Cormorant Books Inc is a Canadian

book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...

company."Two houses under one roof"
. ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', March 23, 2012. The company's current publisher is Marc Côté. Cormorant Books specializes in fiction by new and emerging Canadian writers, reissues of

out-of-print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

classics of

Canadian literature Canadian literature is the literature of a multicultural country, written in languages including Canadian English, Canadian French, Indigenous languages, and many others such as Canadian Gaelic. Influences on Canadian writers are broad both g ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

translations of works by

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

writers. In 2010, the company also launched Dancing Cat Books, a separate imprint for works of

young adult literature Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults. The subject matter and genres of YA correlate w ...

History

Cormorant Books was started in 1986 by a Canadian couple, Jan and Gary Geddes, on their farm outside of

Dunvegan Dunvegan ( gd, Dùn Bheagain) is a village on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is famous for Dunvegan Castle, seat of the chief of Clan MacLeod. Dunvegan is within the parish of Duirinish, and Duirinish Parish Church is at Dunvegan. In 2011 i ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. They focused on introducing new Canadian writers to the literary scene, focusing principally on poetry."Profile: Cormorant Books". ''The Robertson Pipeline'', May 2009. In 1990, the company published Nino Ricci's novel ''

Lives of the Saints A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

'', which went on to become one of the year's bestselling Canadian novels and to win the 1990

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, publisher Marc Côté continues the tradition of publishing Canadian authors, including translations of Quebec writers.

Published writers

Authors who have been published by Cormorant include:

Awards

In 1990, ''

'' by Nino Ricci won the

Governor General's Award for English-language fiction The Governor General's Award for English-language fiction is a Canadian literary award that annually recognizes one Canadian writer for a fiction book written in English.Quebec Writers' Federation Awards The Quebec Writers' Federation Awards are a series of Canadian literary awards, presented annually by the Quebec Writers' Federation to the best works of literature in English by writers from Quebec. They were known from 1988 to 1998 as the QSPELL ...

. In 2004, ''Beyond Measure'' by Pauline Holdstock was nominated for the

Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competitio ...

. It won the

Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize The Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize, established in 1985 as one of the BC and Yukon Book Prizes, is awarded annually to the best work of fiction by a resident of British Columbia, Canada. The award is named after novelist and short story writer Ethel W ...

of the BC Book Prizes in 2005 and was nominated for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize - Canada and the Caribbean Region, as well. In 2005, ''The Unyielding Clamour of the Night'' by Neil Bissoondath won the Hugh MacLennan Award of the Quebec Writers' Federation. ''

The Perfect Circle ''The Perfect Circle'' ( Bosnian: ''Savršeni krug'') is a 1997 Bosnian film by Ademir Kenović set in Sarajevo during the siege of 1992-1996. It was written by Kenović with Pjer Žalica and Abdulah Sidran. The title derives from the ability ...

'' by

Pascale Quiviger Pascale Quiviger (born 1969) is a Canadian writer and artist. Raised and educated in Quebec, she is currently based in the United Kingdom, where she writes, paints, teaches visual arts and practices hypnotherapy. Quiviger is married to former Brit ...

and ''

Home Schooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

'' by Carol Windley were shortlisted for the

Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...

in 2006."The Great Unknowns: CBC Arts Online analyzes the literary dash for the Giller cash".

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...

, October 3, 2006. ''Home Schooling'' won the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize of the BC Book Prizes in 2007. In 2008, Cormorant published its first children's book, ''M is for Moose'', an alphabet book by internationally acclaimed artist

Charles Pachter Charles Pachter, D.F.A. LL. D. (born December 30, 1942 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian contemporary artist. He is a painter, printmaker, sculptor, designer, historian, and lecturer. He studied French literature at the Sorbonne, art history at ...

. In 2009, ''The Heart Specialist'' by

Claire Holden Rothman Claire Holden Rothman is a Canadian novelist, short story writer, and translator.

was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. In 2011, ''My Life Among the Apes'' by

Cary Fagan Cary Fagan (born 1957) is a Canadian writer of novels, short stories, and children's books. His novel, ''The Student,'' was a finalist for the Toronto Book Award and the Governor General's Literary Award. Previously a short-story collection, ''My ...

was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Two Cormorant publications, ''Still Life with June'' by Darren Greer, and ''An English Gentleman'' by Sky Gilbert have received

ReLit Awards The ReLit Awards are Canadian literary prizes awarded annually to book-length works in the novel, short-story and poetry categories."Three indie writers honoured by ReLit Awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 19, 2007. Founded in 2000 by Newfoundl ...

. Cormorant Books has won five Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Awards, including the 2008, 2009 and 2013 awards for Small Press of the Year and the 2009 and 2010 Libris to Marc Côté for Editor of the Year.

References

External links

Cormorant Books
* Archives of Cormorant Book
(Cormorant Books fonds, R16412)
are held at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{Authority control Book publishing companies of Canada