly Duckling Presse are Nets by Jen Bervin, Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magadela Zurawski, and Notes of the Phantom Woman.
Nets by Jen Bervin
Nets by Jen Bervin takes traditional Shakespeare sonnets and uses the blackout poetry method to let only a few words and phrases visible to the sonnet and takes on a whole new meaning[10]. This represents the Ugly Duckling Presse due to their poetic concentration in genre and their trend of finding postmodern meaning in old or “forgotten” texts[1]. The book is available on the UDP website for $14.
Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magdalena Zurawski
Being Human is an Occult Practice by Magdalena Zurawski talks about poetry as a form of literature that has the potential to detach Americans from the hustle culture they’re rooted in[10]. This represents Ugly Duckling Presse values as they have implemented archives and systems in order to make literature more accessible[1]. This is available on the UDP website for $12.
Notes of the Phantom Woman by Iana Boukava
Notes of the Phantom Woman by Iana Boukava is a combination of poetry and informative text, thinking introspectively about natural sciences and facts of life[10]. This represents Ugly Duckling Presse due to their unique way of combining unconventional mediums to create deeper meaning[1]. This text is available on the UDP website for $20.
Audience and Community
The audience and community for Ugly Duckling Presse is mostly academic. They have specific archives in place for ease of educator use[3], and most of their published works are by established college professors[10].
Brand Identity
The Ugly Duckling Presse doesn’t have a well-established brand, which is why their publications are mainly used in academia.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 “Mission - Ugly Duckling Presse.” Ugly Duckling Presse, 15 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ ““Magic Child Repository” Handmade Book Exhibition - Ugly Duckling Presse.” Ugly Duckling Presse, 8 Jan. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/event/magic-child-repository-handmade-book-exhibition/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 “Member Spotlight: Ugly Duckling Presse - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.” Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, 24 Oct. 2023, www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ “Nets.” Ugly Duckling Presse, 8 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/product/nets/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ “Member Spotlight: Ugly Duckling Presse - Community of Literary Magazines and Presses.” Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, 24 Oct. 2023, www.clmp.org/news/member-spotlight-ugly-duckling-presse/.
- ↑ “Welcome to Zscaler Directory Authentication.” Uglyducklingpresse.org, 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/participants/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ “Mission - Ugly Duckling Presse.” Ugly Duckling Presse, 15 Sept. 2025, uglyducklingpresse.org/about/mission/.
- ↑ Woodward, Annabelle. “Ugly Duckling Presse Harbors Unconventional Texts.” The Brown Daily Herald, 10 Apr. 2018, www.browndailyherald.com/article/2018/04/ugly-duckling-presse-harbors-unconventional-texts/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ “Ugly Duckling Presse | the Brooklyn Rail.” Brooklynrail.org, The Brooklyn Rail, 19 Aug. 2024, brooklynrail.org/2016/04/criticspage/ugly-duckling-presse/. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 “Asterism Books | Online Bookstore and Wholesale for Independent Publishers.” Asterismbooks.com, 2025, asterismbooks.com/blog/post/10-titles-of-note-ugly-duckling-presse. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
- ↑ Bervin, Jen, and William Shakespeare. Nets. Brooklyn, Ugly Duckling Presse, 2019.
- ↑ Boukava, Iana. Notes of a Phantom Woman. 2018. Brooklyn, NYC, Ugly Duckling Presse, 1 Apr. 2025, p. 88. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
