Collection context
Summary
- Abstract:
- This collection includes correspondence, business records, manuscripts, and ephemera on the subjects HerBooks has published.
- Extent:
- 6.75 Linear Feet 5 cartons, 2 flats
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
HerBooks Feminist Press Archive, MS 37, Special Collections, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The HerBooks Feminist Press Archive contains the general history of HerBooks, and materials related to the publication, promotion, and distribution. There are also materials on the Childless-by-Choice movement; lesbian feminism in the 1980's and 1990's; and materials on Holocaust studies, including on Lesbian Daughters of Holocaust Survivors and the Kindertransport program (which rescued Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Austria and Germany and brought them to England during 1938-1939); antipornography activism and theory; and the Women In Print Movement. The archive also contains writings by Irene Reti, including her memoir, The Keeper of Memory (published by HerBooks in 2001), as well as work by other Santa Cruz women writers.
- Biographical / historical:
-
HerBooks Feminist Press was founded in Santa Cruz, California in 1984 by Irene Reti, a poet and creative nonfiction writer. The emphasis of the press has been on publishing anthologies of creative writing, poetry, and other works by lesbians.
HerBooks is known for its groundbreaking collections, such as The Lesbian in Front of the Classroom: writings by Lesbian Teachers (1988) and Childless by Choice: A Feminist Anthology, both of which were the first anthologies published in the United States on these topics. Irene Reti's Remember the Fire: Lesbian Sadomasochism in a Post Nazi-Holocaust World (1986) and Unleashing Feminism: Critiquing Lesbian Sadomasochism in the Gay Nineties (1993) were outspoken critiques of s/m and pornography which put the press on the forefront of radical feminist inquiry.
HerBooks is also known for publishing innovative books about lesbian culture, such as Cats (and their Dykes) and Garden Variety Dykes: Lesbian Traditions in Gardening. Another strength of the press is Jewish feminism.
HerBooks published Bubbe Meisehs by Shayneh Maidelehs: an anthology of poetry by Jewish Granddaughters about our Grandmothers, A Transported Life: Memories of Kindertransport, the Oral History of Thea Feliks Eden, and The Keeper of Memory: A Memoir.
HerBooks also distributed the first anthology of Pacific/Asian Lesbian writing, Between the Lines (Dancing Bird Press, 1987). In 1994 HerBooks published The Second Coming of Joan of Arc and Other Plays by Carolyn Gage, a finalist for the Lambda Book Award.
- Acquisition information:
- Gift of Irene Reti.
- Processing information:
-
Processed by Irene Reti and UCSC OAC Unit.
- Physical location:
- Stored offsite at NRLF: Advance notice is required for access to the papers.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Copyright for the items in this collection is owned by the creators and their heirs. Reproduction or distribution of any work protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to determine whether a use is fair use, and to obtain any necessary permissions. For more information see UCSC Special Collections and Archives policy on Reproduction and Use.
- Preferred citation:
-
HerBooks Feminist Press Archive, MS 37, Special Collections, University Library, University of California, Santa Cruz.
- Location of this collection:
-
Special Collections and Archives, University Library1156 High StreetSanta Cruz, CA 95064, US
- Contact:
- (831) 459-2547