Coach House Books
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Coach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of the most influential publishers in Canadian literature.
The company was founded in 1965 by artist Stan Bevington. It is known for publishing early works by writers such as Margaret Atwood, Michael Ondaatje, Ann-Marie MacDonald, George Bowering, Nicole Brossard, Gwendolyn MacEwen, Christopher Dewdney, bpNichol and Anne Michaels.
In 1991, Coach House was split into two separate companies: the printing house Coach House Printing, headed by Bevington, and the book publisher Coach House Press, headed by Margaret McClintock. Bevington subsequently tried, unsuccessfully, to reacquire the publishing company. Ultimately, the book publisher declared bankruptcy in 1996, and later the same year Bevington moved the printing company back into book publishing.
Coach House is one of the only Canadian publishing companies that prints its own titles; the printing operations also print books for several other small Canadian publishers and literary magazines.
The company is located in a former coach house on bpNichol Lane, near Spadina and Bloor. In 2004, controversy arose when the property owners, a housing cooperative for students at the University of Toronto, announced a redevelopment plan that would have involved demolishing the coach house building. As a result of the controversy, the redevelopment has been on hold as politicians and public interest groups have campaigned to have the building declared a heritage site.
External Link
- Coach House Books (http://www.chbooks.com/)