About RUNAGATE
Getting Our Start
When Our Workshop Turned 10...
When Our Workshop Turned 10...
The seeds for Runagate Press were planted with the founding of NOMMO Literary Society in 1995. With productivity of workshop writers, it became apparent that publishing was an organic next step. In 1996 Kalamu ya Salaam and Ayo Fayemi-Robinson (formerly Kysha N. Brown) launched Runagate, naming the press from a poem title of African Ame
The seeds for Runagate Press were planted with the founding of NOMMO Literary Society in 1995. With productivity of workshop writers, it became apparent that publishing was an organic next step. In 1996 Kalamu ya Salaam and Ayo Fayemi-Robinson (formerly Kysha N. Brown) launched Runagate, naming the press from a poem title of African American writer and literary critic Robert Hayden.
With the literary contributions of NOMMO writers and writers from across the African Diaspora, and with proofreading and editing support of core workshop members, the first anthology from Runagate, Fertile Ground - Memories & Visions, received critical acclaim.
The early titles were published in an era before print-on-demand. Books were stored at the New Orleans East studio of Salaam's friend, renowned artist, the late John Scott. As with many losses brought on by flooding of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet in New Orleans East and the failure of the Army Corp of Engineers levee system all across New Orleans, Runagate's pre-Katrina book inventory was destroyed along with Scott's artwork and equipment.
In 2019, the publishing team revived Runagate as an imprint of University of New Orleans Press. Runagate is dedicated to promulgating New Orleans culture and African heritage cultures worldwide.
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When Our Workshop Turned 10...
When Our Workshop Turned 10...
When Our Workshop Turned 10...
We were planning to have a celebratory reading that September, acknowledging the 10-year mark of NOMMO Literary Society. Mawiyah and Nadir (Nadir gave us the name NOMMO) were among the charter workshop members who were still active. NOMMO members had been publishing in Runagate anthologies and with other publishers as well. Carol had put
We were planning to have a celebratory reading that September, acknowledging the 10-year mark of NOMMO Literary Society. Mawiyah and Nadir (Nadir gave us the name NOMMO) were among the charter workshop members who were still active. NOMMO members had been publishing in Runagate anthologies and with other publishers as well. Carol had put her genealogical research on record. Freddi had published her first and second books through Albert & Whitman Company and Pelican Press respectively. Jarvis was cranking out his regular columns for work and still bringing poetry and essays for workshop review. A number of us had performed at national literary conferences, some had gone on to pursue MFA's. We were learning, developing and producing. We had come a long way together on both literary and life journeys, and there was much to celebrate.
For 10 years we had gathered every Tuesday night, and everyone knew they could count on this creative space except during Kwanzaa and on Mardi Gras Day (and if you would be in a writing workshop on Mardi Gras Day, you weren't NOMMO people no kinda way).
And then a hurricane was predicted in August 2005. And then the levee protection system failed to protect. We found ourselves dispersed across the country. We had things to say about that and much more, and we had established or begun to establish our unique voices.
Something to Say
When Our Workshop Turned 10...
Something to Say
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