Diane di Prima founded Poets Press, an independent publisher of experimental poetry and small-press books.
Di Prima established Poets Press in New York in 1964. The press helped circulate work by emerging and avant-garde poets at a time when mainstream publishing offered limited opportunities for experimental writing. Her publishing work complemented her own career as a poet, playwright, editor, and teacher.
Di Prima became associated with the Beat movement through her poetry, performance, correspondence, and participation in New York’s literary scene. Her work also connected Beat writing with feminism, political activism, and broader countercultural communities. She later moved to San Francisco, where she remained an important figure in alternative poetry networks.
Poets Press is easy to confuse with City Lights Books, the San Francisco bookstore and publisher co-founded by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. New Directions and Grove Press were also influential publishers of modern and experimental literature, but neither was di Prima’s organization.