'Against Vicious Injustice': An Interview with Tony Christini of Mainstay Press
Press Action
Saturday, February 11, 2006
http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/mickeyz02112006/
By Mickey Z.
Noam Chomsky sez: “It is quite possible—overwhelmingly probable, one might guess—that we will always learn more about human life and human personality from novels than from scientific psychology.” That goes double for novels published by Mainstay Press. Founded in 2005 by three radical authors—Tony Christini, Mike Palecek and Andre Vltchek—Mainstay is off and running with two books already released and several more forthcoming. Recently, I asked Tony Christini a few questions via e-mail.
MZ: How does Mainstay define the term “political novel”?
TC: Mainstay Press doesn’t define “political novel,” nor do I. Mainstay looks to publish books that are socially, culturally, politically progressive, especially explicitly so, that is books that are overtly topical and quality stories—books that focus largely on the public elements of people’s lives, books that may contribute to progressive change.
MZ: In your mission statement, you mention the “politically limited nature of American (U.S.) fiction.” How will fiction published by Mainstay challenge that nature? How overt are the politics in your books?
TC: As overt as it’s possible to be. Name names. Expose lies. Highlight important facts and realities. Speak out by way of story against vicious injustice. Be didactic. Spotlight realms of change, where possible. Push the bounds of art.
MZ: Start-ups of any kind can be challenging, of course, but you’ve chosen a business with a progressive mission. What has surprised you about the process of getting Mainstay up and running?
TC: I can’t say that I’ve ever really looked at Mainstay as a business. If we threaten to make money, then I will, at least from an accounting point of view. We co-founders have pitched in the limited funds needed to get started and have hopes that some grant money will help keep the press going, in addition to sales returns. I also can’t say that anything has surprised me about the startup of the press because I had no idea ahead of time what it would involve. Nothing was pre-planned. Andre, Mike, and I were trying to find publishers for our progressive political novels and knew we were facing long odds, when Mike suggested we start a press ourselves. So we did, all the while knowing it would be difficult.
MZ: I love that you started Mainstay with two others writers and you’re cool with publishing your own novels. I see more and more of this and think it can be a positive trend. To me, it’s like a film director working with a script he or she wrote. What has the feedback been like for your first few releases?
TC: We’ve published our first two books during the past few weeks with minimal publicity, so it may be a premature question. The books are selling, though slowly. We’ve received encouragement and appreciation from a variety of people.
MZ: What role can books play in promoting social change in 2006 and beyond?
TC: Countless people have gotten involved—or more involved or more effectively involved—in countless activities, including efforts for social change, partly and largely on the basis of reading single books, or a number of them. Stories, novels, narratives of all sorts can be extremely powerful. There are plenty of examples. The power of the word. Of course, reading and writing books is not enough. While books play a role, an important one, they are far from the only route to social change. Overall, it seems apparent that books have a very real, ultimately revolutionary, role to play in movements for change, as with so many other efforts and areas of focus.
For more info: http://www.mainstaypress.org
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.