Catapult publishes books, produces a daily web magazine, offers writing classes, and hosts an open online writing community. From the founders of Electric Literature and Black Balloon Publishing. Catapult is headquartered in New York, NY, with a second office in Portland, OR. Have a question? Shoot us an email at [email protected] Catapult welcomes your comments and encourages you to engage in a dialogue on our page. We do reserve the right to remove comments that are abusive.
Mission: We publish fiction and narrative nonfiction stories that are alive, illuminating, stirring, and surprising. We promote diverse, unique voices—both emerging and established—from all walks of life. We produce longform, print books, ebooks, web originals, workshops, classes, live events, and digital projects. We foster writers, artists, creators, and makers. We host a community for the emerging storytellers of all kinds. We advocate for the rights of creative workers.
"Lizzo had given herself permission to ask men what their problem was—to demand more from them—while I couldn’t bring myself to answer my own husband’s phone calls." Arriel Vinson on self-love, bad bitchness, and divorce
"Juice" had the type of lyrics that forced me out of my solitude, whether I wanted to be out of it or not.
"Such news led, finally, to a straightforward decision: We would not be bringing kids into the world. How could we?" This is Amy Brady's second installment of her column, In This Climate. Read this essay on Star Trek, climate change, and legacies.
Humanity appears to have succeeded at solving the climate crisis and eliminating capitalism. But how? And at what cost?
"When I was younger, I used to feel like something of a religious tourist." Kim O'Connell on what she found and what she remembered when she traveled to Vietnamese New Orleans.
Here, Vietnamese people hold the distinction of having been refugees twice over—first from Vietnam, second from Hurricane Katrina.
Nothing beats seeing a photograph of your book in TIME , does it, Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary? TIME included A Map is Only One Story, so grab your debit card, call out sick to work, and support some excellent literary talent: http://bit.ly/2vMlcmM
“This collection is a vital corrective to discussions of global migration that fail to acknowledge the humanity of migrants themselves.” —Publishers Weekly
bit.ly/CatapultAnthology
"Why are these videos relaxing, with no one’s cool palms on my cheeks or forehead, no tender squeeze where my neck meets my shoulder? No actual fingers in my hair?" The first installment of Internet As Intimacy, a column from Sarah Lyn Rogers writes on ASMR, anxiety in the side-hustle economy, and Being Baby.
The first installment of Internet As Intimacy, a column from Sarah Lyn Rogers on ASMR, anxiety in the side-hustle economy, and Being Baby.
Wow, this is so unexpected. We didn't have time to prepare anything. Wait...what's this in our front breast pocket? Literary Hub has released their annual Book Oscars list, which includes Rough Magic and Optic Nerve. Honestly, we're just happy to be nominated: http://bit.ly/2GZAPJR
The Academy Awards approach. And so, as we’ve done for the past three years, we have been preparing for the Fake Oscars by thinking about the Real Oscars: that’s right, the Book Oscars.…
NY! TONIGHT at 7pm: join us for the book launch of A MAP IS ONLY ONE STORY, with editor Mensah Demary and contributing writers, Nur Nasreen Ibrahim, Bix Gabriel, and Niina Pollari over at Mcnally Jackson Seaport. 🎉
https://www.mcnallyjackson.com/event/map-only-one-story-nicole-chung-mensah-demary-nur-nasreen-ibrahim-bix-gabriel-and-niina
Congratulations are in order for Here Until August author Josephine Rowe, who has been long-listed for The Stella Prize : http://bit.ly/3biYwuL
The 2020 Stella Prize saw over 150 powerful entries. Stella’s judges — publisher, writer and reviewer Louise Swinn (Chair), award-winning...
"Lizzo spoke to something we both understood: Heartbreak meant peeling yourself off the ground, even just moments after falling to it, and reminding yourself of who you were in the first place." Arriel Vinson on self-love, bad bitchness, and divorce
"Juice" had the type of lyrics that forced me out of my solitude, whether I wanted to be out of it or not.
"Earth’s climate was still stable when my dad was watching [Star Trek: The Original Series] for the first time. Things went haywire in a single generation." This is Amy Brady's second installment of her column, In This Climate. Read this essay on Star Trek, climate change, and legacies.
Humanity appears to have succeeded at solving the climate crisis and eliminating capitalism. But how? And at what cost?
A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for their struggle with math.
A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for...
🌳Cover Reveal! 🌳Introducing Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan’s Mountains and Coasts in Search of My Family’s Past by Jessica J. Lee. Featuring illustration and design by Harriet Lee Merrion.
