Dzanc Books was created in 2006 to advance great writing and to impact communities nationally with our efforts to advance literary readership and advocacy of creative writing workshops and readings offered across the country. As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, Dzanc:
- Publishes innovative and award-winning literary fiction, including short story collections and novels by accomplished and award-winning writers such as Roy Kesey, Yannick Murphy, Peter Markus, Hesh Kestin, Kyle Minor, Michael Czyzniejewski, Suzanne Burns, Peter Selgin, Laura van den Berg, Robert Lopez, Dawn Raffel, Jeff Parker, Terese Svoboda, and Henning Koch
- Supports several editorially-independent imprints and literary journals, including Black Lawrence Press, OV Books, Keyhole Press, Starcherone, Monkeybicycle, and Absinthe: New European Writing
- Publishes The Collagist, a monthly online literary journal launched in August 2009
- Recognizes the best stories, poems, and non-fiction published online through the Best of the Web anthology series, now in its third year
- Provides low-cost writing instruction to beginning and emerging writers by connecting them with accomplished authors through the innovative Dzanc Creative Writing Sessions
- Runs the Dzanc Writers-in-Residence Program, which places published authors in public schools to teach creative writing to elementary and secondary students
- Conducts the yearly Dzanc Prize, which recognizes a single writer for both literary excellence and community service, as well as an annual short story collection competition
- Organizes the Disquiet International Literary Program, a writing conference held in Lisbon, Portugal
- Creates internship opportunities for students looking to gain valuable experience in independent publishing
Staff
Steven Gillis – Founder and Publisher
Steven Gillis is the author of Walter Falls, The Weight of Nothing, Giraffes, Temporary People, and, most recently The Consequence of Skating (October 2010). His stories, articles, and book reviews have appeared in over four dozen journals, and his books have been finalists for the Independent Publishers Book of the Year Award and the ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year. A three-year member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival Board of Directors, and a finalist for the 2007 Ann Arbor News Citizen of the Year, Steve taught writing at Eastern Michigan University. All proceeds from Steve's writing go to help support Dzanc Books.
Contact: steve@dzancbooks.org
Dan Wickett – Executive Director and Publisher
In 2000, Dan founded the Emerging Writers Network by reviewing Alyson Hagy’s Keeneland and emailing the review to twenty-one individuals. Throughout the years, Dan has continued to develop the EWN by adding interviews, e-panels, and other literary reporting to the itinerary and developing a database website for storage of these, as well as a blog for more daily topic discussion. The EWN currently has over 2600 members. Visiting Hours, an anthology of short stories edited by Wickett, was published by Press 53 in late 2008.
Contact: dan@dzancbooks.org
Matt Bell – Editor
Matt Bell is the author of How They Were Found, a collection of fiction, and Cataclysm Baby, a novella. His fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Hayden's Ferry Review, Gulf Coast, Willow Springs, Unsaid, and American Short Fiction, and has been anthologized in Best American Mystery Stories 2010, Best American Fantasy 2, and 30 Under 30: An Anthology of Innovative Younger Writers.
Contact: matt@dzancbooks.org
Steven Seighman – Art Design
Steven Seighman is a graphic designer, screen printer, and several other things. In 2002 he started Monkeybicycle, a small literary journal and Web site which, among other things, has been represented in two editions of The Best American Nonrequired Reading anthology (2005 and 2007). At Monkeybicycle, he handles the editing, web management and design work, as well as many other things. He received a degree in Graphic Design from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
Contact: stevens@dzancbooks.org
Other Dzanc Staff
Cover Designer: Amanda Jones
Sales Manager: Lisa Hickman (Contact: lisa@dzancbooks.org)
eBook Production: Ethan Price, Nelly Schwartz
The Collagist staff
Editor: Matt Bell
Poetry Editor: Matthew Olzmann
Book Review Editor: Gabriel Blackwell
Blog Editor: Joseph Scapellato
Podcast Editor: Bess Winters
Current Interns
Tyler Gobble, Marie Schutt, J.A. Tyler, Christopher Bowen, Maura Bradley, Chloe Caldwell, Adrienne Crezo, Marie Dandie, Todd Doan, Manda Frederick, Nelly Schwartz, Michael Seidlinger, Alex Thornber
Dzanc Advisors
Fred Ramey, Jessica Stocton Bagnulo, Karl Pohrt
Dzanc Emeritus
Editor: Keith Taylor
Interns: Jamie Allen, Michael Baccam, Amy Bowers, Adrienne Crezo, Elizabeth Dougherty, Aaron Fai, Natasha Stagg, Cammy Middour, Erin Mittendorf, Anna Prushinskaya, Wesley Schoenherr, Sara Steenbergh, Stephen Torres, Allorah Wyman, Ngoc Doan, Gabe Durham, Claire Evelyn Fields, Jonathan Fullmer, Maximus kim, Spencer Kimball, Arley McNeney, C.J. Oppenhauser, Heather Palmer, Isaiah Peet-Blakeney, Allison Peters, Cynthia Romanowski, Laura Snider, Brandon Hobsen, Spencer Peterson