Gothic Funk Press

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Gothic Funk Press An independent literary press based in Flint, Michigan. In November 2004, members of the Michigan diaspora in Chicago reacted to bad news with a party.

Whether the Gothic Funk is a budding literary empire or an experimental literary collective, it sounds as if they know how to throw a party.
- Robert Duffer, Chicago Examiner

The Gothic Funk Nation..., while sounding in name like a Parliament Funkadelic cover band, is actually an art collective with 'a whole lotta rhythm goin' down.'
- bkish literary blog

Gothic Funk is: Narrowly, an updated rom

anticism that exploits postmodern narrative technique, and more broadly an edgy, contemporary style that is filled with energy and steers clear of murky despair. They called on the ghosts of Ann Radcliffe and James Brown, Ian Curtis and Chicago's Warehouse (and director Baz Luhrman, too). The collective included artists, authors, DJs, architects, physicists, actors, physicians, activists, clerks, temp workers, and more. Their work was a synthesis of dark gothic sublimity and the earthy passion of funk. They called themselves "gothic funk" and their parties gave birth to the Gothic Funk Nation. Since then, the Paramanu Pentaquark arts journal has published issues featuring dozens of entries for Images, Sounds, and Words. Their Tuesday Funk reading series has become one of the most dynamic of Chicago's literary events, and has featured luminaries such as Bill Shunn, Parneshia Jones, Megan Stielstra, Maggie Kast, and J-L Deher-Lessaint, among many others. And for a time, the National Address reading circle provided a safe and friendly place for artists to workshop works-in-progress, while the infamous Gothic Funk Parties gave Chicago a chance to unwind to a beautiful, bizarre beat. In 2010, with the support of the Nation, cofounder Connor Coyne has launched the Gothic Funk Press to establish an independent publishing voice in the Midwest. He's been aided in this endeavor by editors Elisabeth Blair and Reinhardt Suarez, proofreader Jessica Coyne, publicist Skylar Moran, and designer Sam Perkins-Harbin. For its first project, the Press published Coyne's novel Hungry Rats, and in 2011 he moved back to his hometown of Flint, Michigan, a city whose notorious poverty is easily matched by its innovative traditions and fertile artistic soil. In 2012, the Gothic Funk Press will activate in Flint, Michigan and, with each project and each success, will advance its mission of spreading Gothic Funk throughout the world.

17/08/2025

A big THANK YOU to everyone who joined us to make FLOOD 2025 and Gothic Funk Party #29: SMACK TO THE STYX such a delight and success last night! Queens' Provisions was a generous and welcoming host, as always.

We were joined by both our guest judge Elisabeth Blair and four of our FLOOD 2025 authors: Nic Custer, Elizabeth Decker-Benjamin, Laura West Hall, and Alaina Hammond.

After a brief break and raffle (thank you for your generosity!) we traversed the River Styx (ie. the Flint River) where we heard luminous meditations from Marcus Brown and Jan Worth.

Some of these talented folks are from right here in our own community, and others traveled nationally and internationally to join us!

Unfortunately, I was so busy emceeing the event, I didn't manage to capture it in photo or video. If you have any media from Gothic Funk Party #29, please reach out.

With that, we have finished our 2024-2025 20th anniversary year of Gothic Funk!

We're going to take a break for the next month but stay tuned for salons, anthologies, publication opportunities, parties, events, and a brand new Flint Writers Census!

For our Gothic Funk Hangout this month we'll be turning out to support creative folks at the Poets and Writers open-mic ...
26/07/2025

For our Gothic Funk Hangout this month we'll be turning out to support creative folks at the Poets and Writers open-mic night at Totem Books. Will you join us there for a cookie and a coffee?

Come and share your writing!

All ready for the return of the Teen Summer Writers Intensive at the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library!
08/07/2025

All ready for the return of the Teen Summer Writers Intensive at the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library!

REMINDER! Our June Gothic Funk Hangout is the Strawberry Full-Moon hike, and will take place TOMORROW (Saturday) but you...
06/06/2025

REMINDER! Our June Gothic Funk Hangout is the Strawberry Full-Moon hike, and will take place TOMORROW (Saturday) but you'll need to register TODAY (Friday).

Details here:

full view of calendar of events

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Flint, Michigan-based independent publisher Gothic Funk Press is currently accepting registrat...
19/05/2025

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: The Flint, Michigan-based independent publisher Gothic Funk Press is currently accepting registrations for our FLOOD 2025 anthology!

The Fleet Ordinaries of the — (FLOOD 2025) is a literary sprint from conception to ex*****on to publication. At midnight on June 1st, 2025 writers will be supplied with a list of prompts provided by guest judge Elisabeth Blair. Submitting artists will then have one week to complete their submissions.

For complete guidelines, please visit https://www.gothicfunkpress.com/flood/

There is no fee to submit to FLOOD 2025; compensation includes a complimentary copy of the anthology and an invitation to share your work at our launch party in Flint, Michigan.

Guest judge Elisabeth Blair is a poet, editor, and workshop leader with an extensive background in music and the visual arts. Her publications include full-length collection because God loves the wasp (Unsolicited Press 2022), two chapbooks—We He She/It (Dancing Girl Press 2016) and without saying (Ethel Press 2020)—and inclusion in Biblioasis’ anthology, Best Canadian Poetry 2025. Her poems have appeared in a variety of journals, including carte blanche, Harpur Palate, Feminist Studies, and Juked. She has been artist-in-residence at the Vermont Studio Center, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Wildacres, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and ACRE, and has received several grants from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her monthly newsletter, lullabies & alarms, explores the craft of poetry.

The Gothic Funk Press is a Flint, Michigan-based independent publisher with an emphasis upon “gothic funk” art: experimental work featuring degrees of romanticism, darkness, depth, and swagger. The Press has published works of Gothic Funk fiction and poetry and anthologies in support of Flint and Genesee County writers. The Press hosts a popular salon series that brings together writers from around the world, and has also coordinated community engagement events such as the Flint Order of Orpheus and the Flint Area Scavenger Hunt, as well as creative partnerships with local organizations such as the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library, Buckham Gallery, Comma Bookstore and Social Hub, and Queens’ Provisions.

https://www.gothicfunkpress.com/flood/

FLOOD 2025 Submission Guidelines The Fleet Ordinaries of the — (FLOOD 2025) is a literary sprint from conception to ex*****on to publication. At midnight on June 1st, 2025 writers will be supplied with a list of prompts provided by guest judge Elisabeth Blair. Submitting artists will then have one...

13/02/2025

New GFP marketing strategy:
1) Come up with a quirky Gothic Funk Press mascot.
2) Involve mascot in social media marketing and obtrusive push notifications for the next decade.
3) Kill off mascot in a memorable way.
4) Enjoy coverage by USA Today.
5)

Forge22 Design, let's work up a plan for this!

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