An exhilarating, anti-colonial reclamation of nature writing and memoir, rooted in the forests and flatlands of Taiwan, perfect for fans of Margaret Renkl's Late Migrations and William Finnegan's Barbarian Days.
“This is a beautiful book about the distance between people and between places, and the means of their bridging.” —Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland
“Two Trees Make a Forest is glorious and extraordinary—in its language, in its setting, in its story. Jessica J. Lee has a brilliant eye for nature, an ear for languages, and a sensitivity to the poetry of the human heart. In these pages, she performs a subtle miracle: she retrieves lost strands of family, landscape, and history and weaves them together to create a surprising and soulful whole.” —Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus, finalist for the National Book Award
“I want to go to Taiwan to experience the woodlands, the wetlands, the highlands, the lowlands, and the creatures in, above, and underneath, as Jessica J. Lee does with all her senses, including that sense too many of us ignore, the inner self. Then again, she has taken me there with this splendid book.”
—Jack E. Davis, author of 2018 Pulitzer Prize winner The Gulf
TWO TREES MAKE A FOREST goes on sale August 4, 2020, and is available for preorder now! Learn more at bit.ly/TwoTreesForest. #twotreesmakeaforest
Rax King on being "a Jew, with chill Jewish parents, who loves the pepper-and-onion slice at Alfie's."
The neighborhood has other lunch spots. Why do I love this one so dearly?
"When you’ve spent your whole life constantly being told you’re good at things, being bad at things becomes all-consuming." A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for their struggle with math.
A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for...
An essay by Rax King on being "a Jew, with chill Jewish parents, who loves the pepper-and-onion slice at Alfie's": http://ow.ly/nUxl50yeijN
The neighborhood has other lunch spots. Why do I love this one so dearly?
"This is what we city-dwelling Americans believe the country is: a mythical land ungoverned by the despotic rule of space-time. But that’s a fantasy of wealth, not of the countryside" Rax King on drop biscuits, country cooking, and class divide.
An all-new installment of Store-Bought Is Fine by Rax King, on The Pioneer Woman, country cuisine, and what gets to be seen as good "home cooking".
"I caught a whiff of myself and another, more whole, more alive self, turning a corner, shaken from my wrist like a shadow." Mishka Hoosen on navigating his gender identity through the fragrances he wears.
Before I transitioned, perfume was the only thing I felt safe to experiment with. It worked in the realm of the invisible, the as-yet-unsayable.
✨Cover Reveal! ✨ Introducing BEST DEBUT SHORT STORIES 2020: THE PEN AMERICA DAU PRIZE, the fourth installment of our annual anthology with @pen_america. Featuring cover design by Strick and Williams and art direction by Nicole Caputo.
The stories collected here represent the most recent winners of the PEN/Robert J. Dau Short Story Prize for Emerging Writers, which recognizes twelve writers who have made outstanding debuts in literary magazines in the previous year. They are chosen by a panel of distinguished judges, themselves innovators of the short story form: Tracy O’Neill (@tracysoneill), Nafissa Thompson-Spires (@nafissa.thompson.spires), and Deb Olin Unferth (@debolinunferth). Each piece comes with an introduction by its original editors, whose commentaries provide valuable insight into what magazines are looking for in their submissions, and showcase the vital work they do to nurture literature’s newest voices.
Each piece comes with an introduction by its original editors, explaining why they were moved to publish it. The commentaries provide valuable insight into what editors are looking for when they read submissions, and showcase the vital work they do to nurture literature’s newest voices.
BEST DEBUT SHORT STORIES 2020: THE PEN AMERICA DAU PRIZE goes on sale this August, and you can pre-order your copy today! Click through the product to learn more. #bestdebutshortstories
Iowa! Come celebrate the book launch of Tola Rotimi Abraham's powerful debut, BLACK SUNDAY tonight at 7pm at Prairie Lights Bookstore. No better way to spend a weekday evening! 😍
https://www.prairielights.com/live/tola-rotimi-abraham
A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for their struggle with math.
A new installment of An Unquiet Mind by s.e. smith, on growing up with dyscalculia and how the label of 'gifted kid' hindered getting help for...
Rax King on being "a Jew, with chill Jewish parents, who loves the pepper-and-onion slice at Alfie's."
The neighborhood has other lunch spots. Why do I love this one so dearly?
