Harbour Publishing

Harbour Publishing is an independent Canadian book publisher founded in 1974 by Howard and Mary White. The company is based in Pender Harbour, a small community on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, rather than in one of Canada's larger publishing centres. Its catalogue is strongly associated with British Columbia and the broader Pacific Northwest, especially books documenting regional history, local communities, Indigenous and settler cultural narratives, wildlife, marine life, environmental issues, geography, place names, visual art, poetry, and literary nonfiction. The publisher's regional focus has produced a substantial body of work intended both for general readers and for researchers interested in Western Canadian life. Harbour's books often combine popular accessibility with documentary or reference value. Its list includes narrative histories, natural-history guides, photographic books, encyclopedic works, poetry, fiction, memoir, cookbooks, and illustrated titles. A recurring concern is the preservation and interpretation of local knowledge: landscapes, working communities, coastal environments, languages, names, and the experiences of people who have shaped British Columbia. One of the company's best-known continuing projects is the Raincoast Chronicles series, edited by Howard White and begun in 1977. The series has helped establish Harbour's identity as a publisher of regional history and cultural writing. Other notable publications include Bus Griffiths's logging memoir and graphic work Now You're Logging, The Encyclopedia of British Columbia edited by Daniel Francis, reference works on Pacific Northwest marine life and coastal fishes, The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names by Andrew Scott, and Chuck Davis's history of metropolitan Vancouver. The list also extends beyond nonfiction, including poetry such as David Zieroth's The Fly in Autumn and works for younger or general readers such as Raven Brings the Light by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd. Harbour has also operated as a distribution and publishing-house partner for other specialist imprints. It is identified as the exclusive distributor for Nightwood Editions, Bluefield Books, and Lost Moose Books. In 2013, Harbour's owners acquired Douglas & McIntyre, another established Canadian publisher, broadening the group's publishing presence and catalogue relationships. The acquisition connected Harbour with a larger body of Canadian literary, cultural, and illustrated publishing while retaining Harbour's distinct regional identity. By 2024, Harbour Publishing was reported to have published more than 1,000 titles. Its continuing significance rests less on mass-market scale than on sustained editorial attention to British Columbia and the Pacific coast. The company functions as a cultural institution as well as a commercial publisher, bringing regional history, environmental knowledge, literature, art, and community memory to Canadian and international English-language readers.

Harbour Publishing began in 1974, when Howard and Mary White established an independent publishing company in British Columbia. From the outset, the company developed a list rooted in the province's places, people, landscapes, and cultural history. Its location on the Sunshine Coast became part of its identity: Harbour was not simply a national publisher producing occasional regional titles, but a publishing house closely connected to the communities and environments it documented. A central part of the company's early and continuing catalogue has been the Raincoast Chronicles series. Edited by Howard White and launched in 1977, the series presents historical, social, and cultural writing about coastal British Columbia. It helped give Harbour a recognizable editorial voice and created a durable platform for local historians, writers, artists, and community researchers. In 1978, the publisher issued Bus Griffiths's Now You're Logging, a notable account of the province's logging culture. The title exemplifies Harbour's interest in preserving working-life histories and regional experience in forms accessible to a broad readership. During the following decades, Harbour expanded beyond strictly historical titles. Howard White's Writing in the Rain appeared in 1990, while The Golden Pine Cone followed in 1994. The list increasingly encompassed literary works, environmental writing, natural-history guides, visual books, and reference publications. The Encyclopedia of British Columbia, edited by Daniel Francis and published in 2000, represented a major reference project focused on the province. In the same year, Harbour published Beyond Remembering: The Collected Poems of Al Purdy, edited by Sam Solecki, demonstrating that its catalogue also engaged with nationally significant Canadian literature. The publisher continued to develop specialist books about the Pacific coast and its ecosystems. Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia by Andy Lamb and Bernie Hanby appeared in 2005. Andrew Scott's The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names followed in 2009, documenting the region's geography and naming traditions. That year also saw the publication of David Zieroth's The Fly in Autumn, which received the Governor General's Award for Poetry. In 2010, Harbour issued Michael Gates's History Hunting in the Yukon, Grant Lawrence's Adventures in Solitude, and a revised and expanded edition of Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell. These books illustrate the breadth of Harbour's regional mandate, extending from environmental reference to memoir, poetry, and northern history. The catalogue expanded further in the early 2010s. Chuck Davis's The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver appeared in 2011, offering a large-scale history of the region's urban development and communities. Sharon Hanna's The Book of Kale, published in 2012, showed that the list could also include practical food and lifestyle titles. In 2013, the owners of Harbour acquired Douglas & McIntyre. The transaction brought together two established Canadian publishing operations and increased Harbour's role within the country's independent publishing sector. Harbour also became the exclusive distributor for Nightwood Editions, Bluefield Books, and Lost Moose Books. These distribution relationships allowed the company to support and circulate work from other specialist imprints while maintaining its own editorial programme. Its publishing output continued to include literary, historical, environmental, and illustrated works. Raven Brings the Light by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd, published in 2013, is among the notable titles associated with the company and reflects its interest in culturally grounded storytelling and illustrated books. By 2024, Harbour Publishing was reported to have issued more than 1,000 titles. Its history is consequently defined by continuity rather than rapid corporate expansion: a long-term commitment to independent publishing, regional knowledge, and books that interpret British Columbia and the Pacific coast. The company remains known for combining documentary and reference publishing with poetry, memoir, fiction, visual culture, and practical books, while its distribution and acquisition activities have given it a wider position in Canadian publishing.

