Red Hen Press

Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press specializing in the publication of literary fiction and poetry located in Pasadena, California. Founded by Kate Gale, the mission of Red Hen Press is to discover, publish, and promote works of literary excellence that have been overlooked by mainstream presses, and to build audiences for literature by fostering the literacy of youth and by bringing distinguished and emerging writers to the public stage.

The press began as a collective that published Gale and other writers, including Marlene Joyce Pearson, Ricardo Means Ybarra, Benjamin Saltman, and Angela Ball. Later the press was reorganized as a non-profit 501(c)3. Red Hen Press established a Writing in the Schools Program, which is funded by the city, the county, the Ahmanson, the Dwight Stuart Foundation, and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Their reading series at the Ruskin Art Club, Boston Court, Annenberg Beach House and the Geffen Playhouse host such writers as Carolyn See, John Rechy, C.D. Wright, Li-Young Lee, Joy Harjo, Chris Abani, Al Young, Robert Scheer, Paul Cummins, and Marvin Bell.

Notable writers and poets published by Red Hen include Chris Abani, Ernest Hilbert, Camille Dungy, Alan Fox, Diane Wald, Robert Peters, Cecile Rossant, Tony Barnstone, Eckhard Gerdes, Maurya Simon, Antje Ravic Stubel, Katharine Coles, DeWitt Henry, Michael Neff, Anglea Ball, Charles Harper Webb, David Mason, Percival Everett, Doug Kearney, Summer Brenner, Rob Roberge, John Barr, and Jim Tilley.

Awards given by Red Hen Press include the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award and the Red Hen Press Short Story Award.