about bateau

that little letterpress publisher in your mind.

Bateau Press is a letterpress publisher of chapbooks & an annual magazine. We churn out the highest quality, well-designed, environmentally minded package of literature known to man. As of 2016, Bateau is housed within the human ecologically sound superstructure of College of the Atlantic. COA & Bateau Press: looking to change the world through hard work.

We alternate between 2 chapbook contests annually: the Boom Poetry Chapbook Contest and the Keel Short Short Fiction Chapbook Contest. We read for the lit mag Jan-May and read nothing but the wind during the summer months of June, July, and August.

Please check back here for updates.  We are taking some time getting our back catalogue of issues back online and accessible to the public.  Maybe it’s because we live on an island.

Bateau Press uses only 100% post consumer waste recycled paper and soy inks for its publications. Our publications as well are Forest Stewardship Council certified.

We highly recommend sending us your submissions electronically.

 

 

bateau:  the move from the pioneer valley to bar harbor, maine.

 

Bateau & College Of The Atlantic; A Future History Of Experimental Sailing

College of the Atlantic (COA) is a small liberal arts college located in Bar Harbor, Maine. The college was founded in 1969 by a group of educators looking to expand the boundaries of higher education.   Ed Kaelber, the first president of COA, had this to say about the ethos of the school:

 

The term experimental college has much currency. It is unfortunate that we

have to resort to this phrase; it should be a redundancy. Any college that is

not constantly seeking new ways of doing things is only half alive. College of

the Atlantic expects to be experimental in the best sense of the word. We will

not be bound by tradition nor will we make the assumption that because

something is different it is automatically better.

 

Looked at in this way, it makes sense for Bateau to partner with COA. We both share a passion for pushing at boundaries, being present in our work and for constantly making it new. These are values we prize as writers, students and editors; they will inform the decisions we make at Bateau.

As a contributing editor to Bateau since its inception, I have been able to see up-close the remarkable dedication of its founding editors: James Grinwis and Ashley Schaffer. Due to their investment, Bateau has a reputation as a place to find writing that matters. Not only has Bateau published outstanding work from across the literary spectrum, they have partnered with Shelter Bookworks to create really incredible works of art: Bateau is an object, an artifact, a thing of beauty.   We intend to carry on these traditions.

James and Ashley will remain involved, offering their expertise as we learn the ropes of running the magazine and press.   I can think of no better mentors for as we strive to carry Bateau forward.

On a personal note, I am bowled over by the trust and generosity they have shown in offering Bateau to myself and to these talented students.   If I lived in Kansas I would have no idea what to do, but because I live on an island in Maine I fully understand the value of a well-made Bateau. Onward!

Daniel Mahoney

Faculty Editor