The New Press

The New Press is an independent nonprofit book publisher based in the United States. It was established in 1992 by André Schiffrin, a prominent editor who had resigned from Pantheon Books in 1990, and Diane Wachtell, a former Pantheon editor. The organization emerged from Schiffrin's effort to create a publishing institution able to support intellectually ambitious and politically consequential books that might face commercial or editorial constraints at a conventional trade house. A number of authors associated with Schiffrin at Pantheon, including Studs Terkel, subsequently published with The New Press. The publisher describes its mission as promoting and enriching public discussion and understanding of issues important to democracy and to the creation of a more equitable world. Its list has consequently concentrated on history, politics, civil rights, race, criminal justice, education, culture, international affairs, and social movements. The New Press is often characterized as having a left-leaning or progressive editorial orientation, although its list spans scholarly, documentary, literary, and general-interest works. André Schiffrin likened the institution's public role to that of public television, public radio, and university presses: it could take on subjects and authors that required editorial investment without being governed solely by short-term commercial expectations. Its operating model combines publishing income with philanthropic support and grants. The organization has also emphasized partnerships with academics and public-interest institutions, author and staff diversity, and pathways into publishing for people from minority ethnic backgrounds. An internship program was designed in part to broaden access to the publishing profession. This nonprofit structure allows The New Press to publish works with a strong civic or educational rationale, including books that may have a narrower commercial audience but substantial public value. The catalog includes major works by authors such as Alice Walker, Bill Moyers, Noam Chomsky, Michelle Alexander, and Studs Terkel. Among its most prominent books are Terkel's The Good War, Chomsky's Understanding Power, and Alexander's The New Jim Crow. John W. Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, providing the publisher with one of its most significant recognitions. Other books from the list have received awards in art, Civil War history, photography, legal writing, and LGBTQ literary history. Schiffrin served as editor in chief for more than a decade and later continued as founding director and editor at large until his death in 2013. Diane Wachtell remained a central figure in the organization. In a 2013 description, The Nation's Victor Navasky called the enterprise a bold experiment in nonprofit and relatively radical publishing, noting that its annual list consisted largely of books with social consequence. The publisher remains an active independent press whose identity is defined less by a single commercial genre than by its public-interest mission and editorial commitment to politically and culturally significant books.

The New Press was created in the early 1990s as a nonprofit alternative to the commercial publishing system. Its institutional origin is closely connected to André Schiffrin's departure from Pantheon Books. Schiffrin resigned as Pantheon's editor in chief in 1990 and spent the following period developing the financial and organizational support needed to establish a new press. Within two years, he and former Pantheon editor Diane Wachtell had raised enough backing to launch The New Press in 1992. Several writers who had worked with Schiffrin at Pantheon, including the oral historian Studs Terkel, became associated with the new organization. From the beginning, The New Press was designed to publish books with public consequences rather than to compete primarily on commercial scale. Its stated mission centers on democratic discussion, social equity, and deeper public understanding. Schiffrin presented the press as analogous to public broadcasting and university publishing: an institution with a civic mandate, capable of supporting difficult, controversial, or specialized projects whose value could not be measured only by immediate sales. The resulting list developed a strong presence in political history, civil rights, criminal justice, education, culture, international affairs, and social movements. The press's editorial identity has frequently been described as left-wing, liberal, progressive, or socially activist. That characterization reflects the subjects and arguments of many titles, but the list also includes historical scholarship, documentary projects, literary works, and cultural criticism. The organization has published authors including Alice Walker, Bill Moyers, Noam Chomsky, Michelle Alexander, and Studs Terkel. Its best-known books include The Good War, Understanding Power, and The New Jim Crow. These titles helped establish The New Press as a nationally visible source of books linking research, lived experience, and public advocacy. A major part of the institution's distinctiveness is its financial structure. The New Press combines revenue from book publishing with philanthropic grants and other nonprofit support. This approach helps it sustain books that require substantial editing, research, design, or educational outreach but may not fit the priorities of a conventional commercial house. The press has also developed academic partnerships and placed emphasis on diversity among authors and staff. Its internship program has been intended to help people from minority ethnic backgrounds enter an industry historically marked by limited access and concentrated professional networks. The publisher's books have received recognition across several fields. Mining the Museum, an art-related publication edited by Lisa G. Corrin, won the George Wittenborn Memorial Award in 1994. That same year, Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War received the Lincoln Prize in Civil War History. Writing to Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography won the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award in 1996. John W. Dower's Embracing Defeat won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 2000. Later honors included the 2015 American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award for Nell Bernstein's Burning Down the House and Stonewall Book Award recognition for Martin Duberman's Hold Tight Gently. Schiffrin led the organization as editor in chief for more than ten years. He subsequently held the positions of founding director and editor at large until his death in 2013. The New Press continued under its nonprofit model and public-interest editorial mission. In 2020, reported board members included Gara Lamarche, Theodore M. Shaw, Sarah Burnes, Amy Glickman, and Diane Wachtell. The publisher's continuing role is that of an independent book house serving readers, educators, researchers, and civic audiences interested in historically grounded and socially consequential nonfiction.

