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Humming the Blues: Inspired by
Nin-me-sar-ra, Enheduanna's Song to Inanna

by Cass Dalglish

The first signed literature in the world is on cuneiform tablets written in 2350 BCE in Sumeria, and it is by a woman. Dr. Cass Dalglish translated the cuneiform of Enheduanna. She was a powerful Sumerian prince in 2350 BCE and her work, Nin-me-sar-ra, begged the god Inanna (who was the first to enter the underworld and return from the dead) for help overcoming an usurper. Adopting a jazz aesthetic, Dalglish improvises on her translations; re-examining the cuneiform through feminist lenses. Enheduanna is not just any writer, she is the first identifiable poet to sign her writing. Lyrically translated from the original cuneiform by Cass Dalglish, the relevance of Enheduanna’s Song to Inanna echoes across millennia as a testament to the timeless power of women’s literature. Giving fresh interpretations to the originals, these poems form rhythmic riffs—like jazz musical improvisations—that carry the reader back to the lands of ancient Iraq during the time when gods were women.

“One can’t help when reading this to think of present-day Iraq and the current cast-of-characters from President Bush on down as stand-ins for Big-Man-in-the-Sky with their hungry Humming the Blues grab for power. The poems are lush and thought provoking. This is a book for any reader fascinated by language and poetry at the intersection of an ancient culture.”
Cary Waterman, The Salamander Migration

Poetry/ Women’s Studies/ History

ISBN 978-0-934971-92-8

Paper, 90 pages, $14.95  

 

Far Beyond Triage
by Sarah Lantz

 

This collection of deeply spiritual poetry explores the longings of the soul and tests the penetrable boundary between the living world and the ethereal.

“In Far Beyond Triage, Sarah Lantz has crafted a series of poems whose fierce—indeed icy—clarity is matched by a bitter poignancy. At times visionary (observing, for instance, ‘the chaos of daybreak/and its obsession with the sun’) and at times trenchantly political (noting, for example, that ‘the distinction between/criminals and heroes/is frequently only fashion’), Lantz is always fully in command of complex and acutely relevant lyric material.” -Sandra Gilbert


“Large-hearted, linguistically inventive, historically engaged—these poems have a disarming and daft magic, an unlikely mix of sophistication and folk tale—at times, Chagallian; at others, darkened by historical sorrow" - Eleanor Wilner

Poetry/Jewish Studies/Women’s Literature, 100 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 978-0-934971-91-1 paper

 

Storytelling in Cambodia

by Willa Schneberg

Introduction by U Sam Ouer and Ken McCullough

Powerful poems about Cambodia awakening from the killing fields to the dawn of free elections.

“She writes with a lyrical beauty. … It’s like an intimate companion whispering secrets in one’s ear, secrets that sometimes make us gasp.” – Jewish Review

“These are the poems of a traveler and a lover who feels both the terror of time passing and the consolation of eternity. From such tension spring lovely poetic objects, ready for intelligent use.” – Andrei Codrescu

Poetry/Asian Studies/Women’s Studies, 132 pages

$13.95, ISBN 0934971-90-0 paperback

 

A Fierce Brightness:

Twenty-five Years of Women’s Poetry

Edited by Margarita Donnelly, Beverly McFarland,Micki Reaman

A landmark collection, on the list of Oregon 150 Poetry Books

“This is an extraordinary anthology of women’s poetry that is both a landmark and a cause for celebration...powerful.... Highly recommended.” – Tulsa World

 

Poetry/Women’s Studies, 218 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-82-X paper

 

The Violet Shyness of Their Eyes: Notes from Nepal

Revised edition, 2005

by Barbara J. Scot

Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award

A moving account of the author’s travels in Nepal and her journey of self-discovery

" Scot gives us the Nepal she saw, touched, visited with a feminist’s respect for difference. Hers is a tale of sharing, and we are privileged to see through her eyes, understand through her exquisite sensibility.” – Margaret Randall

 

Travel & Travel Guides/Memoir/Women’s Studies, 300 pages

$16.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0934971-88-9 paper

 

A Line of Cutting Women

Edited by Beverly McFarland, Margarita Donnelly, Micki Reaman, Teri Mae Rutledge, et al.

