A Letter From Our Founding Editor

Mason Jar Press recently received criticism for our lack of public statement in support of the Palestinian people, including by our former author, Lucas Scheelk. 

First and foremost, I apologize to Lucas. My inaction caused Lucas harm that they did not deserve. As a publisher and human, I failed in my duties to Lucas, and for that, I am truly sorry.

Second, I apologize to Maya Salameh. When we met with Maya last weekend, I did not articulate what I believe in my heart clearly or forcefully enough. This, too, caused harm, and I am truly sorry.

At the end of the call with Maya, we all agreed that Mason Jar Press would release a statement in support of the Palestinian people. We did so on Thursday. The contents of that statement are what I believe, and have believed, for months. The fact that the statement did not get made sooner—and that we did not acknowledge Lucas’s pleas for us to do so—is ultimately my responsibility.

I hesitated in making a statement on this very important issue for several reasons. The first was that, historically, Mason Jar Press has not made statements on large geo-political issues on social media. I feared that the nature of social media opened those involved with the press to unwanted and unwarranted hate and threats. I did not feel comfortable speaking as a press, which includes volunteer staff and authors who didn’t ask me to speak for them.

The second reason is that I am a publisher. I see publishing as an artform. I speak to the world through the books that I publish. If you want to know my views on the world, I encourage you to look at the catalog of books that Mason Jar Press has published. If you want to know my views on Israel and Palestine, I encourage you to read Hisham Bustani’s book (translated from the Arabic by maia tabet), The Monotonous Chaos of Existence, in particular the section entitled “Gaza.” Publishing books by people who are smarter than me, and can speak with more authority on subjects I care about, felt more impactful than a statement on social media. It was one reason I was excited that Maya’s poetry collection was selected for our book prize. It is a powerful collection by a brilliant young writer, and I encourage someone to publish it as soon as possible. Their message needs to be spread.

The third reason I did not fulfill my duties with Lucas, or push to make a statement sooner, or ramp up the idea to publish a journal of Palestinian voices (again, please more presses do this!) is more symptomatic of a larger problem: I am exhausted. I did not have the time, mental, or emotional capacity to do the work that should have been done. And if I can’t run a press to the standards that I set myself, then I should not be running a press. I should have done this sooner, but a sense of duty and obligation to the staff of MJP and our authors has made me stay with the press longer than I should. Also, I just really love the press and everyone involved in it, and selfishly, I didn’t want to lose that. But my life is very different than it was when I started this press 10 years ago, and my hesitation to put the best interest of the press first has made me worse at something I loved doing. That’s no way to do the important work that I believe small presses (or any publisher!) have the obligation to do: raise the voices of others.

So, I’m stepping down as Editor-in-Chief of Mason Jar Press. What comes next for the press is still to be determined. I hope it continues, but I know that’s a lot to ask of others. Especially in a time where the landscape of publishing makes it harder to survive as a small press more than ever. If it is to continue, I will support a transition in the ways that I can. If the press is to shutter, I will do what I can to ensure that our authors are treated as ethically as they can be.

Sincerely,

Ian Anderson