Korongo Books
Stories from the Heart of Vermont
Korongo Books is a writers studio and micro press based in Randolph, Vermont. Our mission: to celebrate the history and culture of our rural community through writing and art.
Since 2008 our workshops have ushered into print dozens of personal memoirs, family histories, cookbooks, anthologies, children's stories, and picture books by local writers and artists. Our work has been presented at the Vermont State House, the Vermont Folklife Center, the Chandler Arts Center, AVA Gallery, the Woodstock Bookfest, and the Vermont Historical Society.
Our Story
In 1997, a French safari guide and an American travel writer met in the Serengeti. They fell in love, got married, and moved to Randolph, Vermont, where they opened an art gallery. They called the gallery Korongo, the Swahili word for canyon. In the front of the gallery, they showed the work of local artists. In the back, they made books, using a laser printer, a contraption called The Guillotine, and a stapler. In 2012, they began spending winters in France. They closed the gallery but continued making books.
Our Books
We publish our work in a variety of ways. Some of our books are handmade, and some are printed on commercial presses and sold in brick-and-mortar bookstores. Others are uploaded to print-on-demand publishing platforms for global distribution. Many are offered in multiple formats, including printed volumes, ebooks, and audio books.
Our Partners
Many of our books begin in a free workshop offered directly to the public or through a community organization, such as a library, senior center, or housing development. Over the years, we have partnered with Kimball Public Library, Cover to Cover (Randolph’s independent bookstore), Gifford Retirement Community, the Randolph Senior Center, the White River Craft Center, Chandler Center for the Arts, the Vermont Folklife Center, and the Randolph Area Community Development Corporation. Our work has been sponsored by the Vermont Community Foundation, the Lamson-Howell Foundation, and donors to The Hale Street Gang: Portraits in Writing, a photographic exhibit with sound. In France, our second home (it’s a long story), we have partnered with Reelbooks (the English bookstore of Fontainebleau) and the Crossroads Writers Group.
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