broke press

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broke press

broke press is a small chapbook press located in Vernon, British Columbia, and operated by Clare Thiessen.

09/08/2024

printing proofs of the next one 👀

08/28/2024

oh you thought I wasn’t gonna make a weekend out of it??? think again!! broke press goes to the big city : book vendor edition!

come find me at the Festival Book Fair, in the Robson Street ice rink on Saturday, September 28, from 11-5!! come blow me a kiss and buy a chapbook and a Poem Slut t shirt!!!

08/14/2024

BROKE PRESS GOES TO THE BIG CITY!!!!!!!

save the date! Friday, September 27, 6-8pm, at Massy Arts in VANCOUVER!

2 of my 3 writers this year are Vancouver-area based, and I have friends’ couches to sleep on in Vancouver, which means this broke press can take an adventure to the big city! I can’t wait for you to hear the poetry of Lucy Yang and Alden Wallace, you’re gonna love them.

-c

08/09/2024

with my assistant editor, Boone

07/10/2024

Ju, by Lucy Yang

buy a copy of this stunning collection of poems now at the link in bio xx

07/02/2024

the production process after design and printing:
- score and fold covers
- fold interior pages one at a time
- mark holes for binding
- punch holes
- bind w thread
- trim edges
- number copies

it’s a process!!! buy a copy of Ju at the link in bio :)

06/28/2024

FIRST RELEASE OF 2024:
Ju, by Lucy Yang

This collection of mouth watering poems weaves together familial memory and food in the most marvellous ways. Allan Cho calls it “a celebration of the tender bonds that tie generations together, captured in the vibrant, sensory language of familial love,” and he is BANG ON. I’m obsessed. has created a wonder here.

copies are $12 + shipping :) available at the link in bio, or send me a message!

thank you all for the continued support of my little literary venture. ###

06/26/2024

coming soon…

04/29/2024

this winter/spring of time off from working on broke press publications I got to be in writer mode!! readings! talking about my writer work!! it was so interesting and challenging for this behind-the-scenes girlie!! tiger poems, my debut chapbook published by is available through their website, or shoot me a message to buy a copy :) poem slt tees on my website so we can match :) getting back into publisher mode now, and I can’t wait to show you the manuscripts in store for this broke press season!!!!

02/27/2024

hey you last-minute writers!! get em in!!

submission guidelines at the link in bio xo

02/14/2024

15 DAYS TO GET UR CHAPBOOK SUBMISSIONS IN!!!!!

link in bio for full guidelines :)

02/05/2024

NEW MERCH DESIGNS ARE LIVEEEEEE!!

available in the broke press online shop in the “merch” category hehehe love ya book bi**os!!

01/23/2024

Boone, the broke press assistant editor, here to remind you to get your chapbook submissions in!!! 2024 submission window closes on February 29 :) link in bio for full details!

01/05/2024

SWIPE TO SEE A FEW THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR IN 2024 SUBMISSIONS!

- long poems: this is my fave genre hehe. think Anne Carson, Sharon Thesen, Sina Queyras…something with a strong narrative throughout!
- genre-defying and form-mixing: a little bit of prose, a little bit of poetry? a short play that isn’t meant to be performed? a sci-fi poetic odyssey? things that don’t fit into one category and test the bounds of genre are so for me!
- make me laugh: doesn’t mean hah hah funny necessarily, but I love a manuscript with a dark sense of humor that catches me off-guard, such as previous broke press titles like Haiku and Other Occupations, Risotto, or Grandma Cooper’s Co**se!
- concrete and grounded: I’m not interested in manuscripts that are theoretical and academic-feeling; if you use only abstractions or lots of pretentious references I probably won’t be into it! I love concrete, real, grounded work.

can’t wait to see what you send me this year :)

c

12/30/2023

it’s the time you’ve all been waiting for!!!

broke press chapbook submissions are now open. full details at the link in bio xoxo tell your fam, friends, students, opps, mail carrier, cat, etc!

12/28/2023

END OF YEAR BLOWOUT SALE!

y’all this was a VERY tough bookselling year. (shoutout to my Patreon supporters for keeping the broke press lights on this year, so to speak, love y’all so much!) so I’m doing a big blowout chapbook sale to help clear out some stock, and hopefully pay for my website renewal when the time comes next month teehee 🤭

take 30% off the chapbooks of 2023, and 50% off what’s left from previous years!

thanks for helping me be able to keep this broke press running :) it’s a passion project and a labour of love, but when I can make a few teeny bucks here and there that’s what really helps me keep going!!

xoxo Clare

12/17/2023

books make the BEST gifts…and chapbooks make the best stocking stuffers :)

these three chapbooks are available to purchase, and if you order em today I’ll ship em first thing tomorrow! or can arrange pick up or drop off in Vernon / Kelowna for your last minute gifts. support a little indie micro press this holiday season, and share the teeny CanLit love! order on my website if you need em shipped, or send me a message if you’re local!

