A Brief History
So Many Birds publishing [SMBp] was an independent not-for-profit small press which produced quality chapbooks for writers, artists, and musicians. Elegant and cost-effective, these books afforded those who published under the SMBp name an excellent opportunity to introduce their work to the general public, offering them greater recognition in the community.
Founded by Stephen Jackson in Eugene, Oregon in 1999, the first two chapbooks created for SMBp, Fifteen and Saturnine Lives, were of his own work. The response to the quality of the design and craftsmanship led him to enlist others to entrust SMBp with the production of their own books.
In 2000, SMBp relocated to Seattle, Washington and began scouting for writers whose work deserved a wider audience than the local cafe’s open mic night. Between 2000-03, SMBp published eight chapbooks and one bound book for seven individual writers and one musician.
In 2002, SMBp created Future+Present — a biannual chapbook-style publication with original cover art by local artists. Each issue featured a selection of work from five poets aged 25-and-under who lived in the Seattle area and had not previously been published.
SMBp became a “family of writers,” dedicated not only to the promotion of a writer’s work through book release events and various readings, but also by holding regular meet-ups where writers could discuss their own and each other’s work. These “gatherings” would often turn into spontaneous private readings.
In 2003, Jackson joined forces with Brendan Kiley to develop, design, and produce Harness literary magazine. Working throughout its entire run under the pseudonyms of editors Clyde Tombaugh and Claude Souvenir [Jackson and Kiley, respectively], their true identities were never revealed.
At this time, SMBp stopped producing individual chapbooks and, after three successful issues, ceased publication of Future+Present. With the work of twenty-five talented writers published under the So Many Birds name, SMBp redirected its energy solely into the new literary magazine.
Harness held to SMBp’s original goal of focusing on the local writing community while aiming to publish the work of more established writers. Maintaining a humorous and surrealist bent, it presented itself as “an international publication seeking enough gas money to get beyond Seattle’s city limits.”
The name derived from a line by poet Vanessa Sooy, “poetry is a rat-sized harness / for the Martian horse / inside us.” Jackson had envisioned an extension of the metaphor as an opportunity to harness the energy of the Seattle writing community, as many outside publications either neglected, or were simply unaware of, the burgeoning scene.
The first year of Harness included original fiction, poetry, plays, essays, and oddities from the likes of Rebecca Brown, Robert Glück, Gregory Hischak, Yves Jaques, Brendan Kiley, Stacey Levine, Camille Roy, Matthew Stadler, Joshua Marie Wilkinson, Deborah Woodard, and playwright Wayne Rawley.
Interviews included Pulizer prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell, Egyptian poet Mohammed Metwalli, as well as Christina Nation and Karyna McGlynn, who represented Seattle in the 2003 National Poetry Slam. Michael Franti of Spearhead was featured in an article on hip-hop as literature — part of an ongoing series of essays by editor Brendan Kiley [writing as Souvenir], which also included a feature on a poetry workshop for juvenile felons.
In addition, there were appearances by Sherman Alexie, Christopher Frizzelle of The Stranger, and De Kwok of Tablet magazine. Regular columnists included Greg Bachar [“Lives in Seattle”] and David LaTerre [“Atlantic & Pacific”].
Later issues included new work from writers J. Wesley Fullerton, Elizabeth Alexander, Julianna Spallholz, Michael C. Boyko, Frank Montesonti, Aaron Burch, Crysta Casey, playwritght Tommy Smith, Vanessa Sooy, and Stokely Towles, and featured original artwork from Willow Bittner and Max Moore — who imagined the likenesses of “Clyde and Claude” for the cover of the first anniversary issue.
Featured essays appeared from Selah Saterstrom on Japanese haibun, and Brendan Kiley [as Souvenir] on language and dance, including an interview with internationally renowned Israeli choreographer Ohad Nahirin of the Batsheva Dance Company, while James D. Newman [“Ascensions & Eclipses”] was added as a regular columnist and Maged Zaher [“A Book Considered”] as book reviewer.
Returning features and reader favorites included the “Get Listed!” guide to local poetry readings for the greater Northwest area, “Ex Nihilo,” in which fictional readers submitted “self-generated art,” and the “Who’s reading?” column, where local and national writers and/or the person-on-the-street were pitted against each other in their reading and writing habits.
Please check back on occasion as additional information about So Many Bird publishing, Harness literary magazine, and Future+Present is added, including images and excerpts.
Stephen Jackson 