ABOUT US
Our Mission
Shawmut Peninsula Press is an independent literary press publishing four to six carefully selected books each year. We are dedicated to literary fiction and narrative nonfiction shaped by history, memory, and cultural heritage storytelling.
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We publish books rooted in lived experience—stories that explore identity, resilience, community, and the preservation of cultural memory. Our work centers voices and histories that deserve to be documented with care, depth, and literary strength.
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We are especially interested in work that explores place as physical, emotional, and social space, and the ways landscapes, communities, and histories shape individual and collective experience.
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We believe fiction and narrative history can illuminate the forces that shape families, cities, and nations.
What We Publish
Our focus includes:​
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Place as physical, emotional, and social space
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Cultural heritage fiction
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Historically grounded literary storytelling
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Books that examine identity, belonging, and social change.
We are drawn to stories that bridge past and present—work that honors tradition while engaging contemporary questions of identity and community.
Our Approach
As an independent press, we publish intentionally and selectively.
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Each title is chosen for its literary merit, cultural relevance, and long-term significance. We are committed to books that contribute meaningfully to the cultural record while remaining accessible to general readers.
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Our goal is not volume, but impact.
About the Founder
Russ López
Shawmut Peninsula Press was founded by Russ López, a writer, editor, and literary advocate whose work centers on cultural visibility, editorial independence, and the preservation of Latinx voices in American literature.
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As the founder and editor of LatineLit, López created a national platform for original fiction by and about Latinx communities in response to the persistent absence—and narrow framing—of those stories in mainstream publishing. Through Shawmut Peninsula Press, he extends that commitment into book publishing, supporting authors whose work explores cultural heritage, migration, identity, and the evolving American experience.
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López personally reads submissions and makes editorial decisions with close attention to voice, structure, and originality. His approach reflects a belief that serious literature requires both discernment and independence.
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Across his writing, editing, and publishing initiatives, López has built a body of work grounded in long-term cultural presence and the expansion of the contemporary literary landscape.
