/ABOUT US/

How We Started

What began as a question while driving along the outskirts of Kansas City—“Should we open a bookstore?”—has become New Material Books, a small online store with the dream of opening a physical location in Kansas City, MO.

New Material Books is Hannah Risinger and Brandan Griffin, two poets who moved from NYC to Kansas City in 2022.

NMB curates small press books and hosts free writing workshops and pop-ups. Our goal is to create a welcoming space where anyone can explore their own creativity and discover new kinds of writing.

Why Small Press Books

Small presses provide space for experimentation and new forms of expression. They publish writers who may be outside traditional literary communities and institutional support.

These publishers are often volunteer-run operations that don’t have the resources to work with major distributors, which means readers are less likely to encounter them in bookstores.

NMB sources from small presses all over the world, while also highlighting the unique work being done in the Midwest.

New Material Books is also a small press! We publish inventive work in uniquely designed books. Stay tuned—we'll have more updates soon.

Kansas City

When we first arrived in Kansas City, we were struck by its rich artistic culture and welcoming atmosphere.

We love it here. We love the openness and quirkiness, the unique and varied neighborhoods, the cliffs and parks and rivers and hidden prairies.

Reading, writing, and artistic exploration are for everyone. By offering free classes and events that are accessible to people of all backgrounds, New Material Books aims to create a vibrant space based around books and their readers.