Crop and Bleed

This Reader, published as part of the Litwin Books Critical Book, Publishing, and Literacy Studies series, brings the study of print and literacies culture (and its ancillary topics) into critical conversation with a variety theoretical discourses, so that we can better understand their roles as normalizing agents in the unequal distribution of social, cultural, and epistemic power. From rampant systemic racism, political unrest, the rise of nationalist ideologies, the increasing exploitation from capitalist and neoliberal structures, and widespread environmental catastrophe, print culture has a role to play in both how social problems sustain themselves, as well as how we might, potentially, find ways to reimagine new social formulations and cultural imaginations to counteract this effects. The aim of this collection is to think beyond geographic boundaries, and to formulate how print culture scholars, educators, and professionals, can decenter the epistemic frames common in the scholarship of print, visual, and literacy cultures, that perpetuate, overlook, or ignore these power relations.

Sean Pessin is a writer, editor, and educator whose work bridges creative writing, digital humanities, and sustainability studies. He teaches at California State University, Northridge, where his courses invite students to engage critically and creatively with literature, games, and multimodal storytelling. He mentors students in publishing through The Northridge Review, the university’s long-running literary magazine. His pedagogy emphasizes writing as both an art form and a social act. Beyond the classroom, Pessin develops innovative digital projects that explore the intersections of narrative, technology, and community. His scholarship and teaching often foreground sustainability and ethical inquiry, guiding students to consider the material and social dimensions of creativity—whether through supply-chain mapping assignments, diagramming the fields of various forms of literary production, or environmental case studies. As an editor and advocate for small press publishing, Pessin champions process-oriented approaches that highlight the collective labor behind literary production. He is committed to supporting emerging voices, fostering inclusive workshop practices, and cultivating spaces where writing and publishing become vehicles for discovery, dialogue, and social engagement. Whether in print, digital form, or the classroom, his work reflects a dedication to craft, community, and the imaginative possibilities of language in shaping more connected and sustainable futures.

Robert D. Montoya is the Martin and Bernard Breslauer Endowed Professor in Bibliography; Chair and Associate Professor in the UCLA Department of Information Studies; Director of UCLA California Rare Book School, and Director of the UCLA Library, Ethics, and Justice Lab. Montoya’s research trajectory focuses on special collections and rare books; book history; knowledge organization; international library development and publishing; information representation and positionality; and critical, ethical, and justice-oriented LIS work.