Inprint Staff

About Inprint Staff

The Inprint Staff is a bit nerdy, a bit quirky. They read too much, don't sleep enough, and love dark chocolate. But seriously, they are an all around great group of people. The staff include Executive Director Rich Levy, Associate Director Krupa Parikh, Development Director Ricardo Rivera, Communications Manager Ellie Mix, Business & Accounting Manager Ginnie Muller, and Inprint/UHCWP Intern Katie Edkins Milligan. If you come to Inprint events, you'll see them in action.

The 2021 Inprint Poets & Writers Ball celebrates Houston’s literary spirit with George Saunders and others

February 25, 2021, by

Although writing and reading are solitary and quiet acts, the 2021 Inprint Poets & Writers Ball—Inprint’s annual fundraising gala which went virtual this year—was a festive, engaging, collective, and inclusive experience, especially for those passionate about sustaining Houston’s literary arts scene. More than $280,000 was raised, surpassing the fundraising goal by close to 20%, thanks to the generosity of 250 donors who tuned in from all over the country on Saturday, February 6.

Raising funds to support Inprint programs, while delivering a memorable and high-quality evening that celebrates the power of creative writing and reading, has always been at the heart of the unique annual black-tie event and what has made the Inprint Ball a favorite gala for many patrons. Although the Inprint Ball looked a little different this year, gala supporters and their guests were able to enjoy the festivities from home.

The presentation portion of the evening began at 7:30 pm CST featuring welcome remarks by Inprint Board President Marcia West, followed by a video tribute in memory of recently departed Inprint founders Glenn Cambor and Karl Kilian. This was followed by what is often a beloved part of the evening for many attendees—a series of short readings by Inprint fellowship and prize recipients, all of whom are MFA and PhD students and alumni from the University of Houston. Five Inprint fellows, including Raquel Abend van Dalen, Lauren Berry, Matthew Salesses, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, and Sasha West, each read excerpts from their new work and spoke about how Inprint’s support has impacted their writing life. Continue reading

Author Chris Cander launches U.S. book tour for The Weight of a Piano with special Houston celebration

January 16, 2019, by

While the whole world may look at Houston as an energy capital, a city with an internationally reputed medical center, and a champion baseball team, we at Inprint are always interested in sharing a different kind of Houston story. As demonstrated through all of Inprint’s programs, Houston is home to a bright, engaged, and thriving community of writers, writers who are publishing great books with leading U.S. publishing houses and receiving national praise.

Houston author Chris Cander’s latest novel The Weight of a Piano comes out on January 22nd, published by Knopf, one of the most prestigious publishers of literary fiction. Knopf is the publisher of Esi Edugyan’s Washington Black, Tommy Orange’s There There, Valeria Luiselli’s upcoming Lost Children Archive, and many other fiction giants. To say Chris is in good company is an understatement! There is something so special about seeing one of our own fellow Houstonians receive such national acclaim. We couldn’t be more excited for Chris and her new novel. Continue reading

Local writers celebrate the everyday stories of women

September 14, 2018, by

A very special evening is in store this Saturday, September 15, 6:30 pm at Kaboom Books as local writers  Eloísa Pérez-Lozano, Jody T. Morse (aka J. T. Haven),  and celebrated Houston Poet Laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton read from their work featured in a new anthology, I AM STRENGTH: True Stories of Everyday Superwomen.

The timely anthology includes a collection of true stories, poems, and art by more than fifty women. Tamra Lucid, a blogger for Reality Sandwich and music and a documentary producer at Lucid Nation Media, says, “What makes this compilation extraordinary is that it does not rely on celebrity or well-established writers for content. This book gives voice to women who have remained voiceless for too long. It reminds us of the heroism of women facing what most casually dismiss as common challenges of life. It illuminates the courage and resilience, the resourcefulness and commitment women deploy daily to survive in a world where discrimination and injustice, not to mention cruelty, are all too common. It reminds us that small miracles happen daily. Refresh your faith in humanity here.”

We had a chance to catch up with Eloisa, Jody, and Deborah to talk about the anthology and what audience members can expect Saturday evening.

