As far as we know, Word Warriors Press (WWP) is the only publishing company of its kind. We publish edgy trade paperbacks by authors primarily in their twenties and late teens, with a focus on those people and those stories not well represented in the mainstream. By publishing unheard voices, WWP seeks to empower, educate and entertain those whom society ignores. We believe in the truth-telling power of this newest “lost generation” to change the world, and we hire people in this age group for all possible aspects of the business.

We envision our books as Curb Lit. Curb Lit is literature of the street—of the people—out of the garden, not quite in the gutter. Think of it as where the sidewalk ends, on the edge of the main flow, at the threshold of something new. In the innovative traditions of Whitman, Zora Neal Hurston, The Beats, and the writers of Quinto Sol, among others, we think of our books as literature "of the common people" and our vernaculars.

WWP believes that social and political change begins with psychological change: a sense of individual and group power, and the realization that change is possible. Through its books and interactive website, we hope to help engender these changes.

Hip-Hop & Spoken Word: Video Clips		Art Gallery: Submitted Art		Staplegenius Comics: The War on Homeland Security

Some changes are needed around here. So come on, let’s tilt the world on its axis, start thinking and feeling again, confound the pundits, refuse to be good little consumers, take back the nation, recapture our souls, fling risky art into the world, and ignite joy. Let’s be subversive.

Subversion, the undermining of stagnant social and political structures, keeps cultures, democracy, and human beings alive. It’s discovery to fact, the wave to the particle, dance to stone, the question to dogma. Have you noticed that things seem a little out of balance, like the soul has gone out of the world? Let’s get this energy moving again, people.

"The true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love . . . If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, you are a comrade of mine."
                                    —Che Guevara, Patron Saint of Word Warriors

Click here for a list of subversive activities.




Stranger in My Skin, by Alysa Phillips

This taut, compelling tale of Alysa Phillips's strange struggle toward adulthood takes place in a conventional Utah town with an exacting father who even counts the family's food. The young author becomes entangled with a menacing boyfriend, his cult-leader father, and the deranged vagabond who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart. Instead of finding enlightenment in the severe and polygamous cult, she begins an obsession of self-mutilation and "geographical cures" that only accentuate the tenacity of her traumas. This is a story that will wake you in the middle of the night with an itchy question, compel you to mull over the simple sigh of a co-worker, and wonder anew at the mysterious complexities of human suffering and of human endurance.

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As a lowly shoe pimp in an outlet mall, Scott Sundvall casts a lyrical and interrogative eye on American culture. With both searing drama and comedic irony, the author: takes a road trip to Mexico, where the meaning of life can be had for $1; meets Newt Gingrich in a divinely metaphorical D.C. bathroom; indulges in vodka and psychedelics to within three yards of death; faces one friend’s suicide attempt and another’s disappearance into rehab; and finally undergoes observation at a psych ward in the midst of an emotional epiphany. Full of yearning and anger in an existentially indifferent world, the 20-year-old author of this “memoir with elaborations” ultimately finds some clarity and purpose amid dead pigeons and clearance leather shoes.



"Sometimes it takes a work of fiction to provide insight into the real world. Outlet Or A Heaven Full Of Televisions by Scott Sundvall is just such a minor masterpiece of literate fiction.”

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“Emotionally intense!” — Slug, MC of Atmosphere

Yesterday's Warrior is what young adult audiences have been waiting for: their generation's Go Ask Alice. But Heather Harrison's compelling memoir of her descent into drug abuse, casual sex and crime, and her struggle towards recovery is no anonymous cautionary tale: her brutal honesty and graphic description of addiction lets readers know that she has actually been there, done that. Fortunately she lived to tell her tale, proving that even the gravest circumstances can be overcome, and providing an inspiration for troubled teens that the classic Alice sorely lacks. Highly recommended for all libraries and reluctant teen readers.
                                 —Arlene Garcia, Broward County, FL, Librarian

Untitled, by Slug

Coming from a family with black jazz trumpeters and an ancestral line of Irish hereditary bards and minstrels, Sean Daley, a.k.a. "Slug," emcee of Atmosphere, accidentally meets his destiny in the essential world of hip-hop. One of the sublime results is a series of passionate, sure-to-be-controversial essays. In the tradition of street zines, this book comes complete with artistic Slug-projects, including cut-and-paste. While it's true that Sean is not an "unheard voice," which is what we mainly aim to publish, he's kin to the spirit of Word Warriors and has been kind enough to lend support to a great new press that can't afford to advertise.