"In Japan, I was an outsider. Every (heavenly) bowl of ramen burnt the hell out of my throat. But I could ask a cop for directions and he wouldn’t blow me away." Bryan Washington on dreams, travel, and not staying where you're told.
Bryan Washington on the places he’s from, his lifelong dream of visiting Japan, and traveling while black.
"Charlotte was closest to his heart of all the characters, so much so that White could not allow a visual artist to overwrite the emotions he portrayed." Abby Walthausen on how illustrations affect text.
In insisting on an anatomically correct Charlotte, E.B. White was playing with fire: People hate real spiders.
Naima Coster on her debut novel HALSEY STREET, the whiteness of publishing, and being edited by Morgan Parker: http://ow.ly/gYEp50yc2ZQ
Debut author Naima Coster on working with Morgan Parker, the whiteness of publishing, and literary self-determination.
"White called Williams’ first try a 'Mona Lisa face' and demanded he replace it with something biologically accurate." Abby Walthausen on how illustrations affect text.
In insisting on an anatomically correct Charlotte, E.B. White was playing with fire: People hate real spiders.
"Sometimes being a stepparent still feels like standing next to a fire I can see but whose warmth I can’t quite feel."An essay on how Mo Perry learned to stop worrying and love being a stepmom.
If there was one thing I was clearly not cut out for, it was being a stepmom.
"People are not aware of how much diversity there is within the Black female experience. We haven’t written enough books about who we are." Black Sunday author Tola Rotimi Abraham sits down for an interview with writer Nneka M. Okona for Zora Magazine on Medium : http://bit.ly/2OHyd7V
In a ZORA exclusive with the author, we explore power, sex, and religion against the backdrop of Lagos
Black Sunday author Tola Rotimi Abraham has crafted a list of five brilliant African novels with strong female characters for Literary Hub , so your reading list for the next month has been taken care of: http://bit.ly/2umKsQb
Tola Rotimi Abraham, the author of Black Sunday, shares five books in her life
"Racial equity requires ongoing, daily practice and commitment from all employees, especially those at the top." Nadia Owusu on the experiences of Chief Diversity Officers, and how there is no quick fix for a company's institutional racism.
Chief Diversity Officers are often brought in to respond to an existing problem, clean up an organization’s image, or publicly signal a commitment...
Happy pub day to Tola Rotimi Abraham! Her stunning debut novel BLACK SUNDAY is in stores and libraries today!
🤲🏾 “Stunning beauty and painful wisdom … as haunting as it is addictive." —Margaret Wilkerson Sexton, author of The Revisioners
Twin sisters Bibike and Ariyike enjoy a relatively comfortable life in Lagos in 1996 until their mother loses her job due to political strife, and the family, facing poverty, becomes drawn into the New Church, an institution led by a charismatic pastor who is not shy about worshipping earthly wealth.
Soon Bibike and Ariyike’s father wagers the family home on a “sure bet” that evaporates like smoke. As their parents’ marriage collapses each girl is left to locate, guard, and hone her own fragile source of power.
This book is a must read!
bit.ly/blacksundaybook
"In Japan, I was an outsider. Every (heavenly) bowl of ramen burnt the hell out of my throat. But I could ask a cop for directions and he wouldn’t blow me away." Bryan Washington on dreams, travel, and not staying where you're told.
Bryan Washington on the places he’s from, his lifelong dream of visiting Japan, and traveling while black.
"Charlotte was closest to his heart of all the characters, so much so that White could not allow a visual artist to overwrite the emotions he portrayed." Abby Walthausen on how illustrations affect text.
In insisting on an anatomically correct Charlotte, E.B. White was playing with fire: People hate real spiders.
"I see Muchhadji as someone who has achieved the so-called ‘Bombay Dream,’ while my own version of this dream has yet to be realized." Akanksha Singh profiles her neighbor, the Muchhad Paanwala.
Most paanwalas sell loose cigarettes. I don’t smoke often, but when I do, I buy one or two. I never buy them from Muchhad.
"I was walking past his shop to catch a cab and he asked me if I wanted some bananas (weird, but it was a friendly thing)." Akanksha Singh profiles her neighbor, the Muchhad Paanwala.
Most paanwalas sell loose cigarettes. I don’t smoke often, but when I do, I buy one or two. I never buy them from Muchhad.
"When I was younger, I used to feel like something of a religious tourist." Kim O'Connell's second installment of her column Finding Little Saigon on finding meaning through different religious practices.
Here, Vietnamese people hold the distinction of having been refugees twice over—first from Vietnam, second from Hurricane Katrina.
