Snare Books (publishing)
Encyclopedia
Snare Books is a Canadian
independent book publisher.
Founded in spring of 2006, and located in Montreal
, Snare Books is a publisher of contemporary poetry and prose fiction. They make a point of publishing Canadian authors who specialize in experimental literature
. Although their main focus is on poetry, Snare Books has more recently expanded to pushing a limited number of experimental novels and short stories.
Professor in the Department of English. He received his undergraduate degree
in English Literature at the University of Winnipeg
. He fulfilled his Honours and Distinction Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing, as well as his Master of Arts in English Literature and Creative writing
at Concordia University. Fiorentino was the Head Editor and Founder
of Dark Leisure Magazine (1998–2000) and is the Editor-in-Chief of Matrix Magazine. He has helped edit books for Insomniac Press
, Conundrum Press
, Cyclops Press, and DC Books. He is the author of several poetry books such as Indexical Elegies (2010), The Theory of the Loser Class (2006), Hello Serotonin (2004), Resume Drowning (2002), and Transcona Fragments (2002). He is also the writer of the anthologies, Career Suicide! Contemporary Literary Humour (2003), Asthmatica (2005), as well as Post Prairie (2005), which included a collaborative work with Robert Kroetsch. His works, Stripmalling, The Theory of the Loser Class, Transcona Fragments, and Indexical Elegies, have been nominated and have received various awards.
, born in 1927, is a Canadian novelist, poet
, and non-fiction writer. He has been called names like “The Father of Canadian Postmodernism”, “Mr. Canadian Postmodern and the “Prairie Poet”. Majority of his works have been received with praise and in 1969, he won Canada's Governor General's Award
for The Studhorse Man. In 2004 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
. He is also an accomplished poet. Both his poetry and critical writings are postmodern
in that they subvert tradition, fragmented and opened ended.” Kroetsch’s work has been important in Canadian literary advancements.
Hard Feelings is Warrener’s debut book of poetry. The poems featured in Hard Feelings are about everyday life and the little things that excite humans. If offers her readers a sense of hope and gratitude. Her poems have appeared in many Canadian journals including Event, Grain, Antigonish Review, and The Fiddlehead and the Malahat review. Warrener received an MFA from the University of British Columbia in 2008 as well as a BFA from the University of Victoria in 2001. She is currently a teacher in Sweden.
Kennedy’s work as a poet and prose writer has appeared in anthologies and literary journals. He is currently teaching in the English Department at Okanagan College. The Lateral won him the 2010 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. The Lateral includes a long-poem, a series of prose-poem-ruminations, and ends with a section of vulgar poems.
Update. is the second book Kennedy and Wershler have created together. Kennedy also runs the media consultancy, Stop 14 Media and is the Artistic Director of the Scream Literary Festival in Toronto. Darren Wershler is a Professor of English at Concordia University and is the co-author of twelve books.
Novakovich is originally from Croatia but moved to the United States at the age of twenty. Three Deaths is his first Canadian edition of his written work. Novakovich received many awards for his works including the Ingram Merrill Award. Three Deaths includes a personal essay, a short story, as well as a classic tale, all focusing around the theme of death.
Hajnoczky’s work has appeared in Filling Station, NOD, Matrix and Speechless magazine. She also has a Bachelors of Arts Honours Degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Calgary. Poets and Killers encompasses the experimental poetry genre through the use advertising language to tell the biography of a man from the 1940s until his death in 2010.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
independent book publisher.
Founded in spring of 2006, and located in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Snare Books is a publisher of contemporary poetry and prose fiction. They make a point of publishing Canadian authors who specialize in experimental literature
Experimental literature
Experimental literature refers to written works - often novels or magazines - that place great emphasis on innovations regarding technique and style.-Early history:...
. Although their main focus is on poetry, Snare Books has more recently expanded to pushing a limited number of experimental novels and short stories.
