A Message from Kate Gale, Publisher and CEO,

and Tobi Harper Petrie, Deputy and Marketing Director:

Dear Friends,

For 32 years, Red Hen has published extraordinary poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, championing voices that might otherwise go unheard. Today, that work is under serious financial threat.

We are the biggest non-university non-profit publisher in Southern California. Every year, we publish 25 books, teach poetry to more than 350 students in our Writing in the Schools (WITS) program, host at least 30 international events, mentor 50 interns, provide eight publication awards, and publish almost 500 authors through the Los Angeles Review. To date, this comes to over 700 published books (including our imprints), 5,000+ WITS students, hundreds of events, over 200,000 hours of mentorship, more than 60 awards, and thousands of authors featured through the Los Angeles Review.

Without independent publishers like Red Hen Press, many authors’ incredible work might never find the audience they deserve. Our award-winning authors, books, and cover designs would go unseen. We love our authors and their incredible stories, and we yearn to champion their work, to spread it like morning glories to our community of readers eager to see themselves reflected in the pages they read.

In the past year, crucial federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) was cancelled, and we were similarly unable to secure funding from foundations that have previously had the capacity to support our work. We lost three major donors who represented nearly 20% of our annual support, and were turned down for a transformative grant from the Literary Arts Fund. Meanwhile, the windstorm that sparked the Eaton Fire blew off our roof, our building flooded, and thieves stole the copper from our AC units, causing a total of $160,000 in damage. We recognize that arts funding is stretched thin, and we are grateful for our ongoing supporters, yet these losses and damages have taken a toll.

Together, these losses have created a funding gap of approximately $500,000. Half of which we need to raise by June 30. Without additional support, we will be forced to make critical decisions about Red Hen's future by July 1.

The future of our Press will not be determined by a grant rejection, a few lost donors, acts of vandalism, or the federal defunding of the arts. It will be determined by the community of people who believe that literature is worth preserving and investing in.

Unlike larger organizations, we do not have an endowment or operating reserves. Overall, less than 1% of nonprofit funding in Los Angeles, and less than 2% nationwide, goes toward literary organizations. Especially now, we rely on the support of readers, writers, and people who believe that literature matters.

Through fires, floods, and uncertainty, our remarkable staff and authors have shown up with passion, determination, and a belief in the importance of our literary work—changemaking work that can shift lives and stir souls. Stories that provide courage, clarity, and hope. Books that uplift underrepresented communities, that highlight expansive realities, that give readers the bravery to stand in their truth. Narratives that save lives.

While this is a daunting challenge, we face it with confidence and resolve. From this crisis, we are blessed with the opportunity to find the deep roots of our shared community. To listen to our supporters and to move forward with strength and hope into a brighter future.

We are resilient, and we will persevere.

We are pursuing every available avenue of financial support, but to make it through the current moment, we need your help. We rely on the passion of readers, writers, and people who believe that literature matters.

Please make a gift today if you are able, or renew your support if you have already given this year. If possible, consider becoming a monthly donor to help sustain our work.

Please share our mission with friends and family who care about books, literacy, nurturing young writers, and the future of the literary arts.

With your help, every contribution—large or small—keeps writers finding readers, poets finding publishers, and the next generation of literary voices growing.

And if all you can do right now is grab a Red Hen book from your local bookstore or our website—thank you. You are the reason for our work. You are our purpose.

Thank you for believing in books. Thank you for believing in writers. Thank you for believing in Red Hen Press.