Modern Artist Press looks to expand and explode the definition of a modern artist by publishing literary fiction.
About the Press: In Western art history, “modern art” refers to new and innovative work created by white European and American men and a handful of women between 1860 and 1970.
Modern Artist Press looks to expand and explode the definition of a modern artist by publishing literary fiction, including novels and short story collections. Founded in 2023, and based in Northern Virginia, Modern Artist Press is a new woman-owned independent press.
The press is committed to amplifying the work of writers and artists who are women, nonbinary; Black, Indigenous, Latina/o/x, Arab, Asian; LGBTQ+; neurodivergent, disabled; multinational, multicultural, multidisciplinary; and those defining and redefining their identities.
Modern Artist Press looks forward to publishing the art of today’s modern artists.
Media features: “A Love of the Literary” interview and book review in the Washington Independent Review of Books

About the Publisher: Kathryn Fay (she/her) is the publisher and founding editor of Modern Artist Press. She has over 15 years of writing, editing, and publishing experience to include museum catalogues, biographies, memoirs, and fiction. Her interest in art and literature was inspired by her experience growing up in a foreign service family that was posted in Brazil, South Korea, Morocco, Russia, Argentina, and the United States. She holds a B.A. in English and Art History from the College of William & Mary and an M.A. in Art History from American University.
Some of her favorite books include:
• linked short story collections and novels-in-stories (My Monticello, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Jollof Rice and Other Revolutions).
• stories told through structural experimentation (If an Egyptian Cannot Speak English, The Swimmers, Trust).
• stories that incorporate speculative, horror, and genre elements (Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, Chain-Gang All-Stars, Sharks in the Time of Saviors, Her Body and Other Parties, Nightbitch).
• fictional biographies, memoirs, and alternate histories (Biography of X, Matrix, The Moor’s Account, Moonglow).
• multi-generational novels and family stories (America is Not the Heart, A Place for Us, The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing).
