BearWatch: Dudgrick Bevins, founder of Kintsugi Books

One of the most difficult realities for LGBTQ artists and artists of color face is the fact that we sometimes fall between the cracks. Representation for queer artists, artists of color, disabled artists and other marginalized groups is not only that we are severely underrepresented in the media, but we also aren’t given many of the same opportunities.

I had a chance to talk to my friend Dugdrick Bevins, New York-based and Georgia-raised queer author, poet, educator and founder of Kintsugi Books — a new publishing company that dedicates itself to representing the voices of those that oftentimes go unnoticed in our society.  

Kyle Jackson: Can you tell us a bit about your background and how/when you started writing?

Dudgrick Bevins: I’m from Deliverance country in North Georgia — literally the town that inspired James Dickey’s novel of that title. I live in New York City now, but I think I carry a lot of that southern — I’m going to go ahead and call it charm, but maybe decadence — with me. 

The romanticism of the south finds its way into my writing in so many ways, but writing is always autobiographical. I think I’ve been writing my whole life, and no matter what I write, my history comes flowing out. 

When I write about New York, I write with southern boy eyes; when I write about the south, I write with my New York goggles on — it is all always there. Right now my writing is mostly poetry, but in the past I wanted to be a novelist; now I find the immediacy and concision of poetry more engaging. 

KJ: What made you decide to start your own publishing company, and is it LGBTQ focused?

DB: I started Kintsugi Books so that I could fix some of the problems I saw in publishing. First, that everything is money focused. I believe that artists should get paid, but I don’t think the market has to be set up the way it is, and artists who want to have their work out in the world have to contend with making their money back after printing costs. 

My model is “no profit.” Literally, no money made, even for me. It may not stay this way forever, but for now, I want to work with people who want to be read, who feel like what they have to say is the most important thing in the world; so that’s what I’m doing. 

Second, so many presses require submission fees; I didn’t want to do that. I don’t like the model of the author paying a publisher to look at their work. This means, I have a no fee reading policy. 

Third, I wanted a press dedicated to looking for voices that fall between the cracks: LGBTQ+ folks, people of color, independent academics, incarcerated folks, and artists who work in difficult forms. 

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with precious metals, like gold. We are living in a broken world, and it is the people in the cracks who are holding it together — like essential workers — in the most beautiful and interesting ways. So, yes, Kintsugi Books is queer oriented, but any person living in those golden gaps is welcome! 

KJ: What have you published so far?

DB: The first three books are in the works. Right now Pointless Thorns {Ocean Poems} is being proofed by the author (me) and the illustrator, Nate DeWaele. The manuscript had been languishing on my computer for a few years, passed first by my publisher, then by a few other places. 

I put it away until I saw Nate’s art and I knew immediately that he had to be part of the book. You can see his art at barneydew.com.

The book was a test on a lot of fronts (learning software, ISBNs, distribution) but that paved the way for the second book we will release, Light Travels Further than Sound.

Light Travels Further than Sound is a poetry collection as conversation by Allen Lanning — a friend and poet whose writing and will I’ve admired for close to seventeen years. Right now I’m gathering writing for an anthology and what will be the third book, We Make Our Own Light. 

The anthology focuses on queer southerners and the relationship between geographical space and sexuality. I’ve been trying to get this anthology going for several years, and now I really can! 

On that note, I’m happy to announce that Jeff Mann is a contributor! Please check out his work if you haven’t already — he does it all and so well. Those three books will be published in August, October, and December, respectively. 

KJ: What else do you have planned for Kintsugi Books?

DB: I want to start by publishing six books a year, which feels both reserved and crazy. I’d like to do one every other month. By year two, I want to find ways to pay contributors; it is important to me to maintain my “at cost” model and to ensure only physical copies that are wanted get printed (this is a no waste model too), but I also want to honor the work of the artist with what our society says is important — money. 

Eventually, I want to have a few series running based around those categories I mentioned before: incarcerated writers, hybrid genre literature, and more. My biggest hope is that I can use Kintsugi to publish more people — I don’t want it to be just my voice, my opinion, and my aesthetic. I want to hear and let others be heard. 

KJ: Where can we find out more about you and the press?

DB: Right now the best way to stay on top of Kintsugi Books and me is on my website, www.dudgrickbevins.com. You find links there to my YouTube films and my previously published works on Amazon.

And if you want to propose a project or pitch me a manuscript, there’s a contact form. I’d love to hear from you! We can talk about my work or yours — or make something together!