Minneapolis-based literary nonprofit New Rivers Press has suspended operations after 32 years. In announcing the decision, interim executive director Lisa Bullard cited a "series of calamities" that included distribution and production snags, heavy returns and medical problems faced by founder C.W. Truesdale and executive director Phyllis Jendro.
Specializing in regional authors and new and emerging titles, New Rivers had published more than 300 titles, including early works by poet Charles Simic and novelists Charles Baxter and David Haynes.
"A lot of the challenges we faced were the result of industry-wide factors," Bullard said. "But when coupled with some of our other problems, we simply didn't have enough cushion to sustain blow after blow. New Rivers has always operated near the edge—that's the nature of small press publishing—but without big marketing budgets, it's difficult to sell regional and emerging writers, and we were reluctant to change our mission."
Bullard is exploring possible partnerships with other nonprofit publishers, and she said that the press's first priority is to help its authors currently under contract to find publishers for their books.
