A moment to praise Graywolf Press
Minnesota-based publisher a heavyweight and unsung hero in the books world
The average reader may not know the name Fiona McCrae, but within the publishing world she is a living legend and I want to tell you why.
I want to tell you why because the work of Fiona McCrae and the people she leads is an example of how and why literature remains alive and well in this country.
McCrae is the director of Graywolf Press, a nonprofit publisher of fiction, poetry and nonfiction located in Minneapolis-St. Paul, which is, in my opinion, pound for pound, the greatest publisher in the world.
I’m writing about Fiona McCrae because it was recently announced that next year, she’ll be stepping down from her position she’s held since 1994.
Operating on a budget that’s about two-thirds of Tina Fey’s advance for her 2009 memoir “Bossypants,” Graywolf publishes around 30 new books a year, along with maintaining an extensive backlist.
I have waxed rhapsodically in these pages about many Graywolf books. Looking at my shelves and scanning the colophons, (that little insignia stamped at the bottom of the spine), I see Graywolf ’s tri-colored downfacing chevrons disproportionately represented.
Regular readers may know that I have called Graywolf author Percival Everett our greatest living novelist. “Milkman” by Anna Burns, winner of the Booker Prize, is a Graywolf book. One of my favorite little collections of short stories, “Cities I’ve Never Lived In” by Sara Majka, is a Graywolf book.
J. Robert Lennon, another of my favorite working novelists, has found a supportive home there for years, saying of Graywolf: “There hasn’t been a single moment in my nearly five years with Graywolf when I haven’t been treated with absolute respect, by people who are clearly superb at their jobs.”
This is a publisher who enables and empowers writers to do their best and most interesting work. What more can readers ask for?
Graywolf is a juggernaut in poetry, publishing former United States poet laureate Tracy K. Smith and the translated work of Nobel Prize winner Tomas Tranströmer. “Postcolonial Love Poem” by Natalie Diaz, the 2020 winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is a Graywolf book. So is Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” which is one of the most important books of the 20th century.
Nonfiction out of Graywolf includes Leslie Jamison’s “The Empathy Exams” and Carmen Maria Machado’s “In the Dream House.” Sarah Manguso, Maggie Nelson, Sven Birkerts and Eula Bliss are all Graywolf authors.
As a teacher of writing, Graywolf ’s books in the “The Art of …” series have been indispensable resources for teaching topics like “The Art of Subtext” by Charles Baxter and “The Art of Description” by Mark Doty. It’s awesome when a student comes to you with struggles and you can say, “read this and call me in the morning,” knowing that they’ll return lit on fire by what they’ve read.
Am I laying it on too thick? I don’t care. In last week’s column I suggested that losing Simon & Schuster as an independent entity as part of a merger could be akin to the loss of a keystone species in an ecosystem, an event which would have negative ripple effects on everyone else.
Maybe the same is true of Graywolf too. There’s something important about a small publisher that plays such a big game that can provide a home for authors without commercial concerns being central to the operations. Of course, giving writers the freedom to do their best work also happens to result in a sustainable business. Go figure.
Fortunately, while McCrae will be stepping away, I’m confident that Graywolf will continue to deliver reading pleasures for many years to come.