Artist Portrait No. 10: Kate Gale (writer, founder of Red Hen Press)

Kate Gale is a poet, prose writer, librettist, president of the American Composers Forum, and founder of Red Hen Press, a Los Angeles-based independent literary publishing house, one of the foremost of its kind in the US. Her story is both all-American and quite unusual: It involves escaping a cult, going to college just to spite a conservative boyfriend, and becoming a divorced mom who decided to transform Los Angeles into a literary city. The result was Red Hen Press, named after the American fable about the Little Red Hen who sowed her own wheat to make her own bread.

Kate and I talk about the healing power of storytelling, how a manuscript goes from being one of thousands submissions to being published, how stories aren’t always enough, the taboos around money, the insight manuscript submissions give into the collective psyche, and why e-Books aren’t replacing print books any time soon, among other things.

Website of Red Hen Press: https://redhen.org/

🎵Music:

Moses Concas harmonica beatbox

Nina Simone, “Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”

Sonny Boy Williamson harmonica solo

Iain Farrington, piano arrangement of ABBA’s “Money”

Marina Lebenson, piano improvisation on “If I Were a Rich Man” from Fiddler on the Roof

Mark Abel (w/ text by Kate Gale), “Those Who Loved Medusa”

💋👁👂🏼 More about this podcast and related blog and YouTube channel: https://onthevergetrilogy.com/