12/07/2023

the last broke press release of 2023: Half Nelson, a collection of poems by Mackenzie Shaw

“Mackenzie Shaw's poems grapple with the incomprehensible distance between death and the everyday. How is it that life just goes on? In the small gesture, like the intimacies of a fishing hook or a family writing in concrete, each poem creates a kind of talisman or prayer for endurance. If the world isn't fair, these poems try to tip the balance, wielding memory against the chaos of grief.” -Michael V Smith, author of Qu**rs Like Me

each chapbook I publish w broke press is special for its own reason. this one is special because I got to work with MY FRIEND! Ken, thank you so much for trusting me to bring this manuscript to physical form. I’m SO honoured. ilysm :)

link in bio or shoot me a dm to purchase a copy of this little marvel. $12 :) thank you broke press fans for the support with each release :,)

12/04/2023

folding day… chapbook coming oh so soon!

11/17/2023

stoked to get to attend & sell some chapbooks at the Valley Voices Poetry Festival kick off tomorrow at The Alternator!! gonna be such a fun night!!

11/06/2023

might be one of my fave broke press covers so far…

get your copy of “Rocko and Nakota: Tales from the Land” by the brilliant at the link in bio now!!

10/31/2023

“Rocko: Within this tiny rock lies thousands of tiny stories. Older than you. Older than me. And if you listen hard enough. You can hear them."

HOT OFF THE PRESS: Josh Languedoc’s short play “Rocko and Nakota: Tales from the Land”

this short play is full of charm and wonder and healing and STORY. it was an honour to work with Josh to bring his award-winning short play to chapbook form. buy a copy of this little marvel through the link in my bio, or shoot me a message and I’ll get you one!! $12 + shipping if necessary :)

LOVE U BROKE PRESS FANS! thank you for all the support that allows me to work on projects that fire me up, like this one :)

10/20/2023

a stack of broke press chapbooks in their natural habitat: my kitchen counter

buy one of .film chapbooks at the link in bio :)

10/02/2023

my beautiful writers :,)

love you all so much! thank you to everyone who came out today for the loveliest celebration of good words :)

09/14/2023

SAVE THE DATE!!!!

a lil nearly last-minute reading!!!! woohooooooooo!!! featuring kevin mcpherson eckhoff, Miriam Cummings, Kristin Burns, and Mackenzie “Ken” Shaw, and hosted by me (Clare) :)

come celebrate my amazing broke press writers and listen to their words!!!! this event is a pay-what-you-can event, and you can buy tickets by donation at the Eventbrite link in bio, or at the venue day of :) chapbooks will of course be for sale!

cya there broke press fans!!

09/13/2023

copies of Kristin Burns’ “Shelter These Hungry Animals” are still available at the link in bio! get em while they’re hot!

08/24/2023

the latest broke press chapbook: “Shelter These Hungry Animals” by Kristin Burns .film

“Volleying between two formative events of violence separated by thirteen years, Shelter These Hungry Animals is a masterful example of the remarkable complexity a short story can contain. Burns’s skill for imbuing a single moment, a fleeting glance, or a small, withheld truth with grave, transformative power makes every scene beautifully layered and rife with atmospheric tension. Through rhythmic, propulsive sentences akin to Cormac McCarthy’s and lucid images attuned to the sharpest of details, this story will haunt you long after you’ve finished reading.” -Corinna Chong, author of “The Whole Animal”

Copies are available for $12 each on the broke press website :) or shoot me a dm to purchase!

08/08/2023

2022 CHAPBOOKS SALE!!!

Ken Cathers’ “kiefer,” Brandon Shalansky’s “Risotto,” kevin mcpherson eckhoff’s long-titled chapbook, and Daniel Bergg’s “Haikus and Other Occupations” are all on sale!!

being a basement suite publisher means I only have a little filing cabinet to keep stock in….help me sell out of last years print runs so I have somewhere for the upcoming chapbooks!!

08/01/2023

editing views
film

07/10/2023

pretty words by

get a copy while you can at the link in bio xx

Address

Vernon, BC

Website

http://brokepress.ca/

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