Raleigh is welcoming two new additions to its growing literary scene as two publishing groups begin their operations in the City of Oaks this year. Their arrival is expected to bring new opportunities for local authors and contribute to the evolving literary landscape in our state’s capital.
These two groups, Serving House Books and Broken Tribe Press, both have come under the ownership of William Lawrence, a lecturer for the Department of English at NC State.
The first of these groups, Serving House Books, was passed on to Lawrence from its founders after they both retired.
Lawrence mentioned the opportunity brings to newer, younger writers and older, more experienced writers alike as a perk of the additions.
“[Giving] new writers an opportunity to get them a start, but also at the same time, to reignite older authors who have been kind of neglected and left behind by their big presses,” Lawrence said. “[The previous publishers] brought those older books back to life and even gave [their authors] a new opportunity to publish new books.”
This international publishing group is deemed a literary press, meaning they engage with a high standard of literature and often republish award-winning books for second editions after they have been neglected by larger publishing groups.
Lawrence is currently working on publishing a smaller set of books in December of this year with Serving House Books but plans to publish a much larger volume of books in the coming year.
The other publishing group under the supervision of Lawrence, Broken Tribe Press, aims to bring a voice to alternative and experimental writers.
“Broken Tribe is a little bit edgier and more experimental,” Lawrence said. “[There are] so many writers out there. … I call them literary wanderers.”
Sally Parlier, a lecturer for the Department of English and a fiction reviewer for Broken Tribe Press, spoke more to the experimental and edgy style of the publishing group.
“The goal of Broken Tribe Press is to find voices in literature that aren’t necessarily in the mainstream,” Parlier said. “We try to frame our mindset in a way that this is beyond conventional thinking about genre.”
Broken Tribe Press also has future plans that appeal to North Carolina, Raleigh and even NC State.
Lawrence detailed what he deemed “The American Series,” a long-term project that will highlight authors from across the United States, including North Carolina. Each year, a group of states will be featured in a submission-based contest in which the winners will be published.
Lawrence also mentions Broken Tribe Press’ interaction with North Carolina in the coming year in a new journal published that highlights authors associated with the publishing group.
“The second volume next year will really be only North [Carolinians,]” Lawrence said. “A good number of them [from] Raleigh and probably a good number of them from NC State.”
Broken Tribe Press also caters to individuals who have recently graduated from a Master of Fine Arts program, through its MFA Award Project. Lawrence spoke of his experience with the struggles recent MFA graduates face.
“I see a lot of people graduate from MFA programs and they just kind of seem like they wander off,” Lawrence said. “[The project is] something that publishes somebody and gives them an opportunity.”
As a fiction reviewer for the contests that Broken Tribe Press holds, Parlier explained how the group brings opportunities for inclusion in the publishing world.
“We want to encourage unheard voices,” Parlier said. “When I’m going into a bookstore, what titles am I not seeing that I want to see?”
With both Serving House Books and Broken Tribe Press moving to Raleigh, residents are sure to see an impact on the growing literary scene in North Carolina, both on campus and state-wide.
