I recently learned that Sarah Goodman Cuetara, who many know as a Peaks Islander, has been diligently working on a new independent publishing company called Wheeling Tern Books.
Wheeling Tern Books is a collaborative approach to publishing born of a pandemic-area project and close friendships between fellow creators.
Please listen for all the details on the book, this unique publishing company, and ideas for bringing your own creative endeavors to life.
You’ll especially want to listen for Lisa reading several of her poems featured in the new collection Guest People.
Lisa Usani Phillips (Author, Guest People, Wheeling Tern Books)
Lisa Usani Phillips is an Asian American writer and editor who is Hakka by way of Thailand on her mom’s side and Dutch, English, German, and Irish on her dad’s side. Lisa’s work has appeared in or is forthcoming from The Beacon Street Review, Current Biography, House Mountain Review, riksha: Asian American Notes and Images, and Salt Magazine, among others. She has received several honors for her writing, including the Emerson College Emerging Writer Award for MFA students. Her debut poetry and fiction collection, Guest People, was published by Wheeling Tern Books in October 2022. For more about Lisa, please visit her website, lisausaniphillips.com.
Sarah Goodman Cuetara (Publisher, Wheeling Tern Books)
I’ve spent decades in publishing and communications—from producing clay animated TV ads to developing middle school and high school science textbooks. I’ve worked as communications specialist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)—where I worked on web content, newsletters, fundraising, event-planning, social media, and connecting students, faculty, and staff with mental health resources.
I’ve taught first grade and other primary grades, and still occasionally volunteer-teach one-on-one. I organize community events on Peaks Island, such as concerts and poetry readings—some in partnership with Peaks Island Radio.
My current full-time job for a national curriculum company is “editor”. I have been working remotely for 2 years from my home—across the street from Peaks Island Radio. And, as many islanders know, I play tambourine, percussion, and glockenshpiel for The Hedgehogs—an acoustic band on the island performing songs of the British Invasion.
Frankie Wright (Publisher, Wheeling Tern Books)
Writer, editor, involved in publishing and the arts for many years, Boston-based, San Diego-based, ranging from small press publishing, performing arts reviewing, writing for nonprofits, book packaging with designers, to managing national textbook projects.
Julie Phillips Brown (Freelance Designer, Wheeling Tern Books)
Julie Phillips Brown is an interdisciplinary poet, visual artist, literary critic, and editor. She is the author of The Adjacent Possible (Green Writers Press, 2021), winner of the Hopper Poetry Prize, and a recipient of the Freund Prize from Cornell University. Recent poems have appeared in Ariadne, The Rumpus, Twyckenham Notes, Vassar Review, and elsewhere. She lives in Lexington, Virginia, where she teaches creative writing, literature, and studio art. Find her at tactualpoiesis.com.
