Spring Break
Literature within the community
A local publishing company supports new, authors
Cecelia Wildeman
Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: Verve
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The Rocky Mountain Collegian
A multi-faceted, community oriented organization, Wolverine Farm Publishing gives opportunities to aspiring authors and artists and provides unique products to those seeking something to strengthen the mind.
Created by Fort Collins resident Todd Simmons, Wolverine Farm publishes the "Matter," a literary art journal twice a year, produces local books and runs the Matter Bookstore in Old Town.
"I was doing a lot of writing and was frustrated with the lack of grassroots venues for artists and poets to get their work out," Simmons said. "I started the publishing company on a whim, I never had a huge game plan."
Coinciding with the Bean Cycle, Wolverine Farm relies on their venue to house the Matter Bookstore and the Wolverine Farm office.
"It was an idea floating around through various people, but we didn't have any capital to start our own bookstore, or the space," Simmons said. "The Bean Cycle had a similar interest so we decided to work to share a space. We made it from nothing, we made our displays, took donations and it grew slowly."
Wolverine Farm is a non-profit organization that relies on donations for their collection of books as well as their publishing house. Visitors can donate their books and receive a receipt to claim on taxes because it is a donation to a non-profit.
Volunteers run the Matter Bookstore, accepting the donations, deciding prices and arranging the store.
"I decided to volunteer here because I wanted to help their mission," said Matter Bookstore volunteer James Robinson. "It's a really good organization in the community and I like the idea of the volunteer portion. I'm an aspiring writer myself and it's a good community to be a part of if you're in a literary pursuit."
Because it is a non-profit, Wolverine Farm must buy 20 percent of the books on the shelves of Matter Bookstore, but 80 percent are donated. The profits from selling the books pay for publishing local work.
The organization has published one book that was written by local authors. It is a collection of short stories called "Goat Trees." The authors published through Wolverine Farm are mostly local, but national and international artists are sometimes featured.
The Matter literary art journal provides another outlet for local authors. Each journal is based around a theme, this years' being "Press."
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