our books.
word west aims to publish exciting new works of fiction, poetry, non-fiction and whatever else we feel like. from the best authors in the west and beyond.
collective gravities
chloe n. clark
best book of 2020 (NPR, The Brooklyn Rail)
a "small-press gem" (Publisher's Weekly)
"Like Kelly Link channeling Ray Bradbury."
— Jason Heller, NPR Books
"I loved these stories and I loved Clark’s deeply hopeful voice.”
— Amber Sparks, And I Do Not Forgive You
"...a writer of terrific imagination and insight.”
— Sara Lippmann, Doll Palace
"...a delightful, genre-bending kaleidoscope."
— Kendra Fortmeyer, Hole in the Middle
"...so good, so fabulous, and so necessary."
— Juan Martinez, Best Worst American
july 7, 2020
not i
sebastian castillo
"I didn't want this book to end."
— Chelsea Hodson, Tonight I'm Someone Else
"In the tradition of Anne Carson, Aaron Kunin, Édouard Levé...Castillo works magic."
— Wayne Koestenbaum, Figure It Out
september 15, 2020
no good for digging: stories
dustin m. hoffman
"Few writers working today care as deeply for their characters."
— Matt Bell, A Tree or a Person or a Wall
“...an ardent love letter to the Midwest.”
— Anne Valente, author of The Desert Sky Before Us
"...a Sherwood Anderson for our time."
— Seth Fried, The Municipalists
"An elegy to the theory and practice and meaning of work."
— William Lychack, Cargill Falls
"...a writer who deserves our attention."
— Donald Ray Pollock, The Devil All the Time
december 3, 2019
secrets of the wild
dustin m. hoffman
“...surreal, funny, and terrifically endearing.”
— Michelle Ross, There's So Much They Haven't Told You
“Hoffman doesn’t just bend genres, he twists them into balloon animals.”
— Adam Schuitema, Haymaker
november 5, 2019
dawg towne: a novel
alice kaltman
june 1, 2021
"DAWG TOWNE yowls, bristles, romps, and all but licks your face, as vivacious as its characters, canine and otherwise. Alice Kaltman is one of those writers whose clear enjoyment of the task at hand beams through every phrase she makes."
— Rachel Lyon, Self-Portrait With Boy
a study of frustration: poems
dillon thomas jones
2021
Dillon Thomas Jones is a writer living in Pittsburgh, PA. He holds a BA in English (Creative Writing) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is an MFA in Creative Writing candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. He writes poetry, fiction, and cultural criticism about television, film, and books. He is currently at work on a memoir about growing up the adopted and black only son of a white single mother in Omaha, NE. Contact him at
word west 2021 chapbook series
beautiful, violent things
madeline anthes
spectacles
shome dasgupta
the clarity of hunger
cheryl pappas
it's hard to say
claire hopple
earthling
doris w. cheng
grown ocean
matt mitchell