Founded in Upstate New York

Upstate New York

Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...

 in 1978 by Maureen Brady and Judith McDaniel, Spinsters Ink is one of the oldest Lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

 Feminist publishers in the world. It is currently owned by publisher Linda Hill, who purchased the Spinsters Ink in 2005.. Hill also owns Bella Books

Bella Books

Bella Books is a small press publisher of lesbian literature that is based in Tallahassee, Florida. The chief executive officer is Linda Hill, who is also the chief executive officer of Spinsters Ink and BeanPole Books....

 and Beanpole Books.

History

Spinsters Ink was founded by Brady and McDaniel and moved to San Francisco in 1982, where it was purchased by Sherry Thomas.

The early history of Spinsters Ink is closely tied up with that of another feminist publisher, Aunt Lute Books

Aunt Lute Books

Aunt Lute Books is a multicultural feminist press whose mission is to "publish literature by women whose voices have been traditionally under-represented in mainstream and small press publishing" and "distribute literature that expresses the true complexity of women’s lives and the possibilities...

.. Spinsters Ink merged in San Francisco with Aunt Lute Book Company in 1986, to form Spinsters/Aunt Lute. The Aunt Lute Foundation was established as a non profit publishing program in 1990, and the two companies separated again. In 1992 Spinsters Ink was purchased by lesbian feminist philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

 Joan Drury and moved to Minneapolis.

In 2001 Spinsters Ink moved to Denver, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 under Sharon Silvas, who brought back into print the classic Feminist Utopian novel, The Wanderground by Sally Miller Gearhart

Sally Miller Gearhart

Sally Miller Gearhart is an American teacher, feminist, science fiction writer, and political activist. In 1973 she became the first open lesbian to obtain a tenure-track faculty position when she was hired by San Francisco State University, where she helped establish one of the first women and...

. The press is currently owned by Linda Hill, and employs Katherine V. Forrest

Katherine V. Forrest

Katherine V. Forrest is an American writer.Forrest is best known for her eight novels about lesbian police detective Kate Delafield. The character was the very first lesbian police detective in the American lesbian mystery genre and is described as "Miss Marple with k.d...

 as editorial supervisor.

Titles

Spinsters Ink has published many well-known women authors, including Sheila Ortiz-Taylor, Minnie Bruce Pratt

Minnie Bruce Pratt

Minnie Bruce Pratt is an U.S. educator, activist, and award-winning poet, essayist, and theorist. Pratt was born in Selma, Alabama, grew up in Centreville,...

, Paula Gunn Allen

Paula Gunn Allen

Paula Gunn Allen was a Native American poet, literary critic, lesbian activist, and novelist.Born Paula Marie Francis in Albuquerque, Allen grew up in Cubero, New Mexico, a Spanish-Mexican land grant village bordering the Laguna Pueblo reservation...

, Elana Dykewomon

Elana Dykewomon

Elana Dykewomon is a Jewish lesbian activist, award-winning author, editor and teacher.- Childhood :...

, Judy Grahn

Judy Grahn

Judy Rae Grahn is an American poet. She has written many lesbian / feminist works.-Activities:Judy Grahn is a poet who writes about women's lives, including lesbian experience. She was a member of the Gay Women's Liberation Group, the first lesbian feminist collective on the west coast, founded...

, Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde

Audre Lorde was a Caribbean-American writer, poet and activist.-Life:...

, Gloria Anzaldúa, Val McDermid

Val McDermid

Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer, best known for a series of suspense novels starring her most famous creation, Dr. Tony Hill.-Biography:...

, and Cherríe Moraga

Cherríe Moraga

Cherríe L. Moraga is a Chicana writer, feminist activist, poet, essayist, and playwright.-Biography:Moraga was born in Whittier, California. She earned her Bachelor's degree from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, California and her Master's from San Francisco State University in 1980...

. It has released several Lambda Literary Award

Lambda Literary Award

Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...

 winning books, such as Why Can't Sharon Kowalski Come Home?, Two-Bit Tango, and Cancer in Two Voices, as well as the bestselling Look Me in the Eye: Old Women, Aging and Ageism.. It received a Publisher Service Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation

Lambda Literary Foundation

The Lambda Literary Foundation is the largest LGBT literary organization in the world. The foundation's mission is to nurture, celebrate, and preserve Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender literature through three programs that honor excellence, promote visibility and encourage development of...

.

Current writers include Lambda Literary Award

Lambda Literary Award

Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...

 winners Julia Watts

Julia Watts

Julia Watts is an American author of novels, short stories, etc., especially in the genres of young adult fiction and lesbian fiction/erotica....

 and Katherine V. Forrest

Katherine V. Forrest

Katherine V. Forrest is an American writer.Forrest is best known for her eight novels about lesbian police detective Kate Delafield. The character was the very first lesbian police detective in the American lesbian mystery genre and is described as "Miss Marple with k.d...

. Sheila Ortiz-Taylor continues to publish with Spinsters Ink. Its current catalog includes general, dramatic and genre fiction for women and lesbians.