NeWest Press: 30 Years and Counting


A press is born
Emerging from the buzzing cultural climate of western Canada in the 1970s, NeWest Press has published radically rewarding literature for over thirty years. The Press was launched at the same time as the NeWest Review, a monthly journal of politics, arts and culture focusing on the prairie provinces.

Founder George Melnyk was a freelance writer and former University of Alberta philosophy instructor who hoped to provide better opportunities to the young writers of the prairie region, in a publishing industry that was dominated at the time by central Canadian publishing houses. The idea of an Edmonton-based literary press was first conceived in 1977 at a party attended by Melnyk and several faculty members of the English Department at the University of Alberta. Initial funding consisted of a $500 loan from the poet Douglas Barbour, who continues to support the Press to this day by serving as Board President and managing the avalanche of manuscripts in the NeWest office.

George Melnyk’s second step was to gather an advisory board of interested writers and critics, a number of whom were also connected to the University of Alberta. An informal group, they would gather in various living rooms and develop a list by reading manuscripts and serving as editors, designers and, when necessary, lenders (the money was always paid back!) This was a working board in every sense, a NeWest tradition still in place thirty years later.

The first book published under the NeWest imprint was an anthology of seven short stories, Getting Here, chosen by Rudy Wiebe from the output of his creative writing class at the University of Alberta. The collection included stories by Aritha Van Herk, Myrna Kostash, Caterina Edwards, Helen Rosta, and Candas Jane Dorsey, all of whom became established writers in subsequent years. Released in 1977 on International Women's Day, Getting Here was followed by Of the Spirit, a collection of essays by the noted architect Douglas Cardinal.

Award-winning literature
NeWest Press would make a strong debut, producing a total of five books in its first year of operation. In 1980 NeWest expanded to four titles, then to eight titles in 1981, including Blood Relations by Sharon Pollock, the recipient of a Governor General's Award for Drama. Newest titles continue to collect accolades and awards, including the Saskatchewan Book Awards' Book of the Year Award for 2006 (Michael Trussler's Encounters) and 2007 (Dave Margoshes' Bix's Trumpet).

The expansion of NeWest's productive output stemmed from Melnyk's desire to establish a general publishing house that would reflect the full range of Western history and culture in a variety of disciplines. The Press’ influence was to extend beyond Alberta's insular literary and academic communities and provide a populist forum where vital social and cultural issues could be addressed from a left-of-centre perspective. By 1982 the Canada Council and Alberta Culture were providing the Press with regular funding and the financial security that it so direly needed to continue publishing.

That same year, George Melnyk announced his decision to withdraw from NeWest; he, Julia Berry and Sam Gersonowicz, the three original partners, transferred their shares to a new group of eighteen shareholders. In recognition of the Press's expanded mandate, the new owners of NeWest Publishers Limited included not only prominent literary figures such as Rudy Wiebe, Aritha van Herk and Robert Kroetsch, but also individuals like journalist Myrna Kostash, sculptor Joe Fafard and political scientist Larry Pratt. All shareholders were expected to take an active part in soliciting manuscripts and choosing the titles to be published.

A broad range of titles
Since its inception, NeWest's literary division has generated numerous award-winning titles and made significant contributions to the Canadian literary scene through the Writer As Critic and Prairie Play Series, as well as through various anthologies of poetry, fiction and literary criticism. Bestsellers have included Susan Haley's A Nest of Singing Birds, which was filmed for television by CBC, Eva Brewster's holocaust memoir Vanished in Darkness, and the short story anthology Alberta Bound. NeWest has begun publishing mystery novels over the past decade; contributors include Suzanne North, Garry Ryan, D.M. Wyman, R.F. Darion, Ian Waddell, and Roy Innes.

Also notable is the Nunatak Series, established in 1989 by Aritha Van Herk and Rudy Wiebe. Reserved for outstanding first novels and short story collections, the series was designed to promote fiction by emerging Western Canadian authors. Nunatak highlights include the introduction of novelist Thomas Wharton with Icefields (1995), as well as Suzette Mayr with Moon Honey (1995) and Hiromi Goto with Chorus of Mushrooms (1994), among others. In full Nunatak tradition, the 2007 title, Wonderfull, was written by Calgary's William Neil Scott and guided by board editor Thomas Wharton.

Celebrating 30 years
Today NeWest continues to thrive, publishing ten to twelve books annually. While still a western regional press in its focus, in recent years NeWest has expanded its mandate to publish work from British Columbia, in addition to the prairie provinces. The editorial board continues its commitment to developing and publishing first-time writers, as well as ensuring the availability of western Canadian classics. At thirty years, NeWest Press has established itself as one of the country's most enduring and respected literary presses, a reflection of the many years of dedication, passion, and perseverance that have kept its original publishing vision alive.