Kent Carroll (born 1941) is the publisher of Europa Editions. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of

Grove Press Grove Press is an United States of America, American Imprint (trade name), publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it in ...

, and the Co-founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of Carroll & Graf.

Early life

Kent Carroll was born in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, to George Henry Carroll and Ruth Traver Carroll, and raised in North Tonawanda, New York. After graduating from

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

in 1963, he spent time in West Africa and Europe before returning to the United States to earn an MA in History from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1968, where he worked for a major movie studio and then as a reporter/critic for a newspaper before beginning his publishing career.

Grove Press

Carroll joined

in 1969 and from 1973-1980 served as Editorial Director working with publisher Barney Rosset."Los Angeles Times: Kicking Out the Jams: The Trials and Triumphs of Barney Rosset's Grove Press".
/ref> Grove had redefined the literary landscape of America by publishing such authors as Nobel Laureates

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

Kenzaburō Ōe is a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issues, i ...

, and

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

;

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, David Mamet;

Henry Miller Henry Valentine Miller (December 26, 1891 – June 7, 1980) was an American novelist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical ref ...

; and Marguerite Duras. He also wrote for Grove's magazine, ''

Evergreen Review ''The Evergreen Review'' is a U.S.-based literary magazine. Its publisher is John Oakes and its editor-in-chief is Dale Peck. The ''Evergreen Review'' was founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 until 19 ...

'', as well as acquired '' American Graffiti'' (made into a

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

film),

Gilbert Sorrentino Gilbert Sorrentino (April 27, 1929 – May 18, 2006) was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, professor, and editor. In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibili ...

's ''Mulligan's Stew'', and the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

-winning '' A Confederacy of Dunces'', among others.

Film

During a leave of absence from

, Carroll wrote and produced the feature film ''Abduction'',"IMDB.com: Abduction (1975)".
/ref> featuring

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner

Dorothy Malone Dorothy Malone (born Mary Dorothy Maloney; January 29, 1924 – January 19, 2018) was an American actress. Her film career began in 1943, and in her early years, she played small roles, mainly in B-movies, with the exception of a supporting role ...

Carroll & Graf Publishers

Along with Herman Graf, Carroll founded

Carroll & Graf Publishers Carroll & Graf Publishers was an American publishing company based in New York City, New York, known for publishing a wide range of fiction and non-fiction by both new and established authors, as well as issuing reprints of previously hard-to ...

in 1981, where he served as the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief until 2001. The firm was best known for publishing quality fiction, history, and biography. Among the many writers Carroll editing and published were

Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge (21 November 1932 – 2 July 2010) was an English writer from Liverpool. She was primarily known for her works of psychological fiction, often macabre tales set among the English working class. Bainbridge won the ...

(five-time

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

winner), Ferdinand Mount ('' Times Literary Supplement'' editor and

Hawthornden Prize The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award that was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, who was born at Hawthornden Castle. Authors under the age of 41 are awarded on the quality of their "imaginative literature", which can be written ...

winner),

Madeleine St John Madeleine St John (12 November 194118 June 2006) was an Australian writer, the first Australian woman to be shortlisted Beresford, Bruce (2009) "In memory of a friendship", ''The Canberra Times'', 28 March 2009, Panorama, p. 9 for the Booker Priz ...

(

nominee),

Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam (born 11 July 1928) is an English writer of children's and adult fiction. She also writes reviews for ''The Spectator'' and ''The Telegraph'', and writes for BBC radio. She lives in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She has won nu ...

(two-time

nominee and two-time Whitbread Award winner), Auberon Waugh, Andrew Barr (''Drink'' was named Book of the Year by ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

'' magazine), Camilla Gibb ( Toronto Book Prize winner), Anthony Burgess,

Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...

, Penelope Fitzgerald (

winner), D.M. Thomas,

John O'Hara John Henry O'Hara (January 31, 1905 – April 11, 1970) was one of America's most prolific writers of short stories, credited with helping to invent ''The New Yorker'' magazine short story style.John O'Hara: Stories, Charles McGrath, ed., The L ...

