Four Way Books is an American nonprofit literary press located in New York City, New York, which publishes poetry and short fiction by emerging and established writers. It features the work of the winners of national poetry competitions, as well as collections accepted through general submission, panel selection, and solicitation by the editors. The press is run by director and founding editor Martha Rhodes, who is the author of five poetry collections. Four Way Books titles are distributed by

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

. The press has received grants from New York State Council on the Arts, the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, and The

Council of Literary Magazines and Presses The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) is an American organization of independent literary publishers and magazines. It was founded in 1967 by Robie Macauley, Reed Whittemore (''The Carleton Miscellany,'' ''The New Republic''); Jul ...

through their re-grant program.

Authors

Representative authors published by Four Way Books include Catherine Bowman, Reginald Dwayne Betts,

Kevin Prufer Kevin D. Prufer (born 1969 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American poet, academic, editor, and essayist. His most recent books are ''How He Loved Them'' ( Four Way Books, 2018),''Churches'' ( Four Way Books, 2014), ''In A Beautiful Country'' ( Four ...

, Terri Ford, Forrest Hamer, Pimone Triplett,

Yona Harvey Yona Harvey (born 1974) is an American poet and assistant professor at University of Pittsburgh. She won the 2014 Kate Tufts Discovery Award. She is also an author of Marvel Comics' ''World of Wakanda'', becoming one of the first two black women ...

, Jeffrey Harrison,

Sarah Gorham Sarah Gorham (born March 30, 1954) is an American poet, essayist, and publisher residing in Prospect, Kentucky. Background Gorham was educated at the Ecole D'Humanité, an international boarding school in Switzerland and received her MFA from t ...

, D. Nurkse,

Gregory Pardlo Gregory Pardlo (born November 24, 1968) is an American poet, writer, and professor. His book ''Digest'' won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. His poems, reviews, and translations have appeared in ''The American Poetry Review'', ''Callaloo'', '' ...

, Laurel Blossom, C. Dale Young, Noelle Kocot, Joel Brouwer,

Cynthia Cruz Cynthia Cruz is a contemporary American poet living in Brooklyn, NY. She is the author of six published poetry collections, and two works of cultural criticism. She currently teaches classes in the Graduate Writing Program at Columbia University. ...

Pablo Medina Pablo Medina is a Cuban American poet and novelist, Professor in the Department of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College and Director of its MFA Program. Biography Medina was born in Havana, Cuba and emigrated to New York Cit ...

Jay Baron Nicorvo Jay Baron Nicorvo (born August 21, 1976) is an American novelist, poet, and essayist. Life Nicorvo was born in Perth Amboy, NJ and was raised in Sarasota, FL. He's married to the writer Thisbe Nissen and they live on an old farm outside Battle ...

, Maya Pindyck,

Cynthia Huntington Cynthia Huntington is an American poet, memoirist and a professor of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. In 2004 she was named Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. Life and career Huntington has published numerous books of poetry, incl ...

, Jason Schneiderman, and

Sarah Manguso Sarah Manguso (born 1974) is an American writer and poet. In 2007, she was awarded the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize Fellowship in literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her memoir ''The Two Kinds of Decay'' (2008), was named an "Edit ...

. Authors have been recipients of the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

, The Edward Lewis Wallant Award,

Guggenheim Fellowships Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative abi ...

, NEA fellowships, and many other honors; and Tommye Blount’s ''Fantasia for the Man in Blue'' was a finalist for the 2020

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

Four Way Books authors have been interviewed on the

PBS NewsHour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of issues and current events. Anchored by Judy Woodruff, the pro ...

, regional and national radio, and print media, including

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Recognition

Four Way Books titles have been reviewed in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

,'' ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

,'' '' Library Journal,'' '' Kirkus Reviews,'' ''

Booklist ''Booklist'' is a publication of the American Library Association that provides critical reviews of books and audiovisual materials for all ages. ''Booklist''s primary audience consists of libraries, educators, and booksellers. The magazine is av ...

,'' and many other publications. The press has been profiled in ''The New York Times Arts Beat, '' and in ''

Poets & Writers Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organizations in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. The organization publishes a bi-monthly magazine called ''Poets & Writers Magazine'', ...

''. In a twenty-fifth anniversary feature of the press, the ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 2012. ...

'' praised Four Way Books for “publishing some of the most interesting, aesthetically diverse collections of poetry and fiction in the country.” The press sponsors the annual Levis Prize in Poetry for a full-length poetry collection; and through their Four Way Books + Friends Program, has sponsored since 1993, joint readings by its authors with those of other presses, and authors yet to be published. The press also sponsors “Pay a Book Forward, which offers free books to college students who attend readings,” and “the electronic journal Four Way Review, which publishes poetry and fiction from emerging and established authors.”Poets & Writers , Articles , ''Four Way Books at Twenty-Five'' , by Nadia Q. Ahmad , 5.29.18
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References

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Sources

Four Way Books Website, Various Pages

External links

Four Way Books Website

Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses > Directory of Member Publishers

Book publishing companies based in New York (state) Publishing companies based in New York City Non-profit organizations based in New York City Culture of New York City