 

Fine writing from over two decades of CALYX Journal

“What an extraordinary collection of worthwhile writing, brave in many cases, beautiful in almost all.” – Grace Paley

Anthology: Fiction and Essay, 256 pages

$16.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-62-5 paper

 

Going Home to a Landscape:Writings by Filipinas

Edited by Marianne Villanueva and Virginia Cerenio

Preface by Rocío Davis

Memory, joy, loss, and history – a multitude of voices

“It is very rare for me to read a book that resonates so close to my entire being…. Going Home is beautifully crafted, not just a collection ... writings like these not only serve as food for our souls, but provide insight into the human consequences of dislocation and dispossession.” – Multicultural Review

 

Anthology/Asian American Studies/Women Studies 312 pages, glossary

$17.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-84-6 paper

 

 

Femme’s Dictionary

Poetry by Carol Guess

Finalist, 2005 Lambda Literary Award

Raw lyricism and musical language

“Femme’s Dictionary takes place in a lineage with Minnie Bruce Pratt’s We Say We Love Each Other, Chrystos’ In Her I Am, and Adrienne Rich’s sequence ‘Twenty-One Love Poems’! Guess is a new lesbian voice who fulfills her longing to ‘Kiss your thighs and call it making history!’ – Lambda Book Report

Poetry/Lesbian Studies/Women’s Literature, 90 pages

$13.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-86-2 paper


Undertow

by Amy Schutzer

Today’s Librarian Best Gay/Lesbian Fiction Award 2000

Finalist for the Violet Quill Award

Shortlisted for the 2000 Lambda Literary Award

Winner of the Astraea Fiction Fellowship

 

Experimental and beautiful, this book has a solid core.

 

"…fresh, original, and real. A poetic and authentic exploration of heartbreak and healing.” –Ellen Bass, author of The Courage to Heal

Fiction/Lesbian Studies, 244 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-76-5 paper

$29.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-9349731-77-3 cloth

Switch

by Carol Guess

Finalist for the American Library Association GLBT Fiction Award

The gorgeously multifaceted underbelly of the American Dream

“Guess deftly performs the parlor trick of handling several different voices, switching fluidly from perceptive Caddie to the clipped cadence of masculine Jo to jaded Selena. This Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore for the 1990s celebrates the differences between people without fudging the loneliness that these entail. Guess’s attempts to put a Midwestern spin on magical realism are blessedly rare: in a book loaded with so many natural surprises, any supernatural extras would be gilt on the lily.” – Publishers Weekly

 

Fiction/Lesbian Studies, 300 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-60-9 paper


$28.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-61-7 cloth

The End of the Class War

by Catherine Brady

Finalist for the WESTAF Book Award

 

Working-class heroines and powerful prose

“Brady’s strong, funny, admirable—and ordinary—women are extraordinary. But more than that, they are triumphant.” – The Bloomsbury Review

Fiction/Irish American Literature, 270 pages

$13.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-66-8 paper

$27.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-67-6 cloth

The Inner Life of Objects

by Maxine Combs

Hilarious, zany, and wise

“A wonderfully funny and poetic book. Maxine Combs has a keen eye for the poignant oddities of ordinary lives.” – Dori Appel, 1998 Oregon Book Award Winner

Fiction, 230 pages

$14.95+ shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-72-2 paper


$29.95+ shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-73-0 cloth

Four Figures in Time

by Patricia Grossman

 

An intricate and compelling work by a gifted novelist

“Patricia Grossman brings to the novel the sensibility of a classicist, the sophistication of a modernist, the intelligence and heart of a maverick…. It should be savored.” – Sandra Scofield, National Book Award Nominee for Beyond Deserving

Fiction/Women’s Studies, 272 pages

$13.95+ shipping and handling , ISBN 0-934971-47-1 paper

$25.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-48-X cloth

 

The Adventures of Mona Pinsky

by Harriet Ziskin

Magic, truth, and flamboyance

“The Adventures of Mona Pinsky is crowded with authentic and singular characters – living and otherwise. I liked Uncle Gabe and the world of mythic spirits that fit so comfortably into Mona’s everyday world. Mona is an especially engaging character who has carved out, with her heroic reluctance and naïve flamboyance, a niche in my memory where she will always abide.” – M.K. Wren

