BACKWORDS Blog

File this under things we love to do! #screenprinting #smallpress #poetry #totes #backwordspress #poetryinfashion #boomerang (at Portland, Oregon)

You may have noticed a down turn in posting lately, and that's because principal instagram / media user Phillip Trey has been on vacation! His mother took him on a whirlwind literary, castle, and palace tour in the United Kingdom. Here's a pic of him carrying his own @backwordspress tote in the Charles Dickens house museum in London. Our totes have shown up over the last 2.5 weeks in various literary legends sites like Jane Austen's home, Rudyard Kipling's, Vita Sackville Wests, Virginia Woolfs, and several key Shakespeare locations, just to name a few. More pictures to come! #backwordspress #totes #screenprinting #poetryinfashion #poetryontheroad #travel #charlesdickens #poetry #poetsofinstagram (at The Charles Dickens Museum)

Hailing from our latest collection, Bianca Flores shares late night imagery and curiosity in her poem "For A Moment We Are All Awake." This poem can be screen printed on a canvas or black @ecobags_us tote - all done here in Portland, Oregon. Also available in a variety of @bellacanvas t-shirts. Designed by Costner Cude. Get your own, and explore more poems on backwordsblog.com #backwordspress #poetryinfashion #literaryswag #totes #screenprinting #poetry #poetsofinstagram #poetrycommunity #madeinportland #bellacanvas #ecobag #portlandmade (at Portland, Oregon)

One of Backwords Press's poets from our last issue, Janice Worthen, runs the Journal, "Night Music." They're accepting submissions until April 1st. Go check them and their guidelines out at nightmusicjournal.com/submissions #worntowords #wheredidyougetthatshirt #poetryinfashion #literaryfashion #poetry #prose #literature #backwordsblog #backwordspress #submissions #writersofcolor #lgbtwriters #writingcommunity #submit #submit (at Los Angeles, California)

"Writing, if nothing else, is a bridge between two people, a bridge made of language. And language belongs to all of us. If I enjoy a poem, that just means I am recognizing within it something of myself, something I must already possess. Therefore, to love a poem is to love a part of myself revealed to me by another person…" --Ocean Vuong We just love poet @oceanvuong !! Get your own copy of his poem "Untitled" in our shop now. #poetry #poetrycommunity #poet #totebag #poetryinfashion #backwordspress (at Portland, Oregon)

Sometimes we like to look back on where we've been, remember who we are, and look forward to what's next. This was a great reminder of that! We've gone through some changes, but overall, our core mission remains the same: to put new poetry out into the world in a unique and engaging way. #backwordspress #poetryinfashion #poetry #screenprinting #smallpress #publishing #lookingback #memories #poetrycommunity #blog (at Portland, Oregon)

Studio time last week was a blast, just ask Jenny! #screenprinting #pdxmakers #backwordspress #printing #poetry (at Portland, Oregon)

A little Valentine's Day wisdom from author and playwright, Samuel Beckett. #backwords #backwordspress #backwordsblog #literary #poetry #poem #writing #creativewriting #writingcommunity #fashion #submissions #poetryinfashion #apparel #literaryapparel #writers #newwork #pdxmakers #makersgonnamake (at Los Angeles, California)

If this kind of resistance interests you--as it interests us--TAKE THE PLEDGE to use your voices and to listen to your neighbors’ words, city by city, community by community.

