Ten years of publishing at the intersection of art & literature

2018 marks Siglio’s tenth year of of fiercely independent publishing, driven by its feminist ethos and its commitment to artists and writers who obey no boundaries, pay no fealty to trends and invite readers to see the world anew by reading word and image in provocative, unfamiliar ways. Founded in 2008 in Los Angeles and now located in the Hudson River Valley, Siglio is a mission-driven press that publishes uncategorizable and uncommon books that inhabit the space between literature and the visual arts.

Eileen Myles wrote in her review of It Is Almost That: A Collection of Image+Text Works by Women Artists & Writers: “Because the frame is image+text, we’re reminded that all of us generally do more. Female artists don’t just stay in their disciplines; we experience, we forage, we play. Intuitively and practically speaking, It Is Almost That is, in effect, a handbook. It… shows us how to be an artist.” These aspects of feminism—the embrace of abundance, heterodoxy and experiment; the subversion of old in tandem with the invention of new paradigms; the push outward to the edges, into the margins—are at the heart of Siglio’s mission.

This year’s first three titles evince this mission, each resisting categorical distinctions and envisioning image, language and the space of the book in expansive ways. In Mirtha Dermisache: Selected Writings, invented graphic languages invite readers to reorient how they engage the possibility of meaning. Ellie Ga: Square Octagon Circle takes readers on labyrinthine inquiry into the Pharos Lighthouse of Alexandria in a richly layered visual and textual essay. Karen Green: Frail Sister (author of Bough Down, 2013) is a deftly composed fictional archive of letters, drawings, collages and altered photographs that probe the disappearance of women.

Siglio is also deeply influenced by Dick Higgins, his concept of “intermedia” and the Something Else Press (which used conventional book production, marketing and distribution to get unconventional and avant-garde works into the hands of readers). To mark the anniversaries of Higgins’s birth (1938) and death (1998), Siglio is publishing a long overdue compendium of his prose writings—Intermedia, Fluxus and the Something Else Press: Selected Writings by Dick Higgins, edited by Granary Book publisher Steve Clay and Fluxus artist and scholar Ken Friedman.

Siglio books by both renowned and little known artists and writers (Joe Brainard, Marcel Broodthaers, John Cage, Sophie Calle, Dorothy Iannone, Jess, Ray Johnson, Cecilia Vicuña and Nancy Spero, among others) have earned devoted fans and critical acclaim, with reviews in the established media such as the New York Times, Bookforum, The New Yorker, London Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, Wall Street Journal, Art in America, Los Angeles Times, Slate and NPR as well as alterative media like N+1, Bomb, Hyperallergic, Los Angeles Review of Books and The Believer.

Siglio was founded to make space for works that seem “unpublishable.” Ten years later, more independent (and even corporate) publishers have felt emboldened to take greater risks and advocate for challenging, hybrid works that they believe in. Siglio counts this as a great success: more neglected works are now read and engaged. In expanding its defiantly eclectic list for the next ten years, Siglio seeks to champion works that even further expand the possibilities.

You can support Siglio by becoming a Siglio Advocate. A subscription to a single year’s titles includes free shipping for four 2018 titles, discounts on trade and limited editions, as well as an occasional surprise in the mail. Siglio books can be purchased directly at www.sigliopress.com (use code EFLUX for 25% off until April 30), or at independent, museum and contemporary art bookstores in the US, UK and throughout Europe.