Fiction/Women’s Studies, 168 pages

$12.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-43-9 paper

$24.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-44-7 cloth

 

Second Sight

by Rickey Gard Diamond

A gripping novel set in the Upper Peninsula

“A tragedy, a thriller, a mystery, and a psychological profile all rolled into one.… Diamond’s first novel has the depth, characterization, and foreboding of one of the greats … a great effort from a promising author.”– Midwest Book Review

 

Fiction/Women’s Literature/Nature and Outdoors, 275 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-80-3 paper


$28.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-81-1 cloth

Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist

by Kathleen Alcalá

This is a book of wonders.

“By making the unlikely seem commonplace, Ms. Alcalá draws on the strong tradition of magic realism in Latin American literature.” – New York Times Book Review

Fiction/Chicana Studies, 192 pages

$9.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-25-0 paper

$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-26-9 cloth

Killing Color

by Charlotte Watson Sherman

GLCA New Writers Fiction Award

Washington Governor’s Arts Award

King Country Arts Commission Award

Seattle Arts Commission Individual Artist Award

Mesmerizing, musical

*“The stories are mythic and aphoristic, and each contains the key to the riddle of human behavior. ... The writing in this auspicious debut is musical and mesmerizing, carrying the reader along like a river flowing through deep canyons of feeling.” – Publishers Weekly

Fiction/African American Studies, 120 pages

$9.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-17-X paper


$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-18-8 cloth

Ginseng and Other Tales from Manila

by Marianne Villanueva

Nominee Manila Critics Circle Award

Subtle and alluring

“These subtle, alluring stories depict the beauty and the myriad contradictions of her native Filipino culture as a sumptuous, sometimes bitter feast.” – Utne Reader

Fiction, Asian American Studies, 120 pages

$9.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-19-6 paper


$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-20-X cloth

Light in the Crevice Never Seen

Revised edition

by Haunani-Kay Trask

Penetrating and passionate

“Hers is a powerful rage that comes from the depths of the very Earth, Herself!” – The Bloomsbury Review

Poetry, Women’s Studies, Native Studies, 128 pages

$13.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-70-6 paper


$26.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-71-4 cloth

Black Candle: Poems about Women from India,

Pakistan, and Bangladesh

Revised edition

by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Gerbode Award

Prize-winning poetic gems

“Black Candle is a book that bears witness to the condition of women and to the condition of the world. Rich with colors, sounds, scents, with flowers and spices and fabrics and waters and sorrows and smoke, the world in this book is a necklace of bright pearls that burns the skin, yet is daily lifted up and owned, fastened to the body with a jeweled clasp: the compassion of Chitra Divakaruni’s fiercely seeing heart.” – Jane Hirshfield

Poetry/Asian American Studies, 128 pages

$12.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-74-9 paper


$26.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-75-7 cloth

 

The Woman of Too Many Days

by Mary I. Cuffe

Uncanny wisdom

“In a culture of too little respect for difference, The Woman of Too Many Days is a compelling and cohesive collection that quite confidently insists on the value and wisdom of the homeless crone at its heart.” – Deb Casey

Poetry, 96 pages

$12.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-924971-68-4 paper

$26.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-69-2 cloth

Indian Singing

Revised edition

by Gail Tremblay

Poetry that sings the 20th Century

“Gail Tremblay is a singer of eminent power and grace. And we are compelled to listen, to sing with her.” – Joy Harjo

Poetry/Native American Studies, 96 pages

$11.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-64-1 paper

$23.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-65-X cloth

 

The Country of Women

by Sandra Kohler

Rich melodies, dark undertones

“In the poems of Sandra Kohler the aubade [or dawn song] tradition is given fresh and surprising shape in poems of rich harmonies where a dark undertow, a sweet languor pulls back towards dream.… Her full-bodied, meditative songs of mother-love, sexuality, desire, and discovery unashamedly unfold a life in these memorable ‘long cadences of morning’” – Eleanor Wilner, author of Otherwise

Poetry, Women’s Studies, 112 pages

$11.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-45-5 paper


$21.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-46-3 cloth

Another Spring, Darkness: Selected Poems

of Anuradha Mahapatra

Translated by Carolyne Wright, Paramita Banerjee, and

Jyotirmoy Datta

 

