Graduation date: 2007This thesis examines the nature of publishing as a political endeavor through a detailed investigation of the feminist publishing movement in the U.S. since the 1970s. Feminist publishers emerged from an activist context of feminist struggle, and they evolved within changing political and social climates, facing ideological and economic challenges that led to their widespread demise. This project specifically traces the emergence and development of CALYX, a feminist literary publisher founded in 1976 in Corvallis, Oregon, and its relationship with the feminist movement. In-depth personal interviews with CALYX editors provide a narrative portrait of CALYX's history in a feminist context and offer a detailed, personal account of feminist publishing activism. Using feminist research methodologies, this project highlights the participants' narratives and focuses on the meanings they give to their experiences. A multi-vocal narrative format allows participants' stories to be told in their own words and in their unique voices. Their stories give richness and depth to an analysis of CALYX's feminist mission, accomplishments, and struggles as a feminist publisher.