Meat for Tea: a literary journal and community space for creatives in Western Mass
Twenty years ago, Elizabeth MacDuffie was working at Holyoke Community College teaching classes as an adjunct professor to make some extra money while pursuing a PhD, when her colleague Alexandra Wagman turned to her and said “we should start a literary magazine.” Today, Meat for Tea is still doing what it originally was intending to be – a space for literary creatives in the Western Massachusetts area to publish their work. The idea for journal sparked in November of 2005. In February of the following year, the first edition of Meat for Tea was released.
“We had the nickname around the [Pioneer] Valley of the ‘Get It Done Girls,’ because Northampton is infamous in the arts and music scene of people being like, "I have an idea, and we're going to do a thing,” said MacDuffie. “And every party you'd see them at, and every show you'd see them at– “yeah, I'm doing this thing, but they would never get it done. It's just conversation, but it never comes to be.”
Meat for Tea broke this reputation. Since 2006, MacDuffie and Co. have released an edition quarterly without fail except on only two occasions. That’s quite the streak to keep up. The project originally started as a small zine that varied in size and format, then into a perfect bound format (courtesy of Paradise Copies in Northampton, who still do the printing for the journal and press), and now each edition is perfectly formatted and can reach up to 140 pages.
Around 2010, MacDuffie was approached by poet Michael Alves, who wanted his next book of poetry to be published by Meat for Tea. “We'd published a lot of his poetry in the journal, and I would always respond "Well, I, why would you want to do that? Just self-publish. There's nothing we can do for you that you can't do with self-publishing. We don't have a budget. We don't even have a distribution arm or leg or finger even.” But Alves was very adamant, and eventually he convinced MacDuffie to start publishing books through Meat for Tea. A little more than 15 years later, they have published 28 books, ranging from poetry collections to full-fledged novels, all local creatives from Western Massachusetts.
Nowadays, Meat for Tea has expanded to become a multimedia project, including a successful podcast, live shows, poetry readings and of course, the literary journal.
“The literary journal is like a tree, and the publishing imprint and the podcast are branches off of that tree,” said MacDuffie. “Without the literary journal, the other things wouldn't exist. Everything grows out of the central trunk, if you will.”
When asked why she thought Meat for Tea has been so successful these past 20 years, MacDuffie attributed it to a couple things, but for the most part, integrity. Meat for Tea is for local artists and local artists only, and because of that it has gotten a lot of community support. “People appreciate what it is and the ethos underlying it, which has always been to feature emerging talent alongside established talent from the area” said MacDuffie.
This community support is also highlighted in the fact that Meat for Tea is financially supported by local businesses that run ads in the journal. “This isn't like some literary journals people put their own money into– I can't do that,” said MacDuffie. “This is funded by local businesses.” It’s ad revenue that keeps this journal afloat and has allowed it to run quarterly for the past two decades, and MacDuffie is indefinitely grateful for that support.
The consistent publication of the journal has been great, and the branching out to different forms of media has been a welcome development, but MacDuffie emphasized that those things are secondary to what she feels has been most important about Meat for Tea: the community it has created.
“There is a vibrant community of artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and fans that come together regularly. That's maybe the most exciting thing that has been born out of [Meat for Tea]. There is all this physical print media, and there is all this content on the podcast, but more important than that, just this community of people that has grown up around it. I think that's my proudest achievement.”
MacDuffie will be at this year’s Northampton Book Fair on Friday, November 20th, 5-8pm and Saturday, November 21st, 10am - 4pm at the Center for the Arts. 33 Hawley Street, selling some editions of Meat for Tea journals, as well as some books published by their press, including books by Peter Tracy, Scott Ferry, Connolly Ryan and Christian Livermore. Lindsay Adkins, author of Fixing the Halo, will be signing her book at Meat for Tea Press table #25 in the Split Level Gallery of the book center on Saturday, the 21st from noon to 1pm.
If you would like to learn more about Meat for Tea or purchase any of their books, their website is linked here.
Written by Francisco Aguirre-Ghiso on 13 November, 2026.
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