Because grief unites us,
like the locked antlers of moose
who die on their knees in pairs.
-William Matthews
We are heartbroken at the loss of Austin literary legend, publisher of Host Publications, owner of independent bookstore Malvern Books, founder of Adam’s Music House, and friend Joe W. Bratcher III, who passed away last Thursday, July 28th, due to complications from Covid.
Host Publications, which Joe cofounded in 1988 with Elzbieta Szoka, began as a small press primarily dedicated to publishing quality international works in translation, including Nobel Prize winners Pablo Neruda and Wisława Szymborska. In 2010, Joe opened Malvern Books, a bookstore and community space for literary enthusiasts in Austin, Texas, specializing in “visionary literature and poetry from independent publishers, with a focus on lesser-known and emerging voices the world needs to hear.”
Joe Bratcher was a major donor and mentor to American Short Fiction. He made frequent cameos at our annual showcase, The Stars at Night—in 2017 he was named our Community Star for his work championing Austin’s literary community, and in 2018 he introduced Fernando A. Flores, our Debut Star, who was celebrating the forthcoming publication of his novel, Tears of The Trufflepig, from MCD x FSG Originals, and whose debut collection about Rio Grande Valley punk-rockers, Death to the Bullshit Artists of South Texas, was published by Joe at Host.
For writers and readers in Austin, Malvern is a touchstone—a place to find your next strange and beautiful read, to make cherished friends who love books as much as you do, to meet established authors you admire and listen to writers reading their work for the first time. And Host Publications, which organizes an annual chapbook contest for women writers and produces the podcast The Host Dispatch, is an important platform for discovering new voices.
At ASF, we will carry on Joe’s infectious love of literature and always remember his sincere kindness and generosity toward everyone he met. We were so lucky to know him.