Copper Canyon Press
Encyclopedia
Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press
, specializing in the publication of poetry
and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to authors, editorial acumen, and dedication to the poetry audience. Copper Canyon Press has been called the best independent publisher of poetry in America by the noted writer Jim Harrison.
Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both revered and emerging American poets, translations of classical and contemporary work from many of the world's cultures, re-issues of out-of-print poetry classics, anthologies, and prose books about poetry.
The press achieved national stature when Copper Canyon poet, W.S. Merwin, won the 2005 National Book Award for Poetry
in the same year another Copper Canyon poet, Ted Kooser
, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
. Merwin later won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
and in 2010 was named United States Poet Laureate.
Copper Canyon has published more than 400 titles, including works by Nobel Prize
Laureates Pablo Neruda
, Odysseas Elytis
, Octavio Paz
, Antonio Machado
and Rabindranath Tagore
; Pulitzer Prize
-winners Ted Kooser
, Carolyn Kizer
, Maxine Kumin
, Theodore Roethke
, and W.S. Merwin; National Book Award winners Hayden Carruth
, Lucille Clifton
, and Ruth Stone
; and some of the most original contemporary poets and translators such as Jim Harrison
, C. D. Wright
, Bill Porter
(Red Pine), Norman Dubie
, Eleanor Wilner
, Arthur Sze
, James Richardson
and Lucia Perillo
.
, and other associates founded Copper Canyon Press in Denver, Colorado, after relocating from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where Hamill had received an award for editing the best college literary magazine in the nation. Using the $500 prize money, Hamill and Swenson, along with James Gautney and William O'Daly, bought printing equipment in 1972 and began work on the first book, which came out in 1973.
In 1974, Hamill and Swenson moved Copper Canyon Press to Port Townsend, Washington, where it established a permanent residency with Centrum
, a nonprofit arts agency, at Fort Worden State Park. In its early years in Port Townsend, the Press issued mostly small editions, providing broader distribution for the work of new and well established writers. In 1983, the Press suspended the publication of the hand-bound, letter-pressed limited editions in order to concentrate fully on producing and marketing trade books that would maintain the highest possible standards of typography and design. In 1990, Copper Canyon became a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, created a Board of Directors, and began receiving financial support from individuals and foundations.
Today, Copper Canyon Press comprises a community devoted to the power of poetry in our lives: poets, readers, volunteers, funders, booksellers, librarians, professors, reviewers, colleagues, interns, board, and staff who share a conviction that a good poem sharpens our appreciation of the world, invigorates the language, and nourishes the soul. Because of this community the Press has survived and thrived for nearly forty years.
Small press
Small press is a term often used to describe publishers with annual sales below a certain level. Commonly, in the United States, this is set at $50 million, after returns and discounts...
, specializing in the publication of poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to authors, editorial acumen, and dedication to the poetry audience. Copper Canyon Press has been called the best independent publisher of poetry in America by the noted writer Jim Harrison.
Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both revered and emerging American poets, translations of classical and contemporary work from many of the world's cultures, re-issues of out-of-print poetry classics, anthologies, and prose books about poetry.
The press achieved national stature when Copper Canyon poet, W.S. Merwin, won the 2005 National Book Award for Poetry
National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry has been given since 1950 and is part of the National Book Awards, which are given annually for outstanding literary works by American citizens...
in the same year another Copper Canyon poet, Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.-Early Life:...
, won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
. Merwin later won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
and in 2010 was named United States Poet Laureate.
Copper Canyon has published more than 400 titles, including works by Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Laureates Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...
, Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
, Antonio Machado
Antonio Machado
Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz, known as Antonio Machado was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation of '98....
and Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...
; Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winners Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser
Ted Kooser is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.-Early Life:...
, Carolyn Kizer
Carolyn Kizer
Carolyn Ashley Kizer is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet of the Pacific Northwest whose works reflect her feminism.-Life and work:...
, Maxine Kumin
Maxine Kumin
Maxine Kumin is an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981-1982.-Early years:...
, Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke
Theodore Roethke was an American poet, who published several volumes of poetry characterized by its rhythm, rhyming, and natural imagery. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book, The Waking.-Biography:...
, and W.S. Merwin; National Book Award winners Hayden Carruth
Hayden Carruth
Hayden Carruth was an American poet and literary critic. He taught at Syracuse University.-Life:Hayden Carruth grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut, and was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of Chicago. He lived in Johnson, Vermont for many years...
, Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton was an American writer and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979–1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland...
, and Ruth Stone
Ruth Stone
Ruth Stone was an American poet, author, and teacher.-Life and career:In 1959, after her husband, professor Walter Stone, committed suicide, she was forced to raise three daughters alone...
