THANK YOU for being part of our 2016

“Gratitude compels the recognition that we exist because of the gifts of others, that we are all connected. And gratitude reminds you that you already have everything you need, and is thus a restraint on consumption. Practicing gratitude in a consumer society is a powerful act of resistance.”

—ROBIN WALL KIMMERER

In many respects, 2016 feels like a year that has mostly taken: from the notable artists we’ve lost—including two of our own, Max Ritvo and Phebe Hanson—to the countless assaults on the bodies and fundamental rights of our brothers and sisters, our environment, and our democracy. At this moment, when the losses are so tangible and when consumerism is at its height, we offer our deepest gratitude for all you have given in 2016.

The generosity of our community has afforded us extraordinary opportunities this year. We opened an independent bookstore, launched a new website, and held more events in more states and countries than ever before. Most importantly, we published beautiful and transformative books, and in 2016 we were able to get them into the hands of more readers than we have in any previous year.

While we’re on the subject of gratitude, we would also like to thank our authors. They’ve given their time and energy—in many cases, their life’s work—to write the books you read.

Although each author offers their own powerful example of this gift, the recent and close-to-home events at Standing Rock turn our attention to Robin Wall Kimmerer and Braiding Sweetgrass—a book itself deeply rooted in gratitude for the reciprocal relationship we share with all living things, both animate and inanimate. Robin has been active in her solidarity with Standing Rock and, as always, is effortlessly instructive: “the fundamental contest of our time,” as she has said, “is both a source of outrage and of incredible hope for what is rising there … . We do not need to meet these challenges with fear; instead, we meet them with the most powerful tools that humans possess. We meet them with imagination, with vision and with love—for land, for water, for each other.”

This year, we watched the sales of Braiding Sweetgrass skyrocket, in no small part because of the public’s desire to share the worldview Robin advocates. At Milkweed, we’re grateful that publishing means making public voices like Robin’s—voices that are expressive of compassion and gratitude, empathy and human understanding. We’re grateful that the books we publish create new publics—places where strangers with shared interests meet, “ready to recognize each other across difference” (Stadler, Literary Publishing in the Twenty-First Century).

This is what all writers offer readers: their words connect us; they bind us to one another and to our shared future.

As 2016 comes to a close, we’re already looking ahead to that future. Our mission to publish books while also engaging communities of readers continues to be profoundly relevant—as does your role as a participant in the literary ecosystem.

If you’re reading this, we count you as one of our supporters. You’re a reader, a donor, a follower, an author; you’ve met us at a conference or event, submitted a manuscript, or purchased a book. However you have come to know us, thank you. You make our work—and that of our authors—possible.

 

THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF OUR STORY.

Thank you for all you’ve given to Milkweed, to our authors, and to literature. You make us ever more hopeful as we step into 2017 together.

With all our warmest wishes & gratitude,
The staff of Milkweed Editions

 

PS: Want to increase your support this year? All donations are tax-deductible. Use discount code GRATITUDE when you buy a book to get 20% off. You can also add a donation onto any book purchase.