Between the Lines: New Issues Press

by Zinta Aistars
for WMUK 102.1 FM
Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate



Between the Lines is my weekly radio show about books and writers with a Michigan connection. It airs every Tuesday at 7:50 a.m., 11:55 a.m., and 4:20 p.m. (or listen anytime online), on WMUK 102.1 FM, Southwest Michigan's NPR affiliate. I am the host of Between the Lines.

This week's guest: William Olsen and Kimberly Kolbe 

Photo courtesy of New Issues Press

When William Olsen got a message from Herbert Scott while vacationing with his wife, Nancy Eimers, in Cornwall, England, he thought his friend and colleague had gone “daft.” It was 1995 and the three poets shared a love of the word. But Olsen thought Herb Scott was overreaching.

“We received a letter from Herb floating an idea that he wanted to start a small press,” Olsen recalls. “It takes so much to get something like that off the ground. But the press became Herb’s calling.”

Scott was undaunted and he charmed Olsen and Eimers, who helped him launch his dream, lining up donations and putting out calls for submissions. New Issues Press was born.

Scott, who was the Gwen Frostic Professor of Creative Writing at Western Michigan University, died in 2006. But he lived to see his dream come true with many new voices in poetry and prose going to press. On Sunday, August 30, New Issues Press celebrates its 20th anniversary at Bell’s Eccentric Café in Kalamazoo from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

“Twenty years for a small press, that’s something of an achievement,” Olsen says. “We always have an annual event, but we want this one to be extra special.” It will feature a 45-minute reading by several New Issues Press authors as well as music and an art sale. New Issues Press books will also be available. Suggested donations at the door are $10 ($5 for students).

“The reading will be introduced by (Kalamazoo) Mayor Bobby Hopewell, who will say a few words about our community and the arts,” Olsen says. “And there will be ..."

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