Q: How did Burlwood Books come about?

A: Burlwood arose as a favor to a grieving family. (Trigger warning: domestic violence in this paragraph.) In 2022, I met 26-year-old Austin poet Erika Evans, when she was typing poems for strangers in front of a restaurant in my neighborhood. I’m part of Typewriter Rodeo, a group of poets who also type poems for strangers, so I would often stop and chat with Erika. She had a great energy and such an easy, engaging way with people, so I asked if she wanted to join a Typewriter Rodeo event. Her eyes lit up: “Oh my goodness yes!” But when the event came, she never showed. A few days later I learned she was murdered while on a trip with an abusive male companion.

Erika’s family had a memorial for her in front of the restaurant where she typed. At the memorial, I wrote a poem in her honor and placed it in the tribute book. Later, Erika’s dad reached out to give me Erika’s typewriter, for our group to use in her honor. “Erika created so many beautiful poems and paintings,” he told me. “I wish I knew how to share them.”

I had no idea how I would do it, but I offered to put together a book of Evans’ poetry and art for her family. Because Erika’s death had made the national news, a designer in Portland, Oregon, donated her time to do the cover.

And a few months later, I shared Allowing for Time with Erika’s family, and they asked to share it with the world. And so I formed Burlwood Books to do that, to make Allowing for Time available worldwide.

All of its proceeds go to victims of domestic violence.

Q: Why the name Burlwood?

A: It’s a pretty great term for being beautifully different.

A burl is a part of a tree that is considered an ‘abnormal’ growth—usually a big lumpy protrusion somewhere along the trunk. But on the inside it’s gorgeous—the woodgrain is all swirled and bent, and burlwood is often prized for use in craft furniture or decorative art. I love that idea—that, on the outside, a burl is something people wouldn’t think of as beautiful, and actually think the opposite because it looks different from the rest of the tree. But if you take the time to look inside, it’s uniquely breathtaking. That’s what I hope our books are like. We take manuscripts that traditional publishers might think are too different for their tastes, and we celebrate those differences and whorls and whimsy.

Q: What made you expand past that first book?

A: I didn’t intend for Burlwood to publish more books. But it took on a life of its own.

Soon after I’d published Allowing for Time, a poet with Typewriter Rodeo, LaCole Foots, told me she’d written a poetry collection and was looking for a publisher.

I already knew I loved LaCole’s poems, and so I said, “Well, I kinda know how to do that now. And I have a publishing company already set up.” LaCole was thrilled at the idea of publishing with Burlwood, I hired a cover designer and copyeditor, and Heavy Light was born.

The same year, another Rodeo poet, Rebecca Bendheim, showed me her collection of poems about her coming out journey.

I loved those and, with multiple books under the Burlwood belt, offered to publish them. And so we were able to share Coming Out Party–Rebecca’s poems paired with Sarah Rosa Glickman’s heartfelt art–with the world.

I’ve also been fortunate to pair my own poems with the vibrant, talented artist, Amanda Hoxworth, and our Pet Poems books are published under the Burlwood canopy as well.

Q: What does it mean for Burlwood to publish diverse voices?

A: Diversity is reality. Books should reflect that reality, not be afraid of it.

For the most part, traditional and mainstream U.S. publishers have focused on books from the perspective of the majority–whether race, gender, ethnicity, religion, or simply who to love. That’s like only telling the story of oaks and elms. There are a hundred thousand other species of trees in the forest too. Burlwood sees the beauty in every tree, in every voice. We’re more than proud to publish books from a variety of voices. We choose to see the beauty in the burl, and the beauty in the world–all of it.

On a broader level, in many ways our country was built upon laws that oppressed minority voices. As President Trump’s Department of Education recently stated in February 2025: “Segregation was a shameful darker period in our country’s history.” And segregation is just one example–throughout history, our country’s laws have forced minority groups to bear many unique moral and financial burdens. To name just a few others: not being allowed to own property (while majority groups have been able to pass theirs down through generations); being stripped of property through manifest destiny, internment camps, and slavery; redlining; grandfather clauses; not being able to vote; not being able to marry; not being able to have an individual banking account. Many of those federal and state laws persisted to the 1980s. Some still do. Burlwood chooses to acknowledge our country’s history head-on, rather than pretending it didn’t happen. Hiding from history is simply another way to oppress diverse voices.

Q: How would you describe Burlwood’s mission?

A: Burlwood Books is committed to helping books exist in a world where they might not otherwise get seen.