University of Arizona

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Records of the Blue Moon Press

L.D. Clark Press Release, undated

The Blue Moon Press was founded in October of 1976 by four University of Arizona students. The Press was established as an independent, non-profit corporation with the express purpose of fostering and preserving literary efforts. Under the guidance of chief editor James Hepworth, the Blue Moon Press focused on the publication of manuscripts by Western-based writers, and usually published two titles per year.

During its seven-year existence, the Press published an annual magazine, Blue Moon News; an anthology of writing by members of the Arizona State Prison Writer's Workshop, Do Not Go Gentle; as well as collections of fiction and chapbooks of poetry. In addition, the Press sponsored poetry readings and printed a series of poster poems for the Tucson city bus line, Sun Tran.

The collection consists of 1.5 linear feet, and contains correspondence with authors and publishers, copies of published books and chapbooks, and select design files. Of particular interest are those files pertaining to Gracia Grindal's Sketches Against the Dark (1981), which was not well-received by reviewers and journal editors. The production files for The Fifth Wind (L.D. Clark, 1981) have been kept as part of the collection as examples of the production process at the Blue Moon Press.

Additional files include the papers of James Hepworth, specifically a typescript of his Masters thesis and two video tapes of author interviews.