Joseph McElroy Joseph Prince McElroy (born August 21, 1930) is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist. He is noted for his long postmodern novels such as '' Women and Men''. Personal background McElroy was born on August 21, 1930, in Brookl ...

, Alexandra Richie,

James Le Fanu James Le Fanu (born 1950) is a British retired General Practitioner, journalist and author, best known for his weekly columns in the ''Daily'' and ''Sunday Telegraph''. He is married to publisher Juliet Annan. Life He was educated at Ampleforth ...

(''The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine'' won the 2001 ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' Book Award), George MacDonald Fraser (of Flashman fame), and Denise Mina (''Exile'' won the John Creasey Award). Other authors published by

include Michael Shaara (

winner), international best-seller

A.E. Hotchner Aaron Edward Hotchner (June 28, 1917 – February 15, 2020) was an American editor, novelist, playwright, and biographer.Alfred Lansing Alfred Mark Lansing (July 21, 1921 – August 27, 1975) was an American journalist and writer, best known for his book '' Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage'' (1959), an account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Antarctic explorations. Life Lansi ...

(whose account of

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

's epic Antarctic adventure, ''Endurance'', was a ''

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 ...

'' best-seller and sold more than 1 million copies), Apsley Cherry-Garrard (whose ''The Worst Journey in the World'' was selected as the greatest adventure book of all time by ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

''),

Bartle Bull Bartle Breese Bull or Bartle Bull III (born 1970) is an American businessman and writer. Bull is a former editor of the ''Middle East Monitor'' and foreign editor of '' Prospect'', a leading London-based political and cultural magazine. Early l ...

Salley Vickers Salley Vickers (born 1948) is a British novelist whose works include ''Miss Garnet's Angel'', ''Mr. Golightly's Holiday'', ''The Other Side of You'' and ''Where Three Roads Meet'', a retelling of the Oedipus myth to Sigmund Freud in the last mon ...

, Best Evidence avid Lifton which was a Book of the Month Club selection, and

Jim Marrs James Farrell Marrs Jr. (December 5, 1943 – August 2, 2017) was an American newspaper journalist and ''New York Times'' best-selling author of books and articles on a wide range of alleged cover-ups and conspiracies. Marrs was a prominent ...

(whose best-selling ''Crossfire'' was made into

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

's ''

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

'' (1991))."IMDB.com: JFK (1991)".
/ref> Carroll also launched the careers of

James Sallis James Sallis (born December 21, 1944) is an American crime writer who wrote a series of novels featuring the detective character Lew Griffin set in New Orleans, and the 2005 novel '' Drive'', which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same nam ...

(''The Long-Legged Fly''), Michelle de Kretser (''The Rose Grower''), Chris Bohjalian (''Hangman''), and David Benioff (''25th Hour'').

Europa Editions

In 2004, Carroll and Italian publisher Sandro Ferri started

Europa Editions Europa Editions is an independent trade publisher based in New York. The company was founded in 2005 by the owners of the Italian press Edizioni E/O and specializes in literary fiction, mysteries, and narrative non-fiction. Europa has published ...

, an American company that would publish European literature in translation as well as US and UK literary fiction and high-end crime fiction. In 2005 Europa published its first novel, Elena Ferrante's ''Days of Abandonment'', which was favorably compared to '' Anna Karenina'' by ''

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 ...

''."The New York Times: A Scorned Wife's Bumpy Road of Raging Self-Awareness".
/ref> Later releases have received great acclaim:

's ''Old Filth'' was short-listed for the Orange Prize and named a Notable Book of the Year by ''

''; Steve Erickson's ''Zeroville'' was selected as a Best Book of the Year by ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

'', and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

; and

Muriel Barbery Muriel Barbery (born 28 May 1969) is a French novelist and philosophy teacher. Her 2006 novel ''The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' quickly sold more than a million copies in several countries. Biography Barbery was born in Rabat, Morocco, but she and ...