• 2024

  More than 1,000 titles published

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Harbour is reported to have published over 1,000 titles.

• 2013

  Douglas & McIntyre acquisition

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Harbour's owners acquire Douglas & McIntyre, broadening the company's place in Canadian independent publishing.

• 2010

  Harbour expands its regional nonfiction list

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  The publisher issues History Hunting in the Yukon, Adventures in Solitude, and a revised edition of Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest.

• 2009

  The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names is published

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Andrew Scott's reference work on regional place names is published by Harbour.

• 2005

  Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest is published

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  The company publishes Andy Lamb and Bernie Hanby's photographic marine-life encyclopedia.

• 2000

  The Encyclopedia of British Columbia is published

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Harbour publishes the Daniel Francis-edited encyclopedia devoted to the province.

• 1978

  Now You're Logging is published

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Harbour publishes Bus Griffiths's Now You're Logging, a notable work about British Columbia's logging culture.

• 1977

  Raincoast Chronicles begins

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  The Raincoast Chronicles series, edited by Howard White, begins publication and becomes a defining part of Harbour's regional-history list.

• 1974

  Harbour Publishing is founded

  [1]Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org

  Howard and Mary White establish Harbour Publishing in British Columbia.

Independent regional publisher specializing in British Columbia, the Pacific Northwest, and Canadian cultural and environmental subjects.

• Regional history and cultural writing · 1977

  Raincoast Chronicles

  An ongoing series edited by Howard White and devoted to the history, communities, work, culture, and landscapes of coastal British Columbia. The series has been published since 1977 and is one of Harbour Publishing's signature editorial projects, bringing together documentary writing and local historical perspectives.

• Regional memoir and illustrated history · 1978

  Now You're Logging

  Bus Griffiths's account of logging life in British Columbia, published in 1978. The work is associated with Harbour's emphasis on preserving the experiences of working communities and representing the province's industrial and social history.

• Reference book · 2000

  The Encyclopedia of British Columbia

  A province-focused encyclopedia edited by Daniel Francis and published in 2000. It reflects Harbour's role in creating accessible reference works about British Columbia's history, geography, institutions, culture, and notable people.

• Natural history · 2005

  Marine Life of the Pacific Northwest: A Photographic Encyclopedia

  A photographic encyclopedia by Andy Lamb and Bernie Hanby covering marine life of the Pacific Northwest. The title represents Harbour's sustained publishing interest in coastal ecosystems and scientifically informed books for general readers.

• Geographical reference · 2009

  The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names

  Andrew Scott's reference work on place names of the Raincoast region, published in 2009. It fits the publisher's broader effort to document regional geography, language, settlement, and cultural memory.

• Natural-history guide · 2010

  Coastal Fishes of the Pacific Northwest

  A reference guide by Andy Lamb and Phil Edgell. Harbour published a revised and expanded edition in 2010, reinforcing its catalogue of specialist yet accessible books about Pacific Northwest marine environments.

• Urban history · 2011

  The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver

  Chuck Davis's history of metropolitan Vancouver, published in 2011. The book extends Harbour's regional-history programme from coastal and provincial subjects to the development of one of British Columbia's largest metropolitan areas.

• Illustrated cultural book · 2013

  Raven Brings the Light

  A work by Roy Henry Vickers and Robert Budd, published in 2013. Its illustrated and culturally grounded storytelling reflects Harbour's interest in books that connect regional narrative, art, and Indigenous cultural perspectives.

• 2013

  Acquisition of Douglas & McIntyreM&A

  Background

  Douglas & McIntyre was another established Canadian publishing house, and its acquisition gave Harbour's owners a broader platform within independent Canadian publishing.

  Action taken

  The owners of Harbour Publishing acquired Douglas & McIntyre.

  Aftermath

  The transaction expanded Harbour's publishing-house interests and connected it with a wider Canadian catalogue.

  Source

1. 1Harbour Publishingen.wikipedia.org