History
Snare Books, launched in the spring of 2006, was founded by Robert Allen and Jon Paul Fiorentino. With the death of Allen in the fall of 2006 Fiorentino became the owner, operator, publisher, and editor of the company. The reason behind starting this small Montreal based literary publishing company was due to the result of a discussion between Allen and Fiorentino based on Canadian literary arts. Through their work together on Matrix Magazine, they had developed a fan base consisting of young writers. Many of these writers had trouble getting their new, innovative and experimental manuscripts published. While other small publishing companies, similar to Snare Books, are moving on to publish commercial fiction, general fiction, and mainstream poetry, Snare Books believes that they are the home for the young, innovative poets and writers of Canada. After their launch in 2006, some of the first published works they produced included: Melissa Thompson's Dreadful Paris, Zoe Whittall's The Emily Valentine Poems, Angela Carr's Ropewalk, and Jason Christie's Canada Post.Robert Allen
Robert Allen, born in 1946, died in November, 2006 just months after the founding of Snare Books. He is the author of three novels, nine poetry collections, and one work of short fiction. Allen was a mentor to co-founder and owner of Snare Books, Joe Paul Fiorentino. Robert Allen worked alongside Joe Paul Fiorentino at Matrix Magazine.Jon Paul Fiorentino
Jon Paul Fiorentino is currently a Concordia UniversityConcordia University
Concordia University is a comprehensive Canadian public university located in Montreal, Quebec, one of the two universities in the city where English is the primary language of instruction...
Professor in the Department of English. He received his undergraduate degree
Undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
in English Literature at the University of Winnipeg
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...
. He fulfilled his Honours and Distinction Bachelor of Arts in English and Creative Writing, as well as his Master of Arts in English Literature and Creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Concordia University. Fiorentino was the Head Editor and Founder
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
of Dark Leisure Magazine (1998–2000) and is the Editor-in-Chief of Matrix Magazine. He has helped edit books for Insomniac Press
Insomniac Press
Insomniac Press is a Canadian independent book publisher.Founded in 1992 and based in London, Ontario, Insomniac began as a publisher of poetry chapbooks. The company has since evolved into a publisher of a wide variety of fiction, poetry and non-fiction work by emerging Canadian writers...
, Conundrum Press
Conundrum Press (Canada)
Conundrum Press is a book publishing company located in Montreal, Canada, founded in 1995 by Andy Brown.-Affiliated authors:Conundrum is renowned in Canadian publishing for its innovative, wide-ranging, often genre-defying, books of fiction, cultural history, graphic novels, spoken word and artist...
, Cyclops Press, and DC Books. He is the author of several poetry books such as Indexical Elegies (2010), The Theory of the Loser Class (2006), Hello Serotonin (2004), Resume Drowning (2002), and Transcona Fragments (2002). He is also the writer of the anthologies, Career Suicide! Contemporary Literary Humour (2003), Asthmatica (2005), as well as Post Prairie (2005), which included a collaborative work with Robert Kroetsch. His works, Stripmalling, The Theory of the Loser Class, Transcona Fragments, and Indexical Elegies, have been nominated and have received various awards.
The Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry
The Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry, founded in 2006, is a not-for-profit contest with an award given to an emerging Canadian poet (2 books or less) by Snare Books once a year. The winner of the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry receives a contract with Snare Books, the publication of their winning piece, and a $500 honorary prize. Snare Books honours Kroetsch by awarding the annual Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry.Robert Kroetsch
Robert KroetschRobert Kroetsch
Robert Kroetsch, OC was a Canadian novelist, poet and non-fiction writer. In his fiction and critical essays, as well as in the journal he co-founded, Boundary 2, he was the single most influential figure in Canada in introducing ideas about postmodernism.He was born in Heisler, Alberta...
, born in 1927, is a Canadian novelist, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, and non-fiction writer. He has been called names like “The Father of Canadian Postmodernism”, “Mr. Canadian Postmodern and the “Prairie Poet”. Majority of his works have been received with praise and in 1969, he won Canada's Governor General's Award
Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic, artistic and social fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by Lord Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the Governor...
for The Studhorse Man. In 2004 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He is also an accomplished poet. Both his poetry and critical writings are postmodern
Postmodern literature
The term Postmodern literature is used to describe certain characteristics of post–World War II literature and a reaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature.Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact...
in that they subvert tradition, fragmented and opened ended.” Kroetsch’s work has been important in Canadian literary advancements.
