River Glass Books represents a culmination of passions. We know the time that goes into crafting every line and want to honor that work by creating the highest quality books we can. Apart from the writing it houses, we believe the book itself—from the way it’s produced, marketed, and sold, to those who benefit from its sale—can be a tool for achieving social and environmental justice. We hope you’ll join us for the journey.
River Glass Books is the literary imprint of EcoStudio Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to unite conservation, education, and the arts for a more just world. EIN 87-1730274.
Mission
River Glass Books is organized to foster a culture of sustainability in the arts, contribute to the protection and preservation of the world’s most crucial ecosystems, and advocate for the rights of those whose lives and land are endangered by environmental threats—all while publishing compelling contemporary literature in fine limited edition chapbooks. We believe that just and equitable solutions to the climate crisis are only possible by undoing historic systems of inequity and dispossession, and that the current flux of the world presents, among deep and myriad tragedy, the opportunity for positive change. River Glass Books seeks to be a vehicle for this change.
Artists for Climate Justice
The Artists for Climate Justice Fund is an interdisciplinary effort that supports equitable, grass-roots environmental conservation and other climate justice solutions through the arts. We launched the Fund with our 2022 titles, Táíwò Hassan’s Bird’s Don’t Fly for Pleasure and Stella Lei’s Inheritances of Hunger, as a testament to the power of art to nurture and connect. Since then, we have raised over $1,500 for climate justice solutions with the sale of our titles and generous donations from readers.
Can we leverage art to heal the earth?
In late 2023, using proceeds from the sale of our titles, we helped start the After School Birding Program for the Mandari Panga community, empowering the next generation of conservationists and naturalist guides in the Ecuadorian Amazon basin. This is only the beginning. We’re also planning a clean water infrastructure project and other sustainable development initiatives with the community.
Maximize the impact of these efforts by making a donation to EcoStudio Foundation for the Artist for Climate Justice Fund. Learn more, and contribute, using the link below:
River Glass Books continues to be a publisher of high-quality literary and artistic work, and forthcoming material published by the press won’t necessarily feature conservation issues (though an environmental writing series is in the works). Rather, we hope to create ways for all writers and readers to participate meaningfully in environmental conservation through their work, even if they don’t call themselves environmentalists (yet).
Looking Back
River Glass Books was born in one half of a shotgun house on Birch Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 2018, Kimberly and Marley started hand-binding books of poetry in limited edition print runs, using fine handmade materials sourced from local stores whenever possible. Our first distribution network consisted of the little free library boxes around the neighborhood. We have the deepest gratitude to the writers, readers, editors, reviewers, booksellers, and many others who have supported and sustained us since then. Our first four titles—Bossa Nova by Brian Jerrold Koester, Latch by Jen Grace Stewart, Model Home by Eve F. W. Linn, and 28,065 Nights by Katie Manning—were printed by Josh Randall and his team at Southeastern Louisiana University. In late 2020, after a move from New Orleans to Syracuse, New York, our fifth title, Into Night’s Tent by Stephen Frech, was printed using sustainable practices by Boxcar Press, on paper made from reclaimed fabric from the garment industry. In 2021, the press became an imprint of EcoStudio Foundation, a nonprofit that contributes to environmental conservation through programs in education and the arts. This new position allows us to better serve our writers, readers, and the earth.
What’s Next
We can’t wait to open our doors to more who’d like to take part in the work of the press. If you’d like to drop us a line, feel free get in touch over social media, email or post. We look forward to hearing from you.
Editors
Marley Stuart (he / him) is co-founder and Executive Director of EcoStudio Foundation, where he has the good fortune to work with a brilliant team of creative and unique souls. He manages day-to-day affairs of the nonprofit, coordinates study abroad programs in Ecuador with Andean Study Programs, and directs production of River Glass Books. He reads fiction for Louisiana Literature as an Assistant Editor and is a graduate of the Bennington Writing Seminars.
Kimberly Dawn Stuart (she / her) is the recipient of a 2023-2024 Fulbright grant to teach English in the Czech Republic and a recent graduate of the MFA program at Syracuse University. Before returning to school, she worked as a high school English teacher in New Orleans and elsewhere. She is an Assistant Editor of Louisiana Literature and served as Poetry Editor of Salt Hill Journal during her time at Syracuse.
Assistant Editor
Emma Timbers (she/her, they/them) is a poet, writer, and teacher. Emma received an MFA in Creative Writing from Syracuse University in 2023 and a BA in English from Bates College in 2014. Over the last eight years, Emma has taught students of all ages, from preschoolers to undergraduates, working to build progressive classrooms that center issues of social justice. Emma is also Office Manager of EcoStudio Foundation, and is grateful to be part of a team working at the intersection of education, art, and environmental justice.
River Glass Books logo by A. E. Landry. See more of her art at https://www.ariellandry.com.