About Us
Nightwood Editions is committed to publishing and promoting the best
new poetry and fiction by writers across Canada. Our goal is to give
readers a chance to explore the high-quality work of emerging Canadian
writers, and new writers an opportunity to publish their work in book
form. Ultimately, Nightwood Editions strives to publish books that
foster a community of writers and readers, providing a forum for thought,
discussion and interaction while reflecting the diversity our country
is known for.
Nightwood is also dedicated to producing excellent Canadian non-fiction that helps support its literary list. Whether publishing poetry, sports, fiction or crossword titles, Nightwood Editions maintains the highest standards in all it undertakes, building on its growing reputation.
A
Brief History
In 1963, Vancouver poet bill
bissett founded blewointmentpress and began publishing mimeographed
magazines of experimental poetry. Within a few years bissett, known
for his own work in sound and concrete poetry, began to publish books
that extended the boundaries of language and visual image, including
work by bpNichol, Steve McCaffery, Andrew Suknaski, Lionel Kearns
and d. a. levy. The activities of blewointmentpress met with wide
acclaim, and have had a seminal influence on the Canadian literary
community.
In 1983,
blewointment was sold to David Lee and Maureen Cochrane in Ontario,
who renamed the press Nightwood Editions. During this era, the house
published a wide assortment of titles, in subjects as diverse as jazz
music, poetry, fiction and film.
In the
early '90s, Governor General's Award-winning children's illustrator
Kim
La Fave acquired the press and added a beautiful line of children's
titles with west coast themes, some of which remain Nightwood's most
recognizable and widely distributed books.
Silas
White took the helm in 2000 and expanded the mandate of publishing
critically acclaimed and award-winning poetry and fiction by new writers.
These include the best-selling anthology Breathing
Fire 2; Tim Bowling's Darkness and Silence;
Philip Kevin Paul's Taking
the Names Down from the Hill; Intimate
Distances by Fiona Tinwei
Lam; and the groundbreaking chain-fiction book Write
Across Canada. In 2003, Nightwood joined forces with Junction
Books, a Toronto chapbook publisher, to produce titles such as
Ray Hsu's Anthropy
and Adam Getty's Reconciliation.
Nightwood
Editions came full circle in 2005 with its relaunch of the blewointment
imprint. The first book in the series is Jay
MillAr's False Maps for Other
Creatures. Books under the blewointment name maintain
bissett's original commitment to grassroots and innovative poetry.
Nightwood Editions acquired Bluefield Books in 2004, taking on a new
line of titles including the popular O
Canada Crosswords series.
