Congratulations to Cal McCarthy, one of the recipients of the 2025–26 Ooligan Press Diversity Scholarships!
Cal McCarthy (they/them) is excited to pursue Book Publishing at Portland State University. They earned their Bachelors in English Literature from Pacific University, where they minored in Creative Writing, Editing & Publishing, and Gender & Sexuality Studies. Cal shares their Portland apartment with two black cats and an overflowing bookshelf. In their free time, they write YA fantasy and creative nonfiction stories.
We are honored to share Cal’s application essay here:
My current career path has largely involved me switching between my two interests of literature and activism. For example, while acquiring my undergraduate degree, I worked as both an LGBTQ+ project coordinator at Pacific University’s Center for Gender Equity and an Assistant Editor for Silk Road Review: A Literary Crossroads, the campus magazine. I went on to work as a manager for a company specializing in voice lessons for transgender individuals, then returned to editing for a local design firm. I’ve enjoyed all these positions, but I no longer want to choose between my passions. I believe I can combine my history of activism and understanding of the publishing process by supporting marginalized voices in getting their words out into the world.
My long-term career goal involves working for a publishing firm with a dedicated purpose to promote BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled, and other marginalized communities that have historically been under-published. As a disabled and queer-identified individual, it is easy to look at the state of politics in our country and feel helpless; however, I know there is a direct correlation between the kinds of narratives made readily available to the public and political progress. Pacific State University’s Book Publishing program involves specialized editing courses and internship connections that will make me a more appealing candidate to publishing firms, and therefore to the authors I seek to work with. The Book Marketing course can additionally increase my understanding of how to promote books with marginalized perspectives to those who most need to read them: people without a personal connection to – and therefore lack an understanding of – that perspective. With those learning opportunities in mind, getting my Masters in Book Publishing is the logical next step in making my dream career a reality.
My current employer – Mackenzie, Inc. – may not be explicitly dedicated to activism and diversity as previous companies I’ve worked for have been. That being said, committees and individual efforts within the company are constantly driving us to do better in the array of individuals we both serve and work with. When I started here three years ago, I was told that I was the first nonbinary and/or transgender person to be hired at Mackenzie; now I’m happy to say that we’ve gained multiple gender-nonconforming staff across our many departments, and many more who identify within the LGBTQ+ community. Within the work we do as a design firm, Mackenzie keeps an ongoing data spreadsheet of women-, BIPOC-, veteran-, and other minority-owned consultants that anyone in the company can access when looking for additional personnel to hire. I was tasked with reviewing this spreadsheet within the last year to ensure that each consultant’s information and minority status were correct, and can therefore vouch for the validity of this resource. Due to individual concerns that were brought to the company’s attention, several coworkers of mine formed a new committee to oversee Mackenzie’s social and environmental impacts, both positive and negative. I was personally able to meet with a representative to express the gaps I’ve witnessed in some coworkers’ understanding of how to respectfully communicate to or about trans-aligned individuals, and potential ways to educate on a company-wide level, as well as to discuss the possibility of creating a resource that lists eco-friendly alternatives to building design and materials. It’s been hopeful to see my working environment’s progressive development during my limited time here, and I aim to drive it farther through my efforts and existence within it.
The 2025–26 Ooligan Press Diversity Scholarships are awarded in honor of Indigo: Editing, Design, and More and poet Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa. Scholarships are awarded annually to incoming students to the Ooligan Press Master’s in Publishing program at Portland State University. Learn more here.
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