• 2018

  Three titles are named Publishers Weekly Best Books

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape, The Lost Education of Horace Tate, and Slave Old Man were included among Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2018.

• 2015

  Books receive legal and LGBTQ literary recognition

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Burning Down the House received an American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award, and Hold Tight Gently became a Stonewall Book Award Honor Book.

• 2013

  André Schiffrin dies

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The founding director and former editor in chief died after continuing to serve as editor at large.

• 2000

  A New Press book wins the Pulitzer Prize

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  John W. Dower's Embracing Defeat won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

• 1996

  Photography title wins an Infinity Award

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Writing to Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography received the International Center of Photography's Infinity Award.

• 1994

  Early recognition for art and Civil War history titles

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Mining the Museum received the George Wittenborn Memorial Award, while Free at Last received the Lincoln Prize in Civil War History.

• 1992

  The New Press is established

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  André Schiffrin and Diane Wachtell launched the independent nonprofit publisher after securing financial and organizational support.

• 1990

  André Schiffrin leaves Pantheon Books

  [1]The New Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Schiffrin resigned as editor in chief of Pantheon Books, setting in motion the effort that led to the creation of The New Press.

An independent nonprofit, public-interest publisher positioned between a trade press, a university press, and a civic media institution. Its list emphasizes socially consequential nonfiction, democratic debate, historical understanding, and progressive or reform-oriented perspectives.

• Oral history and modern history

  The Good War

  Studs Terkel's oral history of World War II brings together firsthand recollections from soldiers, workers, civilians, and others affected by the conflict. The book exemplifies The New Press's interest in documentary forms that connect large historical events with ordinary people's experiences.

• Criminal justice and social policy

  The New Jim Crow

  Michelle Alexander's influential examination of mass incarceration argues that the criminal justice system created a contemporary structure of racial control. It became one of The New Press's best-known public-affairs titles and a major reference point in debates about race, policing, sentencing, and prison policy.

• Politics and political thought

  Understanding Power

  This collection presents Noam Chomsky's analysis of political power, media, foreign policy, and social institutions in an accessible question-and-answer format. Its emphasis on public education and political critique reflects the press's orientation toward books intended to inform civic discussion.

• History

  Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

  John W. Dower's history examines Japan's political, social, and cultural transformation after its defeat in World War II. The book combined extensive scholarship with a broad narrative and won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction.

• Art and exhibition documentation

  Mining the Museum: An Installation by Fred Wilson

  Edited by Lisa G. Corrin, this publication documents Fred Wilson's museum installation and its critical engagement with collections, institutional memory, and the representation of race in museums. It received the 1994 George Wittenborn Memorial Award.

• American history

  Free at Last: A Documentary History of Slavery, Freedom, and the Civil War

  Edited by Ira Berlin, Barbara Fields, Steven Miller, Joseph Reidy, and Leslie Rowland, this documentary history assembles primary materials addressing slavery, emancipation, freedom, and the Civil War. The title won the 1994 Lincoln Prize in Civil War History.

• 1992

  Adopt a nonprofit public-interest publishing modelStrategy

  Background

  The founders sought an institution that could publish politically, historically, and socially important books without relying exclusively on conventional commercial publishing priorities.

  Action taken

  The New Press was organized as an independent nonprofit and combined publishing revenue with philanthropic grants, academic relationships, and a civic-oriented editorial program.

  Aftermath

  The model enabled the press to build a list centered on socially consequential nonfiction and to support projects with educational or public-interest value.

  Source

1. 1The New Pressen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The New Press official websitethenewpress.com