A decade ago, a Dallas girl and a Chicago girl were paired together as potluck roommates to attend a theatre conservatory. The two stayed up late most nights, pontificating about dreams and art and writing and also just goofing. Now, they’ve joined forces again as a small book publisher.
Fruit Bat Press is a handmade, limited edition chapbook press that is co-based in Chicago and Los Angeles. Fruit bats inspire us because they are dark and sweet at the same time--and they are expert foragers. We are committed to publishing work that embraces foraging: an unusual collection of ideas from a diverse set of perspectives with a basket of different emotions.
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Books We've Published
Another Day in Paradise by Megan Kirby (Graphic Novel, Autumn 2022)
Two Hands by Joshua Bohnsack (Novella, Summer 2022)
I'm Supposed to be a Carnivore by Jennifer Love (Novella, Summer 2022)
Blubber Girl by Karlina Veras (Poetry, Summer 2022)
A Very Chicago December Anthology (Mixed Genre, Winter 2021)
Caliche Untapp'd by Caliche Fields (Poetry, Summer 2021)
Seaborne by Tori Folz (Poetry, Summer 2021)
TV for Roaches by MJ Santiago (Poetry, Summer 2021)
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Vada Briceño (Cofounder and Artist) is an LA-based artist primarily working as a full-time lighting designer. She loves reading, daydreaming about owning multiple dogs, drinking iced coffee, and drawing. She will always remind you she's from Chicago.
Caroline Macon Fleischer (Cofounder and Editor) is a Chicago-based writer, theatremaker, cool mom, and gardener. She is the author of the psychological thriller The Roommate and works as a creative writing teacher at Loyola University and Catapult Publishing. She lives in Irving Park with her blonde husband, cute kid, and neurotic Border Collie.
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Big enormous fuzzy thank yous to our current and ongoing volunteers including:
Andy Fleischer, live-in bookbinder and pretty face
Jean Ashley Ablang, our neighbor, the best event planner in Chi
Catherine Eves, Caro's former boss, now Fruit Bat's resident "yes" woman
Elise Damasco, displaced 00's punk rocker and BookTuber
Morris McLennan, ruthless adviser and self-appointed development associate
Sage Skaar, graphic artist / historian / what can't she do seriously
Natalie Elward, if Creepypasta had a personality, destiny as bestselling horror author
Taylor Hill, an actual calculus mathematician, I don't know how we got her
Juliana Lopez, quiet editorial superpower embodied
Emily Mayo, studying poetry but already superior in the field