1140 Broadway Suite 704
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Columbus! This Thursday 12/5 at 8:00pm: Heather Christle will discuss her newest, THE CRYING BOOK 💦, with Madeline Ffitch and Elissa Washuta at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters
In case you missed the news, OPTIC NERVE by María Gainza and translator Thomas Bunstead is one of the notable books of the year as chosen by The New York Times Books! See the full list here: https://nyti.ms/2shwRbw And don't miss the gorgeous full review of the book by John Williams here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/books/review/maria-gainza-optic-nerve.html
✨Congratulations to María Gainza and translator Thomas Bunstead! ✨ OPTIC NERVE is one of the notable books of the year as chosen by The New York Times Books! See the full list here: https://nyti.ms/2shwRbw And don't miss the gorgeous full review of the book by John Williams here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/books/review/maria-gainza-optic-nerve.html
OHIO! In a couple of weeks, Thursday 12/5 at 8:00pm: Don't miss Heather Christle discuss her newest, THE CRYING BOOK 💦, with Madeline Ffitch and Elissa Washuta at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters!
OHIO! Next month, Thursday 12/5 at 8:00pm: Don't miss Heather Christle discuss her newest, THE CRYING BOOK 💦, with Madeline Ffitch and Elissa Washuta at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters.
“Antonio is a young man who does not know how to elicit desire, only demand it. He’s a poster boy for toxic masculinity as well as its greatest victim.” An all-new installment of Movie Made Gay from @bmanuel on Antonio Banderas, briefs, and sexual awakening in the Hanes aisle, featuring an illustration from @levihastingsart! Follow the link in our bio or Stories for more!
"[Lara] Prior-Palmer already shares many qualities with classic English travel writers such as Rebecca West and Gertrude Bell, but she is also refreshingly self-aware. . . . [ROUGH MAGIC is] a heroic tale beautifully told."—Caroline Eden, Times Literary Supplement.
Look what landed in our office just now! Finished copies of the THE UNGRATEFUL REFUGEE by Dina Nayeri! I'm so excited to get this into your hands!
Heather Hansman of Outside Magazine says, "ROUGH MAGIC succeeds on its realness and Lara Prior-Palmer’s unsparing analysis of herself and the scene. . . . Even in the down moments, when one of her ponies is temporarily injured and she’s struggling, the fast-paced book is lyrical and full of tight, action-packed sentences. It reads like it came bursting out of her." http://bit.ly/2Z9ZNNS
This splendid review of ROUGH MAGIC in the May 1st issue of the Library Journal is truly the bees knees! "A fresh, irreverent voice and a quick wit. . . . It's a story worthy of the best adventure writers, and Lara Prior-Palmer does not disappoint. An appealing account that will capture the imagination of a wide audience, including young adults. Readers who enjoyed Cheryl Strayed's Wild and James Campbell's Braving It will want to join Prior-Palmer on her once-in-a-lifetime trek."
Happy pub day to María Gainza and translator Thomas Bunstead. OPTIC NERVE is in stores in the U.S. today! "A highly original, piercingly beautiful work, a book you’ll want to savor." —Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Guardian “Here, art is a trellis around which life knots and overlaps, severs, climbs upward . . . Optic Nerve’s episodic iridescence—the way each chapter shimmers with the delicacy of a soap bubble—belies its gravity. Gainza has written an intricate, obsessive, recherché novel about the chasm that opens up between what we see and what we understand" —Dustin Illingworth, The Nation Order yours here! http://bit.ly/MGOpticNerve
The American Booksellers Association’s May Indie Next list is here, and guess which author and which 25 Mongolian ponies made the list? 🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇🏇 See the full list here! https://www.bookweb.org/news/may-2019-indie-next-list-preview-571873
Thomas Gebremedhin of WSJ Magazine names Lara Prior-Palmer's ROUGH MAGIC as one of the 12 best books of the spring! "An inspirational tale of struggle—dehydration, injury and isolation—ultimately overcome through grit and sheer willpower." https://on.wsj.com/2U9kdYv
Remember, you can pre-order signed copies of Jane Alison's forthcoming Meander, Spiral, Explode: Design and Pattern in Narrative with our friends at Old Town Books. Reserve yours here: http://bit.ly/meanderpreorder
Same, Celeste Ng, same.
