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Cherrie Woods/cwoodspr@gmail.com
Washington Writers’ Publishing House Launches Capital Love,
Marking Bold New Era Beyond 50 Years
New anthology and LitFest spotlight the press’s growth and expanding reach
All-day Capital Love LitFest set for Sunday, June 28th, in Bethesda
Washington, DC (April 29, 2026) — Washington Writers’ Publishing House (WWPH), the longest continuously operating cooperative nonprofit literary small press in the United States, announces the release of Capital Love, publishing May 5, 2026. Featuring 55 writers from across the DMV—from Baltimore, Maryland to Roanoke, Virginia—the collection celebrates love in its many forms as a timely response to a divided national climate. It’s the second in the publisher’s series of ‘Capital’ pocket-sized collectible editions, and will be available everywhere books are sold ($10.00 retail).
Framed by a quote from All About Love by bell hooks— “When love is present, the desire to dominate and exercise power cannot rule the day…”—Capital Love offers poetry and prose that center connection, care, and community. The anthology serves as both a literary offering and a cultural statement—an antidote to current political turbulence.
The release signals a pivotal moment for WWPH following its 50th anniversary in 2025. In 2026, the press doubles its publishing output from four to eight books annually, expanding beyond poetry to include fiction, creative nonfiction, and translation—broadening its reach and influence nationwide.
“WWPH wants to amplify diverse voices and deepen connections between writers and readers, especially in these divided, anxious times. Capital Love and our Capital Love LitFest launch event in June is our way to raise up our voices together for love, hope, and healing,” notes co-president and series editor, Caroline Bock.
Co-President Jona Colson added, “All our publishing and outreach efforts are more critical today than ever before. Capital Love is a vibrant chorus of voices that speak love to hate and make us think about how we can resist and survive in our current culture.”
Capital Love follows the 2025 debut of WWPH’s pocket anthology series with Capital Queer and will be followed by Capital Translation in 2027, with submissions opening in mid-May. It also builds on the 2025 landmark 50th anniversary anthology for this dynamic small press – America’s Future, poetry & Prose in response to tomorrow, which opened with the first-ever publication of Representative Jamie Raskin’s speech and featured an essay by broadcast icon Marvin Kalb and DC poetry master E. Ethelbert Miller and his poetry collaborator Mihos Kinnas.
The official anthology launch event, the Capital Love LitFest, takes place Sunday, June 28, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. This first-time-ever daylong literary salon will feature 9 workshops and over 25 notable authors, including co-presidents Caroline Bock and Jona Colson. This is a pay-as-you-can event, starting at FREE. All monies raised will be shared by the Washington Writers’ Publishing House and the Writer’s Center, both 501c3 nonprofits. REGISTER here Washington Writers’ Publishing House Capital Love LitFest – The Writer’s Center
About Capital Love
Washington Writers’ Publishing House celebrates love in all its enormity in Capital Love, a collection of poems and stories that honors the diversity of human experience—love for self, for others, and for community—as an antidote to current political turbulence and a call to readers who believe in the power of love.
About the Co-Presidents
Caroline Bock is Co-President and Prose Editor of WWPH. She is the author of the young adult novels LIE and Before My Eyes, the award-winning story collection Carry Her Home, and the forthcoming adult novel The Other Beautiful People (June 2, 2026). Her career includes work in television and film development at AMC, Bravo, IFC, and IFC Films. She holds an MFA from City College of New York and lives in Maryland.
Jona Colson is Co-President and Poetry Editor of WWPH. He is a poet, educator, and translator, author of Said Through Glass and co-editor of America’s Future: Poetry and Prose in Response to Tomorrow (2025). His work appears in Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and LitHub. He teaches at Montgomery College and lives in Washington, DC.
Bock and Colson have served as co-presidents/co-editors of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House since 2022. The Washington Writers’ Publishing House, the longest continuously operating cooperative, nonprofit literary press, has been based in Washington DC since its founding in 1975.
For interviews with Co-Presidents Caroline Bock and Jona Colson, or to request additional materials, please contact me.
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