This is why it's perfectly acceptable to shut down Nazis. This is why Nazis do not deserve--nor can expect or demand--the right to be listened to. This is why Nazis should be kicked out of every private place, position, or community forum in which they seek entry. Nazis cannot demand the respect of a thinking person--nor make appeals to the notions and ideals of a sane ethical, logical body democratic--for their argument is based in the very antithesis of democracy, an erasure of human liberty and life by systemic genocide. They can't be reasoned with, because their character is utterly unreasonable. They can't be bargained with, because their currency is entirely without merit. They can't be trusted, because they are a plague and a cipher and are literal breathing pieces of filth. Yes, our government guarantees their right to speak--that cannot be disputed, nor taken away, nor should it be. But we, as private citizens, owe them nothing more than that at all. We do not owe them our services or regard, we do not owe them equal platform for their beliefs, we do not owe them a platform at all: not every view is worth honoring! Not every opinion, worth our care or even the barest consideration! To anyone who would say that there are two sides to this story, go to hell. This is not an dialogue between equals. A Nazi is never here to treat you as an equal, and we all lose by treating them as such. In the words of a wise man, "[To dignify the worldview of a Nazi is to] gladly lend rope to anyone willing to hang you." #fightfascism #fightevil #nosafespacesfornazis (at Los Angeles, California)

"At the beginning of 2012 I bundled up my life as I knew it - my home, my job, my marriage - and ditched it by the curb. I didn’t have a car so my mom drove me away from Portland where up until then I’d lived my whole life, and dropped me off 6 hours later in Moscow, Idaho to stay with a friend and mentor. I needed an escape, I needed space to think, to sort some things out before I could return and pick up the pieces I’d left behind." Writer Ginger Duncan takes us through heartbreak and sex in the first blog of 2017. Check out our blog to read more! #blog #writing #review #sex #stevealmond #heartbreak (at Portland, Oregon)

(2/2) Here's is that same occasion, the U.S. Presidential Inaugural Concert, in January of 2009--when President Barack Obama took office. Approximate number of attendees: 400,000 people. While there are entirely legitimate reasons for uncertainty, fear, and anger at the reality of Mr Trump taking office today, let's not forget for a moment that #lovetrumpshate and this fight isn't over as long as we continue to show up--where we can, when we can, in whatever capacity we're able. #wereallinthistogether #yeswecan. And, of course, #thereishope. [Source: Rollingstone] (at White House, Washington DC)

(1/2) Here is a picture of the attendees of the U.S. Presidential Inaugural Concert, dated Jan 2017--the day when Donald Trump officially takes office. Approximate number of attendees: 10,000. By this count, apparently Mr Trump is hardly at all anybody's President.[Source: Rollingstone] #notmypresident (at White House, Washington DC)

Congratulations are in order! Our own Stephanie Adams-Santos (@tarotobscuro) brought home an Oregon Literary Fellowship awarded by @literaryarts. We've been lucky enough to publish Stephanie's work in our last issue, Fall 2016, and are jazzed to see her recognized in a big way here! All the best to you, Stephanie! #backwordspress #backwordsblog #poetryinfashion #literaryapparel #literaryfashion #poetry #poems #poetrycommunity #writersofcolor #pdxmakers #makersgonnamake #release #photoshoot #release #rerelease #graphicdesign #graphicdesigners #writers #supportwriters #new #newrelease #newdesign #fall #smallpress #literaryswag #poets (at Portland, Oregon)

A hearty congratulations to our own Kevin Sampsell (@kevinsampsell) and his press, Future Tense, for their newly-awarded Publisher's Fellowship from @literaryarts. We're proud of our Inaugural Issue writer, wishing him every success! #backwordspress #backwordsblog #poetryinfashion #literaryapparel #literaryfashion #poetry #poems #poetrycommunity #writersofcolor #pdxmakers #makersgonnamake #release #photoshoot #release #rerelease #graphicdesign #graphicdesigners #writers #supportwriters #new #newrelease #newdesign #fall #smallpress #literaryswag #poets (at Portland, Oregon)

Wishing you a very happy 2017 from Backwords Press. Hope your 2017 is happy, healthy, and full of great poems! #backwordspress #backwordsblog #poetryinfashion #literaryapparel #literaryfashion #poetry #poems #poetrycommunity #writersofcolor #pdxmakers #makersgonnamake #release #photoshoot #release #rerelease #graphicdesign #graphicdesigners #writers #supportwriters #new #newrelease #newdesign #fall #smallpress #literaryswag #poets #newyear #2017 #happy2017 (at Los Angeles, California)