Holy Cow! Press

"I’ve long admired all you’ve done for literature. Thank you so much for the gift of your efforts to uphold literary wisdom and knowledge."--Joy Harjo, US Poet Laureate, 2019-2022 

CELEBRATING OUR 46th ANNIVERSARY, 1977-2023

Holy Cow! Press was established in 1977, by founding editor and publisher Jim Perlman. To date, we have published over 125 books of poetry, short fiction, novels, memoirs, young adult children’s books, and anthologies centered on specific themes. We are one of the few small publishers that routinely publishes books by Native American authors. Most of the authors we publish are Midwestern by location and many live in Minnesota. We currently publish between three and five books each year. Our books are distributed nationally by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution. Please contact us by email: holycow@holycowpress.org and visit our renovated website, www.holycowpress.org

Our goal is to publish the very best collections of writings we can find and develop an audience for those books regionally and nationally. Our books are uniquely designed to reflect their content and the interests of the authors we publish. Nineteen of our books have been nominated for the Minnesota Book Award and three poetry collections were judged the Minnesota Book Award winner for Poetry. Our books have been favorably reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, LA Times, Minneapolis Tribune, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Duluth News-Tribune, Lake Superior Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, The American Jewish World, et al. 

In 2015, Holy Cow! Press was honored with a tribute session at the AWP conference in Minneapolis. Their description of our press read as follows: “Their book list is culturally and racially diverse and artistically meritorious; it marks Duluth/Minneapolis as a site of literary significance. This small press has provided an essential bridge for Russian, Jewish, Swedish, Indian and American voices; for rural and urban trendsetters; for grieving, divorced, aging, little-known or silenced; for cultural continuance; for guiding writers-to-come. Holy Cow! Press engages reading, writing and youthful audiences in the power of art.” 

In 2016, founding editor/publisher Jim Perlman received The Duluth Depot Foundation's "Community Enrichment Award" for the Arts.

In 2017, there were 40th anniversary tributes and publication readings in Duluth, MN, Iowa City, IA, Green Bay, WI and at the Twin Cities Book Festival. Holy Cow! Press was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.

In 2018,  we published three poetry collections, a memoir on the writing life, "Don't Quit Your Day Job," by Michael Fedo, and a novel, "Beginnings" by Annishinabe author Thomas D. Peacock.

In Spring 2019, we published the third edition of "Walt Whitman: The Measure of His Song" to celebrate the 200th birthday of this essential American and international poet on May 31st, 2019.  New poetry collections by Warren Woessner and Kimberly Blaeser were also released in 2019.

In 2020, we published  "The Wolf's Trail: An Ojibwe Story Told by Wolves," a second novel by Thomas D. Peacock; "What Falls Away Is Always," a new poetry collection by Minneapolis poet Richard Terrill; and a book of daily meditations by Patricia Hoolihan, entitled "Hands and Heart Together: Daily Meditations for Caregivers."

In April, 2021, we published Jim Heynen's newest short short story collection, "The Youngest Boy,"  with illustrations by Tom Pohrt. In October, we released "Kaddish: Before the Holocaust and After," Poems by Jane Yolen.

Our publishing schedule for 2022 included three new poetry collections: "Into the Good World Again," by Max Garland; "Jordemoder: Poems of a Midwife," by Ingrid Andersson; and "Spirit Matters: White Clay, Red Exits, Distant Others," Poems by Gordon Henry. We also published "Essentially," a collection of essays by Minneapolis poet and author Richard Terrill.

In 2023, we published "Songs, Blood Deep," a poetry collection by Gwen Nell Westerman, poet laureate of Minnesota; and "Clouded Waters," a debut novel by Duluthian Dianna Hunter. 

Please visit our recently renovated website, www.holycowpress.org

Holy Cow! Press is a fiscally sponsored project of Springboard for the Arts