The Chinese character for poetry is made up of two parts: word and temple. It also serves as pressmark for Copper Canyon Press.
About Us
Our History and Mission
Copper Canyon Press is a nonprofit publisher that believes poetry is vital to language and living. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to authors, editorial acumen, and dedication to the poetry audience.
In 1974, the Press established a permanent residency with Centrum, a nonprofit arts agency, at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, Washington. In its early years, the Press issued mostly small editions of hand-bound letterpressed books printed from hand-set type on quality paper. In the mid-70’s, the Press expanded its list to include more offset trade editions, providing broader distribution for the work of new and well established writers. In 1983, the Press suspended the publication of limited editions in order to concentrate fully on producing and marketing trade books that would maintain the highest possible standards of typography and design.
Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both revered and emerging American poets, anthologies, prose books about poetry, translations of classical and contemporary work from many of the world’s cultures, and re-issues of out-of-print poetry classics.
Copper Canyon has published more than 300 titles, including works by Nobel Laureates Pablo Neruda, Odysseas Elytis, Octavio Paz, Vincente Aleixandre, and Rabindranath Tagore; Pulitzer Prize-winners Ted Kooser, Carolyn Kizer, Maxine Kumin, W.S. Merwin, and Theodore Roethke; National Book Award winners Hayden Carruth, Lucille Clifton, and Ruth Stone; and some of the most original contemporary poets such as Jim Harrison, C.D. Wright, Norman Dubie, Eleanor Wilner, Jane Miller, and Olga Broumas.
The Press has an active fundraising program; approximately fifty percent of annual revenues are contributed. Major funders have included Lannan Foundation, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, the Lila Wallace Readers Digest Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Washington State Arts Commission, the Breneman-Jaech Foundation, the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, the Starbucks Foundation and Port Townsend Paper Company. The Press is also supported by hundreds of individual donors from fifty states.
Copper Canyon Press comprises a community devoted to the power of poetry in our lives: poets, readers, volunteers, funders, booksellers, librarians, professors, reviewers, colleagues, and staff who share a conviction that a good poem sharpens our appreciation of the world, invigorates the language, and nourishes the soul. Because of this community the Press has survived and thrived for more than thirty years.
We believe poetry is vital to language and living.
As the preeminent independent publisher of poetry, Copper Canyon Press fosters the work of emerging, established, and world-renowned poets for an expanding audience.