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Recognition from knowledgeable members of the book world has been plentiful. Michael Powell, owner of the parent location of Powell's Books since 1971, observed that Graywolf was especially noted for "adventurous, challenging, yet accessible literature."
by Bob Williams
If you find a Graywolf Press book at your bookstore (and this becomes more and more likely), look at it carefully. The cover is unusually attractive, the paper sends a paper freak like me into an ecstasy and the typography and layout are fresh and attractive. Moreover, you can buy it and be certain that you have bought a book that is not only worth reading but one that is worth owning.
Scott Walker founded Graywolf Press at Townsend, Washington, in 1974. His discrimination - continued brilliantly by his successor, Fiona McCrae - established the defining characteristic of Graywolf, many of whose early books were set and sewn by hand. Walker moved Graywolf to Minnesota in the mid 80s. At this time Walker achieved a non-profit status for Graywolf but did not fully exploit the resources available and published more titles than the capacity of the company allowed for. When Walker resigned in 1994, Graywolf - despite its critical success - was operating at a deficit in excess of $200,000. About six months later Fiona McCrae replaced Walker.
Fiona McCrae was born in Kenya - "descended" in her own words, "from a long line of continent-hoppers" - went "fairly directly" from Bristol University to Faber and Faber where she became after eight years senior editor. She took up a position at Faber and Faber's Boston office in 1991. After three years she was ready to take up interests that were more satisfying. The failing Graywolf seemed made to order.
She restored the health of the firm by reduction of the number of annually published titles and through her ability to secure grants. Today, half of Graywolf's $1 million operating budget comes from book sales. The other half comes from local institutions. She recently ended amicably the distribution agreement that had existed satisfactorily with a local distribution firm and turned for this service to Farrar, Strauss and Giroux. This alliance between the most prestigious of small and large publishers seems especially appropriate.
Skill at fund-raising and in her relationships with well-chosen authors does not exhaust McCrae's innovative abilities. Important to Graywolf is the close tie that it has formed with St. Benedict's College of St. Joseph, Minnesota. In this reciprocal - and very likely unique - relationship, readings, among other activities, from Graywolf authors are frequent at the college but a significant factor is the S. Mariella Gable Prize for the best novel of the year published by Graywolf. The possibility of winning this prize is a strong inducement to authors to give Graywolf their consideration.
Success is more than solvency, however necessary that surely is. Recognition from knowledgeable members of the book world has been plentiful. Michael Powell, owner of the parent location of Powell's Books since 1971, observed that Graywolf was especially noted for "adventurous, challenging, yet accessible literature." The membership manager of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, Robert N. Casper, was equally enthusiastic although more succinct. "Graywolf," he said, "is as good as it gets."
Naturally Graywolf authors have played a share in the success of their publisher and have received recognitions of importance. There have been four Minnesota Book Awards and, among finalists for such prestigious awards as the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award and the PEN/Heming-way Prize for First Fiction, Graywolf writers have been represented seven times. Such representation is phenomenal for a publisher that issues no more than fourteen titles annually. On the international scene Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer was considered for the Nobel Prize. Graywolf published the only volume of his poetry in the United States.
Mainstream publishers like Picador, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux and W.W. Norton have absorbed some Graywolf authors but McCrae's continuing effort at Graywolf rests on her excitement at "discovering the writers that the big names have overlooked." Her success at this and other aspects of management have been exceptional and have insured the persistence, health and remarkable interest that surrounds this extraordinary venture.
About the author: Bob Williams is retired and lives in a small town with his wife, dogs and a cat. He has been collecting books all his life, and has done freelance writing, mostly on classical music. His principal interests are James Joyce, Jane Austen and Homer. His book Joyce Country, a guide to persons and places, can be accessed at: www.grand-teto.com/service/Persons_Places
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