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In the mid 1980s, Leslie Mellichamp, a
professor of history at Virginia Tech who was also editor of The
Lyric, discussed an idea with Mary Holliman, who had just started a new
publishing company, Pocahontas Press. He wanted to put together a
collection of his poetry for his grandchildren, whom he did not see very
often because they lived far away -- in Vermont and Italy. He wanted to
ensure that they would know their grandfather.
Pocahontas Press had just incorporated,
intending to publish personal or family histories, and works for young
adults. But Les’s suggestion seemed appropriate and desirable to
undertake, and not too far off our plans, and so we brought out our
first poetry collection,
We Thought at Least the Roof Would Fall,
in 1987. That started something that is still going on; Pocahontas Press
has published at least one poetry collection every year since.
Our authors usually aren’t well known; in
fact, the book we publish is often their first publication. And we have
to admit that, after that first book, we haven’t sold a lot of poetry
books -- usually not even enough to pay back expenses. But two of our
volumes have been the "Pick of the Month" by
Small Press Review,
and others have received positive reviews in national publications.
We believe that a poet -- a person who has
spent time and effort on expressing her or his ideas and emotions --
deserves to be heard, or read, and we hope that future generations will
find some of these books hiding on library shelves or in an attic
somewhere, and be inspired, or amused, or informed.
Happy reading!
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