| Introducing brand new Rumpus tote bags made in collaboration with the very fine worker-run bookstore Pilsen Community Books in Chicago. The first totes The Rumpus has made in over a decade!! Back in October, as those of us in Asheville, NC were still struggling with getting running water back after Hurricane Helene, Pilsen Community Books worker-owner and long-time friend, Mandy Medley, reached out to see if there was a way to help boost The Rumpus from afar. We spend so much time publishing new work that we don’t often have the resources or bandwidth to create new merch, so we came up with the idea of collaborating on a tote and commissioning Asheville-based artist Kyndra Sweep to create the illustrations and lettering for us. We’re big fans of Kyndra’s creatures, and we’re extra excited to offer a tote that’s fun, useful, and has a message both Pilsen Community Books and The Rumpus share. If you’re local to the Asheville area you’ve seen Kyndra’s murals at the entrances of Downtown Books & News and Summit Coffee. The latter is one of the many buildings in the River Arts District destroyed by historic flooding. Net proceeds will be split evenly between Pilsen Community Books and The Rumpus. If you’re in the Chicago area, you can purchase totes in-person at the bookstore. If you’re anywhere else in the U.S. (or it’s too cold to leave the house!) you can order HERE directly through The Rumpus store. Thank you for supporting human artists, writers, and workers. Books over bots, freethinkers over algorithms forever! —Alyson Sinclair, Publisher, The Rumpus | 