Ahsahta Press, a not-for-profit literary publisher, was founded at Boise State University to preserve the best works by early poets of the American West, including many underpublished women poets. Peggy Pond Church, H.L. Davis, Hazel Hall, Gwendolen Haste, Haniel Long, and Norman MacLeod are among the early Western writers Ahsahta Press has restored to print. In 1978, press founder Tom Trusky edited a collection of Women Poets of the West offering a generous selection of the work of early Western women poets that remains a popular title.
Soon after its inception, the press began publishing contemporary poetry by Western poets along with its reprint titles. Ahsahta editors discovered and initially published a number of widely popular poets from the West—among them David Baker, Katharine Coles, Wyn Cooper, Gretel Ehrlich, Cynthia Hogue, Leo Romero, and Carolyne Wright. With the inception of the M.F.A. in Creative Writing at Boise State University, Ahsahta Press has expanded its scope, presenting the work of poets from across the nation whose work is selected through our national competition or by general submission.
Ahsahta Press seeks out and publishes the best new poetry from an eclectic range of aesthetics—poetry that is technically accomplished, distinctive in style, and thematically fresh. In 2001, a generous donor made it possible for Ahsahta to establish the Sawtooth Poetry Prize, an award for a book-length collection of poetry judged by a poet of national repute.
Through the M.F.A. program, Ahsahta permits graduate students enrolled in publishing courses the opportunity for hands-on experience in the daily business of a small press, including initial manuscript readings, pre-press production, and marketing tasks. An undergraduate internship is available each semester as well for qualified students.
Ahsahta Press is grateful for the support it receives from donors through the Boise State University Foundation. For information about becoming a contributor to Ahsahta Press, contact the director.
The name Ahsahta is a Mandan word meaning “Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep,” and was first recorded by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition.