Right in the center of Upstate New York is a small independent press that specializes in experimental writing. KERNPUNKT Press was founded in 2016 during the publisher's maternity leave as a way to create more space for work that challenges, rather than embraces, convention. We are looking for work that treats literature as art, as a place for experimentation and philosophy. Our motto is "Art over Entertainment." KERNPUNKT leans more towards tragedy than comedy, more towards death than sex, more searching than concrete. But, of course, we have books that prove the exception to these rules, too.
Over the past nine years, KERNPUNKT has published 33 titles from a diverse collection of writers across the globe, garnering many awards and accolades. Recently, Brandi George's 200-page poem The Nameless won the Eyelands Book Awards prize for Best Poetry Collection in 2023.
We have been lucky to work with renowned experimental writers like Vi Khi Nao, Grant Maierhofer, Aimee Parkison, and Debra Di Blasi, but also take pride in supporting first work from incredibly talented artists. We are interested in all genres.
For amazing story collections, check out Matthew Burnside, Jason Teal, Andriana Minou, Elizeya Quate, José de Piérola, and Leah Angstman.
For poetry, Arthur Allen, Claire Åkebrand, William Lessard, and Marisa Lin.
KERNPUNKT published its first collection of plays in 2023, Grapefruit & Snowman by Dalton Day.
We have hybrid (JI Daniels, Daisuke Shen, Chelsea Biondolillo, Julian Mithra) and humor (Jared Joseph, Andrew Farkas) and horror (Alana I. Capria, David Leo Rice, Katharine Coldiron).
KERNPUNKT's speciality is novels that use language in new and extraordinary ways: like, Patrick Parks' Tucumcari, Dana Green's How to Carry Scars, N/A Oparah's Thick Skin, Jefferson Navicky's The Book of Transparencies, Loie Rawding's Tight Little Vocal Cords, CA Blintzios's The Smoke is Me, Burning, and, most recently, Steven Hendricks's Now Beacon, Now Sea.
We're also very excited about our forthcoming titles this year: RJ Dent's history of Blanche Monnier in Screaming at the Window and a tête-bêche poetry collection of Elizabeth K. Switaj's The Articulations and Amelia K's Amouroboros.
For more information, please visit www.kernpunktpress.com.
Jesi (Bender) Buell is an artist from Upstate New York. She is the author of the chapbook Dangerous Women (dancing girl press), the play Kinderkrankenhaus (Sagging Meniscus), and the novel The Book of the Last Word (Whiskey Tit). Her shorter work can be seen in FENCE, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Sleeping Fish, and others. Her play has been performed at Colgate University's Brehmer Theater, The Player's Theater of Utica, and The Brick in Brooklyn. She is the reviews editor at The Exacting Clam. She founded KERNPUNKT Press in 2016 as a home for experimental work. www.jesibender.com