Small Press Traffic is thrilled to announce its new director, Maxe Crandall, a poet, playwright, and theatrical director with deep ties to the Bay Area’s artistic communities. Beginning September 1, Crandall will lead SPT’s core staff and network of collaborators, deepening the organization’s multidisciplinary programing and stewarding a digital and print archive reflecting five decades of experimental, grassroots support for the literary arts.

“In addition to his impressive experience with programming, his administrative acumen, and his deep respect for Small Press Traffic’s history and intergenerational core community, what excites us about Maxe is his vision for SPT,” says Matt Sussman, board president. “This vision is centered on curiosity and creative risk-taking, takes seriously the work of coalition building, and embraces joy. We look forward to seeing it come to fruition.” Sussman co-led the six-month, nationwide search with Sue Landers, chair of the hiring committee and board secretary.

For the last seven years, Crandall served as Associate Director of the Program in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Stanford University, capping two decades of experience in the academy. He has worked extensively in artistic communities, including long stints of volunteer work with Lambda Literary and belladonna* collaborative in New York. His poetic and performance work is in direct conversation with Bay Area experimental lineages such as New Narrative and Poets Theater. The recipient of fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, The Poetry Project, and Onassis USA, Crandall is the author of The Nancy Reagan Collection, which was named one of the New York Public Library’s Best 10 Poetry Books of 2020. Currently, he is a poetry editor at FENCE.

Crandall was a commissioned artist during Small Press Traffic’s 50th anniversary programming year, developing and producing one of the most successful SPT programs of the past decade — a standing-room-only night of Poets Theater at The Lab in San Francisco in March 2024. Co-directed by Elena Gross and featuring seven multidisciplinary plays and performances, the night brought impressive production value to a community-grounded affair.

“I’m thrilled to join Small Press Traffic, a legendary organization that uplifts Bay Area artists and writers while tending to the legacies that help make our worlds possible,” Crandall writes, “I’m humbled by the generosity and vision of SPT’s hardworking staff, board, partners, and funders, and look forward to carrying on the work of Syd Staiti, whose leadership has been a beacon and blessing in the Bay Area art scene.”Crandall’s appointment follows Staiti’s immensely successful five-year tenure as director of Small Press Traffic, in which he led the push to stabilize and revitalize the organization. Staiti reflects: “I am delighted by this appointment. I know Maxe will bring new levels of enthusiasm and innovation to this organization. In our work together on his Poets Theater program, I’ve seen Maxe demonstrate an investment in supporting the organization’s rich history, while creating a welcoming space for new individuals and communities. He understands the responsibilities of the role and is well prepared to step into it. I look forward to seeing the vibrant new directions he will take Small Press Traffic in the years to come.”

Small Press Traffic produces, develops, and presents programs and publications dedicated to the rich history and ongoing practice of boundary-pushing literary arts in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. SPT spotlights the diverse, multidisciplinary, and intergenerational poetic traditions that are deeply interwoven in Bay Area arts, provoking new forms of experimentation from these lineages. Since 1974, SPT has served as vital connective tissue, keeping these practices supported, valued, and presented at a high level, in collaboration with institutions and individuals in the visual arts, music, dance, performance, and film worlds. SPT gratefully received a special grant from the Mellon Foundation in 2023 to archive and preserve its unique history.