Thoreau and Spadina Dreamers Unite: Idealistic Communities in Canadian Publishing

• Authors: Norman Ravvin
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The rise of Canadian national identity in the 1960s contributed to a flourishing small press movement across the country. One of the most impressive, long-standing and influential presses of this era was Coach House Press, located near the University of Toronto. Book design, creative forms of editing, collaborative and community-oriented work all became a focus of idealism in the Coach House context, as its founders borrowed from earlier international models, but relied, too, on the Canadian moment to devise new ways to disseminate and create literary culture. More recently, a similar idealistic model in publishing and press work has appeared in Nova Scotia at Kentville’s Gaspereau Press. Gaspereau’s founders, like those at Coach House, have searched for an alternative plan and method- through an in-house dedication to the craft of design and bookmaking- that is unlike that applied by mainstream publishers. One could argue that the two outfits represent a counter-tradition in Canadian cultural life, a dedication to artisanal work, as well as to forms of collaborative editing and design. With the publishing and bookselling industry under great pressure in Canada from shifts in technology and government support, counter-traditional models like Gaspereau Press present the possibility of unique forms of cultural output and marketing. Behind such efforts we recognize philosophies and notions of cultural community that run counter to major trends. This paper examines the history of both presses, specific publications, and the impact of such work on the broader Canadian literary scene.

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Text Matters: A Journal of Literature, Theory and Culture
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 5
• Pages: 53-61

Dates

published

2015-11-01

online

2015-11-17

Contributors

author

Norman Ravvin

• Concordia University, Montreal

References

• Barbour, Douglas. “Some Notes about a Long Relationship with the Coach House.” Open Letter 9.8 (1997): 16-22. Print.
• Bowering, George. Baseball. Toronto: Coach House, 1967. Print.
• Clifford, Wayne. Man in a Window. Toronto: Coach House, 1965. Print.
• Cohen, Matt. Typing: A Life in 26 Keys. Toronto: Vintage, 2001. Print.
• Davey, Frank. “The Beginnings of an End of Coach House Press.” Open Letter 9.8 (1997): 40-77. Print.
• Gaspereau Press Catalogue. www.gaspereau.com 2012. Web. 28 June 2014.
• Kiyooka, Roy. Nevertheless These Eyes. Toronto: Coach House, 1967. Print.
• Moulton, Donalee. “Embracing the Old: Book Printing on State of the Art Technology.” Canadian Printer 110.10 (2002): 13. Print.
• Reid, Dennis. “The Old Coach House Days.” Open Letter 9.8 (1997): 23-25. Print.
• Rosenberg, David. “Crossing the Border: A Coach House Memoir.” Open Letter 9.8 (1997): 9-15. Print.
• Steeves, Andrew. “The Right Kind of Crazy.” Books in Canada 33.2 (2004): 40-41. Print.
• Thoreau, Henry David. Walking: An Essay by Henry David Thoreau. Ed. Andrew Steeves. Kentville: Gaspereau, 2008. Print.
• Zweig, Stefan. The World of Yesterday. Trans. Harry Zohn. 1943. Lincoln: U of Nebraska P, 1964. Print.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/texmat-2015-0005