Past Winners and Judges
- 2007 - Winner: Natalie Zina Walshots for Thumbscrews, Judge: Darren Wershler
- 2008 - Winner: Geoffery Hlibchuk for Variations on Holderlin, Judge: Elizabeth BachinskyElizabeth BachinskyElizabeth Bachinsky is a Canadian poet. She's published three collections since 2005: Curio, Home of Sudden Service, and God of Missed Connections. Her second book, Home of Sudden Service, was nominated for a 2006 Governor General's Award for Poetry...
- 2009 - Winner: Sarah Dowling for Security Posture, Judge: Rachel ZolfRachel ZolfRachel Zolf is a Canadian poet and literary editor. She is the author of four poetry collections. Human Resources won the 2008 Trillium Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award...
- 2010 - Winner: Jake Kennedy for The Lateral, Judge: Sina QueyrasSina QueyrasSina Queyras is a Canadian poet. Her third collection of poetry, Lemon Hound, received the Pat Lowther Award and a Lambda Literary Award.In 2005 she edited Open Field: 30 Contemporary Canadian Poets for Persea Books, the first anthology of Canadian poetry to be published by a U.S. press...
- 2011 – Winner: Pearl Pirie for Thirsts, Judge: Neil Besner
Hard Feelings by Sheryda Warrener
Hard Feelings is Warrener’s debut book of poetry. The poems featured in Hard Feelings are about everyday life and the little things that excite humans. If offers her readers a sense of hope and gratitude. Her poems have appeared in many Canadian journals including Event, Grain, Antigonish Review, and The Fiddlehead and the Malahat review. Warrener received an MFA from the University of British Columbia in 2008 as well as a BFA from the University of Victoria in 2001. She is currently a teacher in Sweden.
The Lateral by Jake Kennedy
Kennedy’s work as a poet and prose writer has appeared in anthologies and literary journals. He is currently teaching in the English Department at Okanagan College. The Lateral won him the 2010 Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry. The Lateral includes a long-poem, a series of prose-poem-ruminations, and ends with a section of vulgar poems.
Update. by Bill Kennedy and Darren Wershler
Update. is the second book Kennedy and Wershler have created together. Kennedy also runs the media consultancy, Stop 14 Media and is the Artistic Director of the Scream Literary Festival in Toronto. Darren Wershler is a Professor of English at Concordia University and is the co-author of twelve books.
THREE DEATHS by Josip Novakovich
Novakovich is originally from Croatia but moved to the United States at the age of twenty. Three Deaths is his first Canadian edition of his written work. Novakovich received many awards for his works including the Ingram Merrill Award. Three Deaths includes a personal essay, a short story, as well as a classic tale, all focusing around the theme of death.
Poets and Killers by Helen Hajnoczky
Hajnoczky’s work has appeared in Filling Station, NOD, Matrix and Speechless magazine. She also has a Bachelors of Arts Honours Degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Calgary. Poets and Killers encompasses the experimental poetry genre through the use advertising language to tell the biography of a man from the 1940s until his death in 2010.
2010 Titles
- All our Grandfathers are Ghosts by Pasha Malla
- Jack by Mike Spry
- Variations on Holderlin by Geoffrey Hlibchuk
2009 Titles
- The Olive and the Dawn by Ian Orti
- The Taste of Penny by Jeff Parker
- Generator by Ian Christopher Goodman
- Thresh by Kim Minkus
- Security Posture by Sarah Dowling
2007 Titles
- Fake Math by Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Thumbscrews by Natalie Zina WalschotsNatalie Zina WalschotsNatalie Zina Walschots is a Canadian writer, music reviewer, and producer.Walschots's first book of poetry, Thumbscrews, won the Robert Kroetsch Award for Innovative Poetry and was published by Snare Books in 2007...
- The Small blue by Jay Millar
2006 Titles
- The Emily Valentine Poems by Zoe Whittal
- Dreadful Paris by Melisssa A. Thompson
- Rope Walk by Angela Carr
- Canada Post by Jason Christie