The hot breath of the gods

“It’s a rare pleasure to read translations of poems that convey them as poetry. These versions from the Bengali...evoke that thrill of recognition: that across culture and language we are encountering a great world poet. [Her] vision is simultaneously poetic and political, local and horizonless, moved by love and utterly unsentimental.” – Adrienne Rich

Poetry/Women’s Studies, 112 pages

$12.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-51-X paper


$23.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-52-8 cloth

Details of Flesh

by Cortney Davis

Imagery both luminous and gritty

“A book of uncompromising emotional integrity, imaginative verve, even virtuosity, and at the heart of each poem is her heart, her poet’s heart, her nurse’s heart – clarifying, celebrating, elegizing. This is a powerful and beautiful book.” – Thomas Lux, author of Split Horizon and The Drowned River

Poetry/Women’s Studies/Health, 96 pages

$11.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-57-9 paper


$23.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-58-7 cloth

Raising the Tents

by Frances Payne Adler

Finalist for the WESTAF Book Award

Fierce, strong poems

“Notable for its strong feminist, intergenerational, personal, and political messages, this is recommended for all poetry collections.” – Library Journal

 

Poetry/Women’s Studies/Jewish Studies, 96 pages

$9.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-33-1 paper


$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-34-X cloth

Open Heart

by Judith Mickel Sornberger

The sinewy, emotional beauty of heritage and hearth

“The poet’s control of forms holds her readers in place while Sornberger steals, retells, and resignifies women’s stories.” – Hilda Raz, editor of Prairie Schooner

Poetry/Women’s Studies, 128 pages

$9.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-31-5 paper


$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-32-3 cloth

Color Documentary

by LuAnn Keener

Discover humanity’s meditations and mediations in this tender, intense collection

“Here the personal and the political meet in a fine lyric intensity. Color Documentary is the debut of a poet who makes us believe in ‘the silk line of the voice.’” – Susan Ludvigson

Poetry/Women’s Studies/Ecology/Nature, 96 pages

$11.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-39-0 paper

$21.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-40-4 cloth

Idleness Is the Root of All Love

by Christa Reinig, translated by Ilze Mueller

Blunt beauty

“Christa writes clearly, concisely and unequivocally ... describes an intimacy and an idyll... [that] startles not only men, but women as well.” – EMMA Magazine

Poetry/Lesbian Studies, 114 pages

$10.00 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-21-8 paper

$18.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-22-6 cloth

 

The White Junk of Love, Again

by Sibyl James

Passionate postmodern poetry

“James creates a jazzy, tough-minded voice that is easy to imagine as that of an avant-garde poet of 1550 transported to the late 20th century.” – Seattle Times

Poetry, 75 pages

$19.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-05-6 cloth

Cracking the Earth: A 25th Anniversary

Anthology from CALYX

Edited by Beverly McFarland, et al.

Our silver anniversary edition

“Thank you for all your good and beautiful work.” – Gloria Steinem

Anthology/Women’s Studies 176 pages

$12.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-78-1 paper

$25.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-79-X cloth
 

Present Tense: Writing and Art by Young Women

Edited by Micki Reaman and the CALYX Young Women’s

Editorial Collective

Bumbershoot Bookfair Award

Pushcart Prize for contributor Kristin King’s story “The Wings”

 

Voices from the future

“Sistas, you sing, make my spine shiver: what you know, I know—the diaspora of your lives crystallizing in words, the pissed-off frantic sweet lyric the resounds for all of us here in present tense. My thanks to you.” – Lois-Ann Yamanaka, author of Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers

Literature and Essay, Art, Multicultural Studies, Women’s Studies, 176 pages

$14.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-53-6 paper


$26.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-54-4 cloth

The Forbidden Stitch:

An Asian American Women’s Anthology

Edited by Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Mayumi Tsutakawa, Margarita Donnelly

American Book Award

The ground-breaking first Asian American women’s anthology

“Asian American women writers step out of the shadows of anonymity, beyond the cultural boundaries of forbidden subjects, to reveal an often stunning radiance…a monumental task…chosen with admirable focus and sensitivity.” – The Seattle Times

Anthology: Art, Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Bibliography, 290 pages

$16.95+ shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-04-8 paper

$32.00 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-10-2 cloth

Women and Aging: An Anthology by Women

Edited by Jo Alexander, Debbie Berrow, Lisa Domitrovich, Margarita Donnelly, and Cheryl McLean, et al.

