Celebrate Somerville's small presses

A celebration of Somerville’s small presses will be held Monday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. at Club Passim, 7 Palmer St. in Harvard Square.

Anyone familiar with literary history knows the importance of the small press movement. Poets from Whitman to Frost have cut their teeth in the little magazines, and small presses that have traditionally published emerging poets and writers. The small or alternative press can be a means or an end in itself to help poets and writers outside the ivory walls of the academy get published and be heard.

The Boston area has always been a hub of small presses. From the bigger (small) ones such as David Godine Inc. and Zephyr Press, to three thriving publishers in Somerville — Ibbetson Street, Cervena Barva, and sunny outside — there are always alternatives to the Houghton Mifflin and Random Houses of the world.

The publishers of each press — Doug Holder, Ibbetson Street; Gloria Mindock, Cervena Barva Press; and David McNamara, sunny outside — will be on hand to answer questions about their presses and how to navigate the treacherous shoals of the literary publishing milieu. There will also be selected readers from each press, as well as a book table with titles from the publishers.