Fantastic to see a Publishers Weekly star for Shelley Jackson's RIDDANCE! "This clever, cacophonous novel of metaphysical gothic from Jackson (Half Life) teems with voices of the living and the dead. . . . Full of Carrollian logic and whimsical grotesquerie, the tale . . . is an illuminating allegory of fiction writing, for “the necrocosmos is made of language; we precipitate a world with every word we speak.” Joines is a remarkable creation in a wonderful book—an imperious, otherworldly, and damaged figure who, haunted by her childhood, devises and devotes her life to a haunted philosophy." bit.ly/RiddancePW
It's our great pleasure to announce that Nicole Chung's forthcoming ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW has been chosen as a Barnes & Noble Fall 2018 Discover Great New Writers selection! Congratulations Nicole! bit.ly/AYCEKBN
Have you seen the stunning cover for Suzanne Matson’s engrossing and intimate new novel? Ultraviolet illuminates the lives of three generations of women, each more independent than the last. Get your preorders in now!
Today, in honor of #WorldSleepDay, we're extremely proud to unveil our cover for the forthcoming INSOMNIA by Marina Benjamin. "An exquisite meditation on time, the dark hours, and the complexities of longtime love, INSOMNIA is a poetic journey into the wide-awake, generous, exciting mind of Marina Benjamin. I couldn't put it down, and my own inner world is richer for it." —Dani Shapiro, author of Hourglass Insomnia is on the rise. More than a third of all adults report experiencing it, with the figure climbing steeply among those over sixty-five. Marina Benjamin takes on her personal experience of the condition—her struggles with it, her insomniac highs, and her dawning awareness that states of sleeplessness grant us valuable insights into the workings of our unconscious minds. Although insomnia is rarely entirely welcome, Benjamin treats it less as an affliction than as an encounter that she engages with and plumbs. She adds new dimensions to both our understanding of sleep (and going without it) and of night, of how we perceive darkness. Along the way, INSOMNIA trips through illuminating material from literature, art, philosophy, psychology, pop culture, and more. Benjamin pays particular attention to the relationship between women and sleep—Penelope up all night, unraveling her day's weaving for Odysseus; the Pre-Raphaelite artists' depictions of deeply sleeping women; and the worries that keep contemporary females awake. INSOMNIA is an intense, lyrical, witty, and humane exploration of a state we too often consider only superficially. "This is the song of insomnia, and I shall sing it," Marina Benjamin declares.
Nicole Chung's forthcoming memoir ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW is so moving. No, really, IT'S MOVING! Preorder your signed copy from Powell's Books, Inc. now! http://bit.ly/NicoleChung
Oh hey, we do hardcovers now.
MEMO:
Happy pub day to Simeon Marsalis! His "visionary" nuanced novel AS LIE IS TO GRIN is in stores everywhere today! Don't miss the novel booksellers across the country are listing as one of the best of the year!
Happy pub day to Anthony Brandt and David Eagleman! Their "essential," "beautifully written" THE RUNAWAY SPECIES is in stores everywhere today! More details here: https://books.catapult.co/products/the-runaway-species-pre-order
Happy pub day to Josephine Rowe, whose brilliant A LOVING, FAITHFUL ANIMAL is in stores everywhere today! "A subtle and haunting meditation on childhood, escape, the bonds and the limits of family, and the long reach of trauma. Rowe is a serious talent, and her debut novel is both gorgeous and stunning." —Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven https://books.catapult.co/products/a-loving-faithful-animal-a-novel
Amazing! RESERVOIR 13 by Jon McGregor, Writer has just been longlisted for the The Man Booker Prize, alongside some incredible company. We're extremely proud to be publishing this deft, beautiful novel in the U.S. this fall, a book that truly deserves this recognition. Congrats Jon!
When you're the last one in the office and the publicists aren't there to guard the galleys.
Looking for a last-minute gift idea for writers? Preferably one that doesn't involve shipping? Gift cards are available for our NYC-based winter/spring writing bootcamps with these incredible instructors:
We're thrilled that Mrs. Engels by Gavin McCrea is one of the best books of the 2015 according to Amazon, Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews!
“Postcards from Two Hotels," an interactive essay, with text by Joanna Walsh and illustrations by Roman Muradov: http://bit.ly/1m1sVDi
Lulu Miller, co-host of Invisibilia, makes her fiction debut at Catapult with "Me and Jane", a story about two horseshoe crabs, one barnacled and the other smooth. Read it here: http://bit.ly/1MUdOrb
How to create accountability for yourself—a stellar 10-second writing tip from our workshop instructor Chelsea Hodson.
Found Objects Music Productions
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