Turnstone Press is a Canadian literary publisher founded in 1976 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...

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, the oldest in Manitoba and among the most respected independent publishers in Canada. Turnstone was founded in 1976 by academics David Arnason, John Beaver, Dennis Cooley,

Robert Enright Robert Enright D.Litt., is a Canadian journalist, art critic, and academic. He is the founder and senior contributing editor at ''Border Crossings''. Career Enright attended the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon, from 1967 to 1971 as an und ...

, Daniel Lenoski, and

Wayne Tefs Wayne Tefs (1947 – September 15, 2014) was a Canadian novelist, writer, editor, critic, and anthologist. Career From 1975 to 1977, Tefs and David Arnason produced the radio program Canadian Writers Symposium, for which they interviewed 45 Canadi ...

. Initially the company rented space at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookl ...

s by Manitoba poets. Turnstone was incorporated in 1983 and since that time, under editors Wayne Tefs, Joan Thomas and others, has grown to become one of the most highly regarded and award-winning independent publishers in Western Canada. Turnstone moved to a space in the Exchange District of Winnipeg and added fiction, literary criticism and literary

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with b ...

titles. In 1998 Turnstone added the Ravenstone imprint which specializes in literary and experimental mystery and

noir fiction Noir fiction (or roman noir) is a subgenre of crime fiction. Definition In its modern form, noir has come to denote a marked darkness in theme and subject matter, generally featuring a disturbing mixture of sex and violence and death in some ...

. Turnstone is known for publishing Canadian authors, particularly from Manitoba and the

Canadian prairies The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These pro ...

. Authors associated with Turnstone include

Bertram Brooker Bertram Richard Brooker, (March 31, 1888 – March 22, 1955) was one of Canada's pioneer abstract painters.Joan Murray. Canadian Art in the Twentieth Century'. Dundurn; November 1999. . p. 40-41. A self-taught polymath, in addition to being a ...

, Miriam Waddington,

John Gould John Gould (; 14 September 1804 – 3 February 1881) was an English ornithologist. He published a number of monographs on birds, illustrated by plates produced by his wife, Elizabeth Gould, and several other artists, including Edward Lear, ...

, Lawrence Hill, Robert Kroetsch, Sylvia Legris, Margaret Sweatman,

Sally Ito Sally Ito (born 1964) is a Canadian writer, translator, and artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Career Ito was born in 1964 in Taber, Alberta. She grew up in Edmonton and began writing poetry as a teenager. She currently teaches creative writing at ...

and others. Turnstone has published important works in Icelandic Canadian literature by David Arnason, W. D. Valgardson, and

Kristjanna Gunnars Kristjana Gunnars (born March 19, 1948 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic-Canadian poet and novelist. She immigrated to Canada in 1969. Her works explore, among other themes, the 19th century Icelandic settler experience in Canada's prairie provinces. ...

and Indigenous Canadian literature by

Marvin Francis Marvin Francis (1955–2005) was a Cree"Entry for Marvin Francis" in ''Manitowapow: Aboriginal Writers from the Land of Water'', High Water Press, 2011, page 271. poet from Winnipeg, Manitoba best known for his book-length poem ''City Treaty'' publ ...

Wayne Arthurson Wayne Arthurson is a Canadian writer from Alberta. He is the author of several novels and several books related to First Nations peoples. His parents are of Cree and French Canadian descent. He grew up on an army base. Arthurson's first novel, '' ...

Garry Thomas Morse Garry Thomas Morse is a Canadian poet and novelist. He is a two-time nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry, at the 2011 Governor General's Awards for ''Discovery Passages'' and at the 2016 Governor General's Awards fo ...

and others. Since the 1980s, Turnstone has also been a major publisher of Mennonite literature, publishing works by David Bergen, Sandra Birdsell, Di Brandt, Dora Dueck, Patrick Friesen,

Miriam Toews Miriam Toews (; born 1964) is a Canadian writer and author of nine books, including '' A Complicated Kindness'' (2004), ''All My Puny Sorrows'' (2014), and '' Women Talking'' (2018). She has won a number of literary prizes including the Governor ...

, Andrew Unger, and

Armin Wiebe Armin Wiebe (born 17 June 1948) is a Canadian writer of Russian Mennonite descent born in Altona, Manitoba, best known for his humorous novels about Mennonites. Wiebe is regarded as one of the pioneers of humorous Mennonite writing in English a ...

, among others. Turnstone Press books and authors have won or been nominated for numerous literary awards including the Governor General's Literary Awards, the

Commonwealth Writer's Prize Commonwealth Writers (established in 2011) is the cultural initiative of the Commonwealth Foundation. It aims to inspire, develop and connect writers across the Commonwealth. Its flagship is a literary award for short stories, the Commonwealth Sh ...

, the Giller Prize, the Stephen Leacock Prize, the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

, the

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted ...

, the

Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize The Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, formerly known as the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, is a Canadian literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition of works submitted by publishers. ...

, the ReLit Awards, and other regional awards.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Book publishing companies of Canada Publishing companies established in 1976 Companies based in Winnipeg Literary publishing companies 1976 establishments in Manitoba Publishing companies based in Manitoba