Strong stuff from old women

“Strong Stuff from Old Women.... The anthology makes old women visible with positive images, close attention and space to show their world.” – Library Journal

Anthology: Art, Poetry, Fiction, Essays, Bibliography, 262 pages

$15.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-00-5 paper

$28.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-07-2 cloth

 

CALYX International Anthology

Edited by Barbara Baldwin and Margarita Donnelly, et al.

The first color reprints of Frida Kahlo’s artwork published in the U.S.

The first English translations of work by Nobel Laureate Wislawa Szymborska

A DUAL LANGUAGE EDITION of International art and writing by women

“It is awesome how such a span of time and space has been made in a single volume to demonstrate a presence so consistently credible. This volume is a must for every library with a Feminist collection....” – Small Press Review

Anthology: Art, Poetry, Fiction, Essays, 200 pages • $12.00, ISBN 0-934971-59-5 paper

Florilegia: A Retrospective of CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, 1976-86

Edited by the CALYX Editorial Collective

Features the work of Julia Alvarez, Frida Kahlo, Barbara Kingsolver, & Ursula K. Le Guin

Fresh flowers for the mind and eyes

"CALYX collects its finest writing from the last decade." USA Today

Anthology: Poetry, Art, Fiction, Essays, 252 pages

$12.00 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-06-4 paper


$24.95 + shipping and handling, ISBN 0-934971-09-9 cloth

Natalie on the Street

by Ann Nietzke

Finalist for PEN West Nonfiction Award

Raw courage, compassion, and hope

“Nietzke courageously treats Natalie as something other than another ugly feature of the urban landscape, revealing, through her personal testimony, Natalie’s human face.” – Publishers Weekly

Homelessness/Aging/Women’s Studies, 190 pages

$14.95 paper + shipping and handling, 0-934971-41-2

$24.95 cloth + shipping and handling, 0-934971-42-0

In China with Harpo and Karl

by Sibyl James

Delightfully ironic yet tender-hearted

“A fine and tonic introduction to the mysteries of pan-culturalism and the future. A terrific read. Sibyl James has given us a delightful and useful gift.” – William Kittredge, author of Owning It All

Travel/Memoir/Essays, 210 pages

$9.95 paper + shipping and handling, 0-934971-15-3


$17.95 cloth + shipping and handling, 0-934971-16-1

 

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Reading is activism - Writing is activism - Publishing is activism.

We at CALYX are activists, and we believe in the power of the written word. For 33 years we have provided a forum for over 3600 women’s voices by publishing writing and art that would not be published by commercial presses. Being a non-profit organization means CALYX is able to prioritize literary value and diversity. But the face of the publishing world has changed, and superstores and Internet booksellers are dominating bookselling. They have forced many independent stores into closing, and a very important link between a reader and books—especially the unusual, complex, literary titles published by small presses—is being lost.

 

Independent booksellers have always provided connections between a community of readers and unknown authors—not only is this relationship at risk, but diversity and independent thought are threatened as well. We urge you to support your independent bookstores and independent publishers. In the eloquent words of Barbara Kingsolver, without independents, we’d lose “color and diversity, poetry, the outside chance, the underdog’s story, the heretical questions.” If you crave “honest reading,” fight for independents.


 As a non-profit organization with a 501 (C) 3 status, CALYX is currently supported in part by grants from the 100th monkey foundation, the Kinsman Foundation, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency, as well as the generous support of over 400 individual donors.

 

"CALYX holds a special place in my heart.... I am increasingly comforted by the presence of feminist presses. Without them, we would lose much more than feminist thought-we would lose color and diversity, poetry, the outsider chance, the underdog's story, the heretical questions, the answers we need. As long as we crave honest reading, we'll need our feminist presses."
Barbara Kingsolver

"[CALYX] is a paragon of the literary arts, [an] exemplar of what great writing and editing can create. From here will come our literary heritage."

John Berry, editor-in-chief, Library Journal