Ediciones Cielonaranja

Ediciones Cielonaranja is an independent Dominican publishing house and literary research center based in Santo Domingo. Founded in 1985 by the then sociology student Miguel D. Mena, it began as a collective of young Dominican writers publishing on mimeographs and photocopies under the names "Ediciones del Almario Urbano" and "Ediciones de la Crisis" before adopting the name Ediciones Cielonaranja in 1998. The project was conceived around small, affordable print runs and the idea that texts should circulate in public space — in bookstores, parks, streets and even cemeteries — treating the book as a celebration rather than a commodity. Long before the concept of "print on demand" became common, Cielonaranja was already producing editions sized to the audience attending its public activities. The catalogue is organized into collections including "Biblioteca de la Literatura Dominicana", "Biblioteca Cubana", "Biblioteca urbana", "Archivos" and "Biblioteca Pedro Henríquez Ureña". Its editorial mission has been to recover and reissue writers who had fallen out of the Dominican canon, among them Amelia Francasci (1850–1941), Manuel F. Cestero (1879–1926), Gustavo E. Bergés Bordas (1895–1925), Carmen Natalia (1917–1973), Melba Marrero de Munné (1911–1962) and Hilma Contreras (1913–2006). Alongside these recoveries, the house publishes contemporary Dominican and Caribbean authors such as Rita Indiana Hernández, Frank Báez, Juan Dicent and Aída Cartagena Portalatín, as well as essays on Dominican history, literature and urban thought. Cielonaranja operates as both a publisher and a research center, and its public-facing activity is central to its identity. It has organized book fairs in parks and streets, and in 2015 it marked its 30th anniversary with an exhibition of more than one hundred of its publications at the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo. In 2021 it mounted another exhibition there, "Pedro Henríquez Ureña: Ciudades e ideas", highlighting the urban thought of the Dominican humanist. The press has participated in international book fairs in Frankfurt, Leipzig, Calcutta, Santiago de Chile and Madrid, the latter in 2018 at the invitation of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). Its recovery work has been recognized in academic circles. The house remains privately held and continues to publish new titles, with annual catalogues of novelties and a downloadable price list of its publications.

Ediciones Cielonaranja traces its origins to 1985, when a group of young Dominican writers began publishing books using mimeographs and then photocopies under the name "Ediciones del Almario Urbano". In the same year the project was renamed "Ediciones de la Crisis". It was directed by Miguel D. Mena, then a sociology student, who set out to produce small editions at a reasonable cost. The books were put into circulation in bookstores, parks, streets and cemeteries, on the premise that the text should circulate within public space. This editorial initiative changed its name again in 1998, becoming Ediciones Cielonaranja. Over the following decades the press built a catalogue organized into collections such as "Biblioteca de la Literatura Dominicana", "Biblioteca Cubana", "Biblioteca urbana", "Archivos" and "Biblioteca Pedro Henríquez Ureña". A central part of its work has been the recovery of Dominican writers who had been forgotten or marginalized in the national canon, including Amelia Francasci (1850–1941), Manuel F. Cestero (1879–1926), Gustavo E. Bergés Bordas (1895–1925), Carmen Natalia (1917–1973), Melba Marrero de Munné (1911–1962) and Hilma Contreras (1913–2006). These recovery efforts have been recognized in academic circles. The catalogue also includes contemporary authors such as Rita Indiana Hernández, Frank Báez, Juan Dicent, Aída Cartagena Portalatín and Norberto James Rawlings, as well as anthologies and essays on Dominican literature, history and urban thought. Cielonaranja describes itself as both a publishing house and a literary research center. Its public activity has been integral to its identity: it has organized book fairs in parks and streets, treating the book as a celebration. Before the concept of "print on demand" was established, the press was already producing small editions sized according to the number of people attending its activities. In 2015 it celebrated 30 years of activity with an exhibition of more than one hundred of its publications at the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo. In 2021 it held another exhibition at the same venue, "Pedro Henríquez Ureña: Ciudades e ideas", focused on the urban thought of the Dominican humanist Pedro Henríquez Ureña. The press has participated in the book fairs of Frankfurt, Leipzig, Calcutta, Santiago de Chile and Madrid; its 2018 participation in the Madrid Book Fair came at the invitation of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID). The house remains independent and privately held, and continues to publish, issuing annual catalogues of editorial novelties and a downloadable price list of its publications.

• 2021

  Holds the exhibition "Pedro Henríquez Ureña: Ciudades e ideas" at the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo.

• 2018

  Participates in the Madrid Book Fair at the invitation of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID).

• 2015

  Celebrates 30 years with an exhibition of more than one hundred publications at the Centro Cultural de España in Santo Domingo.

• 1998

  The editorial project is renamed Ediciones Cielonaranja.

• 1985

  A group of young Dominican writers begins publishing under the name "Ediciones del Almario Urbano", later renamed "Ediciones de la Crisis" the same year.

Independent, academically recognized publisher of Dominican and Caribbean literature and thought, specializing in the recovery of forgotten classics and in public-space book culture.

Product categories. Books · Literary anthologies · Complete works editions · Essays · Poetry collections · Novels · Short story collections · Literary research publications

1. 1Ediciones Cielonaranja official websitecielonaranja.com
2. 2Miguel D. Mena: ENSAYOS SOBRE LLAMAScielonaranja.com
3. 3Ediciones Cielonaranja - Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Ediciones Cielonaranja - Wikipedia (Spanish)es.wikipedia.org