A small press is often described through its catalog: the books it has published, the records it has released, the writers whose work it has brought into the world. But a press is also a community. A community built on friendship, trust, labor, and in Fonograf Editions’ case, a desire to bring to life works that resist, bend, and break expectations.
Fonograf Editions was founded in 2016 by me, Jeff Alessandrelli. Originally an arm of Octopus Books devoted to audio, FE spent its first years releasing vinyl LPs, publishing recordings by poets including Eileen Myles, Alice Notley, Harmony Holiday, Rae Armantrout, Susan Howe, and Nathaniel Mackey. In 2020, the press released its first print artifact, by Joshua Beckman, and its first full-length book, by Dao Strom. Since then, dozens of projects by debut and established artists have joined the FE catalog.
Yet what we celebrate in our tenth year is not only what has been published, but the community that has made publishing possible.
Over the past decade, FE has hosted dozens of readings in Portland and beyond, featuring most, if not all, of the seventy-five+ authors we have published, with each event serving as a kind of commons, a place to be a part of a shared creative life.
Such gatherings are only made possible by the host of people working behind the scenes, including folks like Jeff, who has remained a constant presence since the beginning, serving as editor and executive director. During the press’s early years, Justin Rigamonti (now at Tether Books) helped Jeff guide many of FE’s inaugural books into the world.
Since 2020, editor and co-publisher Adie B. Steckel has helped shape both the print and audio sides of the press. Adie was the visionary behind FE’s archival Audre Lorde and John Ashbery LPs, released in 2023 and 2022, while also editing numerous books and chapbooks.
Mike Corrao joined FE in 2021 as in-house designer. Writer, designer, publisher, editor, Mike is a renaissance man whose work gives each book its own visual identity while helping sustain the aesthetic conversation that connects our catalog.
In 2023, Ellena Basada joined the editorial team. A gifted nonfiction writer whose editorial work has expanded from prose into poetry, Ellena also extends FE’s presence in New York City, where she curates and hosts events that bring new communities into conversation with the press.
The newest member of the team is Managing Editor Isabel Lemus Kristensen. With an M.A. in Book Publishing from Portland State University, Isabel brings their talents as writer, photographer, editor, and organizer to nearly every aspect of FE’s work, from manuscript preparation to social media design.
And then there are all the people whose contributions cannot be neatly gathered into titles or roles. Among the many who have been instrumental to Fonograf Ed. are Jay Ponteri, Drew Swenhaugen, Nick Twemlow, Lex Orgera, John Goodhue, Gabrielle Civil, Nick Sturm, Zach Schomburg, Josh Stanek, Sara Guest, Allison Cobb, Knox Gardner, Adam Robinson, Sue Landers, and Dorothy Steubner. This list could be ten times longer and still remain incomplete.
Perhaps that incompleteness is the point.
A press is never only the people whose names appear on a masthead. It’s also the authors who entrust their work to us, readers who buy books, and the many volunteers who lend their time and expertise to this work.
Fonograf Editions remains primarily volunteer-led. The people who edit, design, and publish these books do so while teaching community college, caring full-time for loved ones, working at other nonprofits, and navigating the ordinary demands of life. We do this because independent publishing creates spaces that might not otherwise exist.
So, as we celebrate ten years of Fonograf Editions in 2026, we ask that if you have found something meaningful in our catalog and community, we hope you will help sustain this work.
Thank you for being part of Fonograf Ed.