Two husbands, a handful of local writers and a cast of five actors will bring a short story to life Friday evening when Countershade Press debuts its first book at Browsers Bookshop.

The free launch party for "Menagerie: A Cluster of Loss," a queer speculative fiction anthology, runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 28, upstairs at 107 Capitol Way N.

The evening opens with a theatrical soundscape performance of Cecilia Meade's story "The Woods," directed by Austin Barnett and featuring Olympia actors Christine Goode and Deane Shellman among the cast. A Q&A between editor Jonah Barnett and Meade follows.

The sounds won't come from a laptop. Austin Barnett, who teaches theater at Olympia High School, built them by hand using tactile, homemade materials rather than digital effects.

"It's our answer to digitized, polished AI sounds coming out of a speaker … It's just as, if not more, creative," he told OLY ARTS.

Countershade Press is a new Olympia-based micro press co-founded by the Barnetts, who are married. Jonah Barnett handles most of the editing; Austin runs the business side. Their focus: queer fantastical fiction rooted in the Pacific Northwest.

The anthology has been 12 years in the making. Jonah Barnett first began assembling a short story collection as an Evergreen State College student.

Twenty-five people responded with 30 stories, but the project stalled. When the couple revived it, some original authors returned and new contributors joined.

Six writers appear in the finished collection: Daniel Valdez, Marck Wilder, Samantha Kalweit, Caitlin Robertson, Cecilia Meade and Jonah Barnett. Six illustrators contributed artwork, which The Jolt reported has been on display all August in Browsers' upstairs gallery.

The theme of loss emerged organically from the newer stories rather than being planned from the start. Austin Barnett described the thread as central to queer life: losing people, losing relationships with family, losing an identity. "People in our community are living with that," he said of the ongoing impact of HIV/AIDS.

The press's website frames its mission as keeping "imaginative queer literature alive and thriving while fostering meaningful, collaborative relationships with queer PNW creatives."

The launch is the first half of Browsers' Queer Press Weekend. Countershade Press also has a Queer Soiree planned for October at the Timberland Library and a possible queer film screening this winter.

Admission Friday is free.