's ''

The Elegance of the Hedgehog ''The Elegance of the Hedgehog'' (french: link=no, L'Élégance du hérisson) is a novel by the French novelist and philosophy teacher Muriel Barbery. The book follows events in the life of a concierge, Renée Michel, whose deliberately conceal ...

'' was a ''

'' Bestseller. In recent years, Europa has published several other notable novels under Carroll's leadership, including

Damon Galgut Damon Galgut (born 12 November 1963) is a South African novelist and playwright. He was awarded the 2021 Booker Prize for his novel '' The Promise'', having previously been shortlisted for the award in 2003 and 2010. Early life and education Ga ...

's ''In a Strange Room'' (a finalist for the

in 2010); ''Pure'', Andrew Miller's historical novel that won both the Best Novel and the Book of the Year

Costa Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

in 2011; Kate Southwood's ''Falling to Earth'' (a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection); and ''The Rage'',

Gene Kerrigan Gene Kerrigan is an Irish journalist and novelist who grew up in Cabra in Dublin. His works include political commentary on Ireland since the 1970s in such publications as '' Magill'' magazine and the '' Sunday Independent'' newspaper. He has als ...

's novel that was awarded the Gold Dagger Best Crime Novel of the Year Award by the

Crime Writers Association The Crime Writers' Association (CWA) is a specialist authors’ organisation in the United Kingdom, most notable for its Dagger awards for the best crime writing of the year, and the Diamond Dagger awarded to an author for lifetime achievement. T ...

. In 2013, Europa was named Publisher of the Year by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association.

Notable authors

Authors Carroll has published include: * Brian Aldiss *

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 22 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for book ...

* Diana Athill *

J.G. Ballard James Graham Ballard (15 November 193019 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, satirist, and essayist known for provocative works of fiction which explored the relations between human psychology, technology, sex, and mass medi ...

Sybille Bedford Sybille Bedford, OBE (16 March 1911 – 17 February 2006) was a German-born English writer of non-fiction and semi-autobiographical fiction books. She was a recipient of the Golden PEN Award. Early life She was born as Sybille Aleid Elsa von ...

* David Benioff * George Bernanos *

Lesley Blanch Lesley Blanch, MBE, FRSL (6 June 1904, London – 7 May 2007, Garavan near Menton, France) was a British writer, historian and traveller. She is best known for '' The Wilder Shores of Love'', about Isabel Burton (who married the Arabist and expl ...

* Anthony Burgess * Apsley Cherry-Garrard * Lady Diana Cooper *

J. G. Farrell James Gordon Farrell (25 January 1935 – 11 August 1979) was an English-born novelist of Irish descent. He gained prominence for a series of novels known as "the Empire Trilogy" (''Troubles'', ''The Siege of Krishnapur'' and ''The Singapore Gri ...

* Penelope Fitzgerald * George MacDonald Fraser * Mavis Gallant *

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

* Dorothy B. Hughes *

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

Norman Mailer Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...

* Michael Shaara *

* Peter Taylor * D.M. Thomas * Auberon Waugh

Teaching

Carroll has lectured at writers' conferences and spoken on television and radio as well as before university audiences about various aspects of the writing profession and the publishing business. He is also on the faculty of The Writers' Institute at The Graduate Center at The

City University of New York The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...

."Faculty , The Writers' Institute".
/ref>

Other projects

Carroll, along with Jodee Blanco, was the co-author of

Ryan O'Neal Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Place ...

's ''Both of Us: My Life with Farrah'' which was, briefly, on ''

'' best-seller list.

References

External links

Kent Carroll's website

Mediabistro.com: Kent Carroll's Return to Publishing

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20160305064757/http://blog.semcoop.com/2009/11/21/kent-carrollon-jane-gardam/ The Front Table: Kent Carroll on Jane Gardam {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Kent 1941 births Living people Writers from Binghamton, New York Princeton University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from New York City American male writers