Created by a group of artists and writers without commercial publishing experience, Ugly Duckling Presse has a unique publishing structure with a non-hierarchical editorial collective at its heart. Growing out of the Ugly Duckling zine of the early 1990s, and incorporated as a not-for-profit art & publishing collective in 2002, UDP produces small to mid-size editions of new poetry, translations, lost works, and artist’s books, averaging more than 25 titles a year.

The Presse favors emerging, international, and “forgotten” writers with well-defined formal or conceptual projects that are difficult to place at other presses. In addition to its contemporary poetry titles, UDP offers several curated series: the Eastern European Poets Series publishes  translations of poetic works of the 20th and 21st centuries from that area as well as emigre writers; the conceptually-minded Dossier Series expands the formal scope of the Presse with investigative works; the Lost Literature series brings back neglected works of 20th century poetry, as well as other unearthed texts of lasting importance. UDP also publishes 6×6, a poetry magazine featuring six poets per issue and a distinctive design and concept that have helped earn it a faithful following. Our books, chapbooks, artist’s books, broadsides, and periodicals often contain handmade elements, calling attention to the labor and history of bookmaking.

Looking also to the future of bookmaking, UDP deals with issues of access and exchange by publishing a series of web-only books that are available for free on our website. An online library of our out-of-print and one-of-a-kind books, currently in progress, will provide for free the texts of many of our books as well as visual tours through difficult to find artist’s book projects.

UDP’s endeavor has been to examine the “how” and the “why” as well as the “what” of publishing, proceeding experimentally through its stages of development as an arts organization and a business, and attempting to expand on the traditional role of the publisher. To this end, the Presse has been involved in various ephemeral and para-literary activities, including the Anti-Readings (a collaboration with Loudmouth Collective), its sound-recording series of longer poetic works (a collaboration with Deerhead Records), and through the dedicated actions of its own Paperless Books Department.

In January 2007, the Presse relocated its small workshop and letterpress studio to the Old American Can Factory, a restored warehouse building in Gowanus, Brooklyn, that is home to a community of artists, artisans, and creative enterprises.  Embarking on its 17th year in 2010, UDP continues to create spaces in which people can have an experience of reading free of expectation, coercion, and utility.