The Head & The Hand (H&H) is a nonprofit, independent publisher and community bookstore based in the Kensington/Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia.

As a nonprofit arts organization, H&H is committed to serving as a launchpad for the next generation of local writers and growing as our neighborhood’s sole independent bookstore and publisher duo. Our mission is to create innovative relationships between local authors and their audiences. We publish and stock writing with the power to spark change and entertain. 

H&H is proud to act as both a contributor and community-centered space in the local literary arts scene. As a contributor, H&H has published more than 100 authors—nearly half of whom were student writers—in chapbook, anthology, and full-length manuscript form. As a community-centered space, H&H Books hosts writing workshops and hybrid arts programming (including children's story time and a nationally acclaimed private browsing/booking initiative). We stock a diverse array of new and used fiction, nonfiction, middle grade, and children’s books; and have a robust local section. Finally, H&H's track record of publishing/programming partnerships range from academic institutions such as Drexel University's Writers Room and Swarthmore's Friends, Peace & Sanctuary project to organizations such as the Philadelphia Goat Project, the Venceremos Brigade, and The Clay Studio. 

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