INPRINT: What was the inspiration behind this book project?

DEBORAH: The collection is geared toward celebrating the stories of everyday women and the power they hold. Continue reading

Submit Your Hurricane Harvey Stories to the Houston Flood Museum

June 15, 2018, by

As hurricane season is now underway and an impending storm looms over us this coming weekend, it is hard not to be taken back to last August and the impact of Hurricane Harvey.

Stories often serve as conveyors of our history, reminding us where we have been and possibly enlightening us on where to go from here. It was with this intent that the Houston Flood Museum, funded by the Houston Endowment, was born.

The Houston Flood Museum was initiated by a group of community writers to create a virtual space that collects and preserves stories of the traumatic, catastrophic events during and after Hurricane Harvey from Houstonians who survived the storm’s flooding. The museum will serve as a place to reflect on our shared history, to learn from it, to mourn what we have lost, and to find inspiration about how to move together into the future. Continue reading

Celebrating Books by Houston women: A Summer Reading List

June 8, 2018, by

As we think about good books to read during the dog days of summer, we invite you to add the following books to your list. Released during the 2017-2018 season, these books of literary fiction, poetry, and personal essays are by Houston women. We applaud them and the many other female authors who continue to enhance and expand our literary landscape. Happy reading!

Katherine Center, How to Walk Away: A Novel

Jane Chance, Tolkien, Self and Other: “This Queer Creature”

Leslie Contreras Schwartz, Nightbloom & Cenote

Patricia Hunt Holmes, Searching for Pilar

Sean Johnson, All My Heroes Were Assassinated: Poems for Our Beautifully Tragic Experiences

Caroline Leech, Wait for Me and In Another Time (coming out in August)

Jennifer Mathieu, Moxie: A Novel Continue reading

Inprint Writers Workshops: offering more and doing more for the community

February 22, 2018, by

“We love meeting the wonderful aspiring writers from all walks of life who come to Inprint,” says Inprint Executive Director Rich Levy. “Some of them have been writing for a while and others are just taking a workshop as a hobby, supplementing an already busy work and family schedule. The thing that they all have in common is a desire to tell a story, whether through fiction, poetry, or personal essay. Learning how to shape one’s thoughts in writing is hard but also an exciting process, you learn so much about yourself, the world, and your place in it.”

Over the past few years, Inprint has experienced an upsurge in demand for writers workshops. Meeting this demand has been a high priority for the organization.

“These workshops have been helping Houstonians enhance their creative writing skills since 1991,” says Marilyn Jones, Inprint Associate Director who manages the Inprint Writers Workshops. “We work hard to maintain an intimate and supportive environment in each workshop, so most workshops are limited to 12 people. We also want to offer high quality workshops, so instructors are rotated regularly to avoid burn out, and all participants are asked to fill out evaluations at the end of the sessions to ensure we are meeting participants’ interests.” Continue reading

Celebrating Houston’s Favorite Poems

January 18, 2018, by

All of us have favorites, a song, a color, a book, a restaurant. But what about poems? Which poems have stayed with you over the years, which poems do you come back to and read and reread? Which poems make you think, move you to tears, or make you feel alive?

Former Houston Poet Laureate Robin Davidson took on these questions and the power that poetry can play in our lives when she initiated Houston’s Favorite Poems, now an anthology. Tonight, Thursday, January 18, 6 pm at the Julia Ideson Building, Houstonians will come together to celebrate the launch for the anthology. Click here for more information and join the celebration.

Earlier this week we caught up with Robin to talk about the project and the process of putting the anthology.

INPRINT: What inspired this project?

ROBIN DAVIDSON: Robert Pinsky first came to Houston in the early eighties to stand in for then poetry editor of The New Yorker magazine, Howard Moss, who was teaching a poetry workshop in the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program. I was a graduate student in that class. When Mr. Moss became ill, Pinsky stepped in as our teacher, and one assignment that was life-changing for me was the personal favorite poem anthology he asked each of us to develop. We were to choose at least ten of our favorite poems and write them out, feeling the line breaks in our hands as we wrote or typed and allowing the poems to become our own for a moment. The poems could come from any poet, language, or century, including from among our classmates’ work—what a thrilling exercise it was! I’ve kept my anthology to this day, adding to it over time, and have, for many years, asked my own students to keep such an anthology that includes a preface discussing why each poem is meaningful to them. The results are always lovely—moving and beautiful—and the poem choices are often surprising.

