The Little Anthologies That Could

Last week, I told you about Brooklyn Was Mine, an anthology of essays from twenty writers who came together to show their opposition the Atlantic Yards project, which they view as destructive to the Prospect Heights and Park Slope neighborhood. The announcement that “all of the proceeds from Brooklyn Was Mine will benefit Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn,” a nonprofit organization leading the legal fight to stop the development before construction starts, met with cynical skepticism in some quarters—what could one literary anthology’s royalties do, the reasoning ran, against the clout of a $4 billion project?

But, as Brooklyn co-editor Valerie Steiker informed me, the snickering is slightly misplaced: Although she didn’t reveal the precise amount, Steiker did confirm that Riverhead did pay an advance on the anthology, and that money has already been passed on to DDDB.

I also made passing reference last week to The Book of Other People, another charity-driven anthology, this one created to raise funds for 826NYC. I didn’t realize at the time that another anthology that turned up in my mailbox recently, My Mistress’s Sparrow Is Dead, was a benefit project for 826 Chicago. Several anthologies have already been published that contribute to the 826 Valencia home office, so that just leaves outposts in four other cities… And, you might recall, I’ve mentioned Nothing But Red, which will donate its proceeds to Equality Now, a few times in the past; that book is coming in April. Is anybody else publishing a similar book in 2008?

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