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Every Monday, author Beth Dooley and her son Kip have a standing zoom call. On their call, they cook a meal together, without a recipe, using only whatever staples they have on hand. They also talk—a lot!—about limits (real and metaphorical), substitutions, and what it means to ‘make do’ without feeling deprived. In Beth’s words, “it’s not really about being optimistic; it’s about living within our means and allowing what we DO have to spark creativity.” They’ve dubbed their…

Welcome, friends, to the latest installment of 5 Reasons to Teach This Book! In this interview series, we examine what we can learn from Milkweed’s titles by discussing our books with educators, authors, and booksellers. This month, we’re featuring The Blue Sky, a novel that originally joined our catalogue in 2006 but will be reissued this summer as part of the Seedbank series.

The Blue Sky is a tale of family—blood and found—and the distances we travel to preserve our chosen bonds. In fictionalizing his own childhood, author Galsan Tschinag walks readers through the familiar and anxious…

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Welcome to the second episode of What Matters Most, a new video series by and for the Milkweed community. This week, poet Su Hwang invites us into her home and reflects on the ideas of interconnectedness and earthly wisdom that are comforting to her. Su also asks us to reflect on how we can sustain ourselves and each other through this difficult time—finding solace in the words of fellow Milkweed author, Robin Wall Kimmerer.

“When I…

Note: To view the closed captions, click the YouTube logo in the bottom right corner to view the video on YouTube.

Introducing What Matters Most, a new video series by and for the Milkweed community. Each week, one of our authors will reflect on daily nourishments in their lives — people, objects, traditions, places, plants, and more—that bring them strength, joy, solace, or peace. What Matters Most was born out of our collective acknowledgment that times of uncertainty cement the importance of the things—big and small—that give our lives meaning. For us at Milkweed, it is our community of…

Hello, friends, and welcome to another edition of Deep Cuts. In this series, we’ll be diving in with some of our authors and discussing the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the composition and production of their books. Oh, and real quick: this is Bailey Hutchinson, and I’m honored to be taking up the curatorial mantle for Julian Randall, the inaugural Milkweed Fellow, who created this series.

Friends, I’m feeling strange, and that’s in no small part because I’ve been alone in my apartment for over three weeks. It’s likely many of you find yourselves in a similar situation: self-isolation, while…

Introduction to Tim Robinson’s Listening to the Wind, a Seedbank series title.

Milkweed Editions is deeply saddened to report that Tim Robinson has died from coronavirus this morning in London. He was 85.

Robinson is the author of numerous books, most notably his two-volume study of the Aran Islands, and his Connemara trilogy, which acclaimed author Robert Macfarlane has called “one of the most remarkable nonfiction projects undertaken in English.” The first volume in the trilogy, Listening to the Wind, was originally published in Ireland in 2006, and we are incredibly honored to have released the book to an American audience last year in September. Robinson’s work reflects the multiple…

Dear friends,

It is with concern and conscience that we have decided to temporarily close Milkweed Books. We have also decided to suspend all events through April. Milkweed Editions’ offices will remain open, but employees have been encouraged to work remotely if possible.

These are challenging times, and it is impossible to know how the days to come will unfold. We do know, however, that we owe our very existence—as an independent publisher and bookstore, as a non-profit organization, and as members of a multifaceted literary landscape—to our community. We also feel strongly that our top priority must be to…