Continue reading

Upcoming Texas conference helps boost the careers of freelance writers

December 12, 2017, by

When someone asks you what you do for a living and you tell them you are a writer, you are often likely to receive confused and questioning responses. But what do you really do? Yes, but where do you work? How do you make money from that?

Writers are actually employed across various industries and are often at the heart of many successful businesses. Freelance writers can have thriving, lucrative, and satisfying careers. The American Society of Journalist and Authors (ASJA), which formed a Texas chapter last year, helps with this effort. ASJA’s mission is to be the voice and career resource for independent, entrepreneurial, professional nonfiction writers. Since 1948, ASJA has been giving freelance writers the confidence and connections to prosper.

On February 3, 2018, ASJA will have a day-long conference in Austin “Write In The Heart of Texas,” a day full of panels and workshops for emerging and established Continue reading

Houston writers come together at Writespace’s Writers’ Family Reunion

November 9, 2017, by

WritersFamilyReunionlogoWe know that Houston is home to many writers. Writespace offers members of Houston’s diverse writing community to gather annually at the Writers’ Family Reunion. This year’s Reunion comes up this Saturday, November 11, 9 am – 5 pm at Writespace in Silver Street Studios at 2000 Edwards, southeast of the Heights. We are one of the co-sponsors, along with Houstonia Magazine, ArtHouston Magazine, Women in the Visual and Literary Arts (WiVLA), Houston Writers House, Public Poetry, Houston Writers Guild, Writers’ League of Texas, Grackle and Grackle. Use the code PAPERPOWER to save $20 on admission. Click here for more information. 

We had the chance to catch up with Writespace founder and director Elizabeth White-Olsen this week to ask her more about the Writers’ Family Reunion and what attendees can expect on Saturday.

INPRINT: How did the Writers Family Reunion first get started, whose idea was it, is it based on a model conducted in another city?

ELIZABETH WHITE-OLSEN: Writing can be a lonely occupation, but when writers feel embraced and supported by community, this can catapult our sense of confidence and success. At Writespace, we seek to offer a place where writers can easily come write, hone their craft, and develop new skills, while feeling celebrated and accepted. Our upcoming literary arts festival, the Writers’ Family Reunion, is designed to strengthen the local writing community by giving writers a sense of homecoming and an Continue reading

“House Rules” by Dana DuTerroil: Inprint Workshop Participants on Harvey

September 20, 2017, by

260px-Harvey_2017-08-25_2231ZThis is the final entry in a series of micro essays on Hurricane Harvey by participants in Inprint’s nonfiction workshop led by poet Cait Weiss Orcutt. She says, “Each piece serves as a proof of our city’s resilience—you can give us rain, wind, uncertainty and days of isolation, but as soon as we can find a pen, we will turn that into art.” For her full introduction and the first essay in this series, click this link.

“House Rules” by Dana DuTerroil

When you weather a storm as a couple you cannot freak out about the same things. There must be a yin and yang to the crisis. A delicate balancing act where one spouse stays calm and convinces the other one to relax without uttering the word, relax, because that will immediately escalate the situation into a full-blown, code red, Cat 5 catastrophe.

It is Sunday morning – the day after the pummeling deluge of Hurricane Harvey’s rain bands. Our home sits near the hike and bike trail leading to White Oak Bayou and my husband has been monitoring the water’s rise throughout the storm. In addition, he is keeping a watchful eye on the end of our street where the road meets I-10, which is now filled with eight lanes of water instead of traffic. I do not accompany him on these missions knowing that he will provide a full report with photographic documentation. Unfortunately, he returns from his afternoon outing with a high level of concern. Continue reading