How it started: We’re pitymilk press, and our story begins in 2012 with what was essentially a happy accident—born from an undergrad zine-making class and the punk/DYI scene in Milwaukee. What started as a scrappy little classroom project kept growing, fueled by our refusal to stop making things. Soon enough, we found ourselves editing chapbooks and journals in the middle of variety shows, punks’ basements, and zine fairs. From that spark, pitymilk took on a life of its own—and we’ve been riding it ever since.

Who we are: Run by co-editors Chelsea Tadeyeske and Edie Roberts, we’re on the hunt for poetry that’s urgent, accessible, sometimes messy, always alive. We’re genre-bending but reader‑friendly; emotionally immediate, formally adventurous, and always questioning.

What we do: Publishing short-run chapbooks and our collaborative series, DUETDUET, pitymilk wants to breed connection. We want poetry that makes you feel like you read a letter you weren’t supposed to see—but you’re glad you did. We embrace weirdness, vulnerability, and that sweet tension between chaos and clarity.

You’ll find us Midwest‑rooted, still DIY, still seeking out voices that shake and surprise. We’re here for the work that keeps us awake—and keeps us talking. Welcome to our noisy, tender, beautifully strange corner of the literary world.