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 CONTEXTThe beginnings of the small press movement in Canada can be traced to Montreal, with the creation of the First Statement Press in 1943, when John Sutherland and his fellow editors at First Statement purchased a platen press and printed two important little magazines, First Statement and the first volumes of Northern Review. Sutherland also published the first books by Irving Layton, Raymond Souster, Miriam Waddington, Kay Smith and Anne Wilkinson, all of which appeared under the collective title New Writers Series. In Toronto in January 1952, Raymond Souster launched the first issue of Contact magazine, which promoted an editorial policy which fostered youth and experiment. The legacy of the magazine was Souster’s decision, along with Louis Dudek and Irving Layton, to found the Contact Press in 1952, which emerged over the next 15 years as the most important poet-operated and self-financed small press in Canada. Other small press ventures surfaced in the latter half of the decade, including Jay Macpherson’s Emblem Books based in Toronto, William and Alice McConnell’s Klanak Press in Vancouver and John Robert Colombo’s Hawkshead Press in Ontario. The small presses share careful attention to design, typography, paper selection, and the use of hand or letter press, and continue to chart a fine line between the elegance of the private press and the immediacy and simplicity of inexpensive mimeographed or offset printing. 1940s: FIRST STATEMENT PRESS (1943-1951)Sutherland published the first books by Irving Layton, Raymond Souster, Miriam Waddington, Kay Smith and Anne Wilkinson, all of which appeared under the collective title: New Writers Series. Sutherland's most important achievement as editor, publisher and critic was the publication of his 1947 collection: Other Canadians: An Anthology of the New Poetry in Canada 1940-46. 
Edited by Montrealer, John Sutherland and others, First Statement was one of the first important modernist little magazines published in Canada and appeared from 1942 to 1945. Courtesy of David McKnight.
This was the first publication of the First Statement Press, New Writers Series. Seven books were published in this series between 1945 and 1951 including the inaugural book Here and Now, Layton's first full-length book publication. Cover reproduced bu permission of Irving Layton.
This anthology was Sutherland's response to A.J.M. Smith's The Book of Canadian Poetry. Sutherland took issue with the exclusion of younger Canadian poets from Smith's anthology. Other Canadians includes poets who had first appeared in First Statement magazine and other little magazines of the period. Cover reproduced by permission of the Estate of Audrey Sutherland. 1950s: CONTACT (1952-1967)The legacy of the magazine was Souster's decision, along with Louis Dudek and Irving Layton, to found the Contact Press in 1952. The first book to bear the Contact imprint was Cerberus: Poems (1952) by Louis Dudek, Irving Layton and Raymond Souster. For the next 15 years, Contact Press emerged as the most important poet-operated and self- financed small press in Canada. Between 1960 and 1967, Contact Press published important book-length collections by new and younger writers whose work had until then appeared in little magazines or may have been published in chapbook form. The list of writers includes Milton Acorn, Al Purdy, Gwendolyn MacEwen, John Newlove, Frank Davey, George Bowering and Margaret Atwood.
Edited by Raymond Souster, Contact appeared for ten issues between 1952 and 1954 and defines experimental writing in Canada during the 1950s. Dudek's lead article in the first issue was a clarion call for the youth of Canada to rise up from poetic lethargy and help shape the modernist Canadian imagination. Cover reproduced by permission of Louis Dudek and Raymond Souster.
Combustion, Souster’s mimeo magazine, introduced the writers associated with Black Mountain College, the Beats, and the San Francisco Renaissance to a handful of Canadian readers. Cid Corman’s Origin and Robert Creeley’s Black Mountain Review & Divers Press reciprocated by publishing works by several Canadian poets. Cover reproduced by permission of Raymond Souster.
The title alludes to the mythical three-headed dog, Cerberus, guardian of the Greek underworld. In this the first Contact Press book, the trio of authors announced that they were the guardians of experimental poetry in Canada. Cover reproduced by permission of Louis Dudek, Irving Layton and Raymond Souster. Poets 56: Ten Younger English-Canadians. Toronto: Contact Press, 1956. At the Contact Press, support for "les jeunes" poets never wavered throughout its 15-year history. Among the poets who appeared in this anthology were Avi Boxer, Marya Fiamengo, Daryl Hine, D.G. Jones, Jay Macpherson and Peter Scott.
Having published in a number of little magazines and self-published two chapbooks, MacEwen's The Rising Fire is her first full-length collection of poetry. Permission for use of Gwendolyn MacEwen’s work granted by the author’s family.
Although not her first book publication, Atwood's The Circle Game won the 1966 Governor-General's award and established Atwood as a major talent in Canadian poetry. Cover reproduced by permission of Margaret Atwood. OTHER PRESSES FROM THE 1950sThere were hopeful signs in the latter half of the decade as other small press ventures surfaced on the Canadian literary landscape. These include Jay Macpherson's Emblem Books based in Toronto, William and Alice McConnell's Klanak Press located in Vancouver, and John Robert Colombo's Hawkshead Press first operating in Kitchener then later in Toronto. Emblem Books (1954-1962)
Designed and printed by Robert Rosewarn. A good example of a small-scale poet-publisher’s press. Macpherson's seven Emblem titles were designed by Ottawa printer Robert Rosewarn. Other Emblem authors included Violet Anderson, Daryl Hine, Dorothy Livesay, Alden Nowlan, Al Purdy and Heather Spears. Cover by Laurence Hyde (bird redrawn from a drawing by Jay Macpherson) reproduced by permission of Jay Macpherson. Fiddlehead Poetry Books (1954- )
In contrast to the fine printing of the Emblem chapbooks, Fiddlehead Poetry Books placed emphasis on content rather than form. Since 1954 this imprint has published the first poetry books of numerous Canadian poets, including the founder of the series, Fred Cogswell. Courtesy of The Ralph Gustafson Poetry Collection. Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, McGill University. Cover reproduced by permisson of Fred Cogswell, Fiddlehead Poetry Books, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B.
Alden Nowlan's first published collection of verse. Cover reproduced by permission of Claudine Nowlan. Hawkshead Press (1958-1962)
Typographical design is by Harold Douglas Kuschenska. The frontispiece was designed by Andy Bregg and the colophon by Ron Richards. Colombo's experiment as a publisher began while he was a student at the University of Toronto. Pictured here is an example of one of the most elegant Hawkshead books. Colombo published more than 20 chapbooks and broadsides during the Press’s four years of operation. Cover reproduced by permission of John Robert Colombo.
Double Persephone is Atwood’s first published book of poetry. Cover reproduced by permission of Margaret Atwood. Klanak Press (1958-1978)
Designed and printed by Takao Tanabe. Founded by William and Alice McConnell, Klanak Press books combine elements of fine book design, typography and printing. A dozen books were published under the imprint over a 14-year period including Fiamengo's The Quality of Halves which was the Press’s first publication. Cover reproduced by permission of Marya Fiamengo, Klanak Press, Vancouver.
Design and typography by Takao Tanabe. Printed by Charles Morriss. Illustrated by various artists. Klanak Islands is a good example of Tanabe's typography and design work. This collection is notable because it includes Jane Rule's first published story “A Walk by Himself”. Cover reproduced by permission of William McConnell. |