; and some of the most original contemporary poets and translators such as Jim Harrison
Jim Harrison
James "Jim" Harrison is an American author known for his poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and writings about food. He has been called "a force of nature", and his work has been compared to that of William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway...
, C. D. Wright
C. D. Wright
Carolyn D. "C. D." Wright is an American poet.-Biography:Wright was born in Mountain Home, Arkansas to a chancery judge and a court reporter. She earned a BA from Memphis State College in 1971 and briefly attended law school before leaving to pursue an MFA from the University of Arkansas, which...
, Bill Porter
Bill Porter
Bill Porter may refer to:* Bill Porter , American author who writes under the name Red Pine* Bill Porter , American salesman with cerebral palsy* Bill Porter , American sound engineer and famous music pioneer...
(Red Pine), Norman Dubie
Norman Dubie
Norman Dubie is an American poet.-Life:He is the author of more than eighteen books, often assuming historical personae in his works...
, Eleanor Wilner
Eleanor Wilner
-Life:She graduated from Goucher College, and from Johns Hopkins University with a Ph.D.She was editor of The American Poetry Review, and she is Advisory Editor of Calyx....
, Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American poet.-Background:Sze was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of eight books of poetry...
, James Richardson
James Richardson
James Richardson may refer to:*James Richardson , Canadian businessman, Chief Marketing Officer of Cisco Systems*James Richardson , British...
and Lucia Perillo
Lucia Perillo
-Life:Lucia Perillo grew up in the suburbs of New York City in the 1960s. She graduated from McGill University in Montreal in 1979 with a major in wildlife management, and subsequently worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She completed her M.A...
.
History
Like many arts organizations, Copper Canyon Press was launched with abundant passion and vision by a few dedicated individuals. Sam Hamill, Tree SwensonTree Swenson
Tree Swenson is currently the President/Executive Director of the Academy of American Poets. Throughout her life, she has been deeply involved with poetry and independent publishing.Holly Swenson was born in Utah and grew up in Montana...
, and other associates founded Copper Canyon Press in Denver, Colorado, after relocating from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where Hamill had received an award for editing the best college literary magazine in the nation. Using the $500 prize money, Hamill and Swenson, along with James Gautney and William O'Daly, bought printing equipment in 1972 and began work on the first book, which came out in 1973.
In 1974, Hamill and Swenson moved Copper Canyon Press to Port Townsend, Washington, where it established a permanent residency with Centrum
Centrum (arts organization)
Centrum, located in Fort Worden State Park near Port Townsend, Washington in Jefferson County is a multidisciplinary nonprofit arts organization that presents workshops and performances in a wide variety of artistic disciplines.-Origin:...
, a nonprofit arts agency, at Fort Worden State Park. In its early years in Port Townsend, the Press issued mostly small editions, providing broader distribution for the work of new and well established writers. In 1983, the Press suspended the publication of the hand-bound, letter-pressed limited editions in order to concentrate fully on producing and marketing trade books that would maintain the highest possible standards of typography and design. In 1990, Copper Canyon became a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit, created a Board of Directors, and began receiving financial support from individuals and foundations.
Today, Copper Canyon Press comprises a community devoted to the power of poetry in our lives: poets, readers, volunteers, funders, booksellers, librarians, professors, reviewers, colleagues, interns, board, and staff who share a conviction that a good poem sharpens our appreciation of the world, invigorates the language, and nourishes the soul. Because of this community the Press has survived and thrived for nearly forty years.
Noted publications
- W.S. Merwin - 2009 Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in poetry for The Shadow of Sirius - Ted KooserTed KooserTed Kooser is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.-Early Life:...
- 2005 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for Delights & Shadows - W.S. Merwin - 2005 National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in poetry for Migration: New & Selected Poems - Ruth StoneRuth StoneRuth Stone was an American poet, author, and teacher.-Life and career:In 1959, after her husband, professor Walter Stone, committed suicide, she was forced to raise three daughters alone...
- 2002 National Book Award in poetry for In the Next Galaxy - Hayden CarruthHayden CarruthHayden Carruth was an American poet and literary critic. He taught at Syracuse University.-Life:Hayden Carruth grew up in Woodbury, Connecticut, and was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of Chicago. He lived in Johnson, Vermont for many years...
- 1996 National Book Award in poetry for Scrambled Eggs & Whiskey - John BalabanJohn BalabanJohn B. Balaban is an American poet and translator, an authority on Vietnamese literature.-Biography:Balaban was born in a housing project neighborhood in Philadelphia to Romanian immigrant parents, Phillip and Alice Georgies Balaban...
- 2000 Ho Xuan Huong's Spring Essence