House of Anansi Press is a Canadian publishing company, founded in 1967 by writers Dennis Lee and Dave Godfrey. The company specializes in finding and developing new Canadian writers of literary fiction, poetry, and non-fiction.
Anansi started as a small press with only one full-time employee, writer George Fetherling. It quickly gained attention for publishing significant authors such as Margaret Atwood, Matt Cohen, Michael Ondaatje, Marian Engel, Erin Mouré, Paulette Jiles, George Grant and Northrop Frye. The company also published many translations of French language works by Québécois authors such as Roch Carrier, Anne Hébert, Lise Bissonnette and Marie-Claire Blais.
Anansi publishes the transcripts for many of the Massey Lectures.
House of Anansi Press was purchased in 1989 by Stoddart Publishing. In June 2002 it was acquired by Scott Griffin, founder of the Griffin Poetry Prize.
Famous quotes containing the words house of, house and/or press:
“I am more afraid of making a fault in my Latin than of the Kings of Spain, France, Scotland, the whole House of Guise, and all of their confederates.”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“You made us in the House of Pain. You made us things. Not men, not beasts, part-man, part-beast: things.”
—Waldemar Young, U.S. screenwriter. Erle C. Kenton. Sayer of the Law (Bela Lugosi)
“The eating of a MacDonald’s meal is like the reading of Reader’s Digest—small, easily digested, carefully processed, carefully cut down, abridged. Reader’s Digest gives us knowledge that is easily compartmentalized, simplified, ideologically sound.”
—Clive Bloom, British educator. “MacDonald’s Man Meets Reader’s Digest,” Readings in Popular Culture: Trivial Pursuits?, St. Martin’s Press (1990)