Pearlsong Press

01/02/2026

Given events of the last couple weeks, and the current snowandicemageddon in Nashville, we haven’t been able to focus on the most recent book from Pearlsong Press as we would like. But today marks the official publication date of Mary Saracino’s Motherlines, a wonderful collection of poems celebrating family, ancestral roots, nature, the divine feminine, and empowerment!

The original trade paperback should be available from the usual online retailers now. (It was available just for preorders until today.) Ebook is now available from Barnes & Noble and the online behemoth. We will get it set up for sale at Google Play and the Pearlsong website when we can. (“We,” in this case, being publisher Peggy Elam, who had cervical spine surgery 1/21/26 and returned home from the hospital 1/23/26 just in time for winter storm Fern. At least 11 trees went down in her yard — 9 in the driveway.)

Enjoy Motherlines, and please help us spread the word!

Given events of the last couple weeks, and the current snowandicemageddon in Nashville, I haven’t been able to focus on the most recent book from Pearlsong Press as I would like. But today marks the official publication date of Mary Saracino’s Motherlines, a wonderful collection of poems celebrating family, ancestral roots, nature, the divine feminine, and empowerment!

The original trade paperback should be available from the usual online retailers now. (It was available just for preorders until today.) Ebook is now available from Barnes & Noble and the online behemoth. I will get it set up for sale at Google Play and the Pearlsong website when I can.

Enjoy, and spread the word!

Edited to add: #; we forgot that publisher Peggy (Mother of Pearl 😊) ran into a formatting glitch with the B&N ebook while she was setting it up, and therefore couldn’t complete that before she had cervical spine surgery. We will address that as soon as we can.

Also, any glitches or delays in shipping the paperback may be affected by the fact that the printer/distributor, LSI/Ingram, is headquartered in middle TN, which has been devastated by winter storm Fern.

22/12/2025

Leslie Moise talks about her writing process and several of her books, including the three published by Pearlsong Press (Love is the Thread, Judith, and Under the Pomegranate Tree) in an interview by Michael Parkes.

Post by Michael Parkes Author

29/06/2025

Pride Month may be nearly over, but Pearlsong Press supports and celebrates the LGBTQ+ community throughout the year. We are proud to publish Félix Garmendía's three books of poetry: Fire Island and Their Sister, Poems of Reckoning and Hope, and Flying on Invisible Wings.

Félix is a poet, HIV+ survivor, and disabled due to Inclusion Body Myositis. He has been married to his husband and caregiver, Denis, since 2012. He spent his early years in conservative Catholic Puerto Rico of the '60s, '70s, & '80s, arriving in Manhattan, NYC, in 1988. His poems narrate his life as a gay activist, a poet, and a storyteller in the face of illness and intolerance.

You can purchase his books in original trade paperback from your favorite online retailers (including Bookshop.org, which supports independent booksellers) or as ebooks from those online retailers as well as directly from Pearlsong Press. See comments for the books' Pearlsong website pages with links to several retail listings, as well as ability to purchase the ebooks from the Pearlsong retail shop.)

Please help us spread awareness of these wonderful books and their author!

19/02/2025

You can now support local bookstores -- and Pearlsong Press -- by purchasing our books through the Pearlsong Book Shop at Bookshop.org! Access via the widget in comments, or the widget on the www.pearlsong.com homepage.

01/01/2025

The newest book from Pearlsong Press is available today, January 1, 2025!

Weight and Wisdom: Reflections on Decades of Working for Body Liberation, edited by Nancy Ellis-Ordway and Tigress Osborn, features 34 rebels against body oppression chronicling their history of challenging the status quo and working to create a world where all bodies are valued.

Look for it in trade paperback and ebook at your favorite online retailer. Ask your public and academic libraries to acquire it. And spread the word!

Link to more information in comments.

01/04/2023

It may be April 1, but we're not fooling -- this Tennessee-based small press is proud to announce publication of Fire Island and Their Sister, the third book of poetry by Félix Garmendía.

In Fire Island and Her Sister, Félix celebrates the popular LGBTQ+ vacation destinations of Fire Island and commemorates Titania, a trans woman of Manhattan.

Read more about this award-winning poet and his books at the blog post link in the comments.
Fire Island and Their Sister is available in original trade paperback and ebook from your favorite online retailers. Enjoy, and spread the word!

02/03/2022

Fly into the heart of the storm with the newest offering from Pearlsong Press, Félix Garmendía's Poems of Reckoning and Hope. Available in original trade paperback and ebook from your favorite online retailers.

https://pearlsong.com/poems-of-reckoning-and-hope/

02/09/2021

Journey to the ancient Middle East in the newest release from Pearlsong Press—Under the Pomegranate Tree by Leslie Moïse. Available now in trade paperback and ebook from your favorite online retailers.

https://www.pearlsongpress.com/2021/09/leslie-moïse-revisits-the-ancient-middle-east-in-her-new-historical-novel-under-the-pomegranate-tree.html

18/02/2021

Grab the Lapels features Leslie Moïse in this month's "Meet the Writer" interview.

Pearlsong Press published her memoir, Love is the Thread: A Knitting Friendship, and her historical novel Judith. We have also contracted to publish her novel Under the Pomegranate Tree, a prequel to Judith set in the ancient Middle East. (No publication date yet set for UTPT.)

https://grabthelapels.com/2021/02/04/meet-the-writer-dr-leslie-moise/

04/02/2021

Grab the Lapels praises the Fat Poets Speak series (volumes 1-3) at
https://grabthelapels.com/2021/01/26/fat-poets-speak/

"Really, the glory of reading this collection is that it's unique -- the poets' feelings about their fat bodies are typically silenced in media."

The reviewer adds:

"This collection pushed me significantly. Though I've been reading about fat women for years now...the love of fat bodies was surprising. Some part of me has accepted tolerance, rather than love. Can you love a fat body -- including your own? The answer is duh, yes, but because the message is so rarely distributed, I was shocked before I could normalize what I was reading."

Fat Poets Speak: Voices of the Fat Poets' Society, Fat Poets Speak 2: Living and Loving Fatly, and Fat Poets Speak 3: FatDance Flying were edited by Frannie Zellman, who also contributed poems to the anthologies. The Fat Poets Speak series is available in trade paperback and ebook from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Google Play, and other online retailers, as well as directly from Pearlsong Press.

“You are always going to be fat. Now stop crying and listen to me.” — Michelle Kriz Parkinson in the poem “Dear Little One”