Editing New Directions Publishing (section)

==History==

New Directions was born in 1936 of [[Ezra Pound]]'s advice to the young James Laughlin, then a Harvard University sophomore, to "do something useful" after finishing his studies at Harvard.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ndbooks.com|title=New Directions Publishing Company |website=New Directions Publishing Company|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> The first projects to come out of New Directions were anthologies of new writing, each titled ''New Directions in Poetry and Prose'' (until 1966's ''NDPP 19''). Early writers incorporated in these anthologies include [[Dylan Thomas]], [[Marianne Moore]], [[Wallace Stevens]], [[Thomas Merton]], [[Denise Levertov]], [[James Agee]], and [[Lawrence Ferlinghetti]].

New Directions later broadened their focus to include writing of all genres, representing not only American writing, but also a considerable amount of literature in translation from modernist authors around the world. New Directions also published the early work of many writers including [[Ezra Pound]] and [[William Carlos Williams]], and [[Tennessee Williams]] was published as a poet for the first time in a New Directions poetry collection.

Laughlin also initiated a number of thematic series and publications. The New Directions "Poet of the Month" series consisted of thin volumes of either lengthy individual poems or small collections of poems by one author were released on a monthly basis to subscribers, and a larger "Poet of the Year" volume was issued once annually. The series were discontinued after a few years. "Directions" began in 1941 as a quarterly soft-bound journal, with each edition dedicated to a single author or work in prose. Early issues included a collection of short stories by [[Vladimir Nabokov]] and a play by William Carlos Williams. The subscription model did not take hold, and later editions in the series were published in more traditional form and sold as individual works to the general public. Another short-lived New Directions periodical, ''Pharos'', was discontinued after its fourth number was published in the winter of 1947.

Other notable undertakings include the New Classics and Modern Readers series, which reissued recent books that had gone out of print. These reprints included such works as ''[[Exiles (play)|Exiles]]'' and ''[[Stephen Hero]]'' by [[James Joyce]] and ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' by [[F. Scott Fitzgerald]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/james-laughlin|title=James Laughlin|date=2016-12-20|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en-us|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref>

After Laughlin's death, New Directions Publishing became owned by a trust established in his will.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Bustillos| first = Maria| title = How Staying Small Helps New Directions Publish Great Books| work = The New Yorker| access-date = 2020-12-09| url = https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/how-staying-small-helps-new-directions-publish-great-books}}</ref>

===Jacket design and colophon===
After the time of World War II, New Directions developed a close relationship with the artist [[Alvin Lustig]], who designed modernist abstract book jackets. Lustig was ultimately responsible for developing a distinctive style of dust jacket that served as a New Directions hallmark for many years.

The company's [[Colophon (publishing)|colophon]] is a figure of a centaur based upon a sculpture by Heinz Henghes, and usually appears on the spine of New Directions books.

=== Presidents ===
* [[James Laughlin]]
* Griselda Ohannessian
* Peggy Fox
* Barbara Epler

=== Awards ===
In 1977, New Directions was presented with a Carey Thomas Award special citation for distinguished publishing in experimental literature. New Directions' authors have won numerous national and international awards, including the:

==== [[Nobel Prize]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/|title=All Nobel Prizes in Literature|website=www.nobelprize.org|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* Tomas Tranströmer, 2011
* Octavio Paz, 1990
* Camilo José Cela, 1989
* Elias Canetti, 1981
* Eugenio Montale, 1975
* Pablo Neruda, 1971
* Yasunari Kawabata, 1968
* Jean-Paul Sartre, 1964
* Saint-John Perse, 1960
* Boris Pasternak, 1958
* Andre Gide, 1947
* Hermann Hesse, 1946
* Frédéric Mistral, 1904

==== [[Pulitzer Prize]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/219|title=Fiction |website=www.pulitzer.org|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* Hilton Als, 2017
* Gary Snyder, 1975
* George Oppen, 1969
* Richard Eberhart, 1966
* William Carlos Williams, 1963
* Tennessee Williams, 1948, 1955
* Robert Penn Warren, 1947, 1958, 1979

==== [[National Book Award]] ====
* Yoko Tawada, 2018
* Nathaniel Mackey, 2006

==== [[MacArthur Foundation Fellowship]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.macfound.org/fellows/search/?area=writing|title=MacArthur Fellows Program — MacArthur Foundation|website=www.macfound.org|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* John Keene, 2018
* Peter Cole, 2007
* Lydia Davis, 2003
* Anne Carson, 2000
* Guy Davenport, 1990
* Allen Grossman, 1989
* Walter Abish, 1987

==== [[PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/past-award-winners-finalists/|title=Past Winners & Finalists|website=www.penfaulkner.org|access-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131221031240/http://www.penfaulkner.org/award-for-fiction/past-award-winners-finalists/|archive-date=2013-12-21|url-status=dead}}</ref> ====
* Toby Olson, 1983

==== [[Prix Goncourt]] ====
* Mathias Énard, 2015
* Eugène Guillevic, 1988
* Emile Ajar, 1975
* Romain Gary, 1956

==== [[Man Booker International Prize]] ====
* Laszlo Krasznahorkai / George Szirtes and Ottilie Mulzet, 2015

==== [[Independent Foreign Fiction Prize]] ====
* Jenny Erpenbeck / Susan Bernofsky, 2015

==== [[Academy of American Poets#Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize|Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/lenore-marshall-poetry-prize|title=Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize|last=aapone|date=1979-12-31|website=Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize {{!}} Academy of American Poets|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* Denise Levertov, 1976

==== [[Bollingen Prize in American Poetry]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bollingen.yale.edu/|title=Welcome {{!}} The Bollingen Prize for Poetry|website=bollingen.yale.edu|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* Nathaniel Mackey, 2015
* Susan Howe, 2011
* Allen Grossman, 2009
* Robert Creeley, 1999
* Gary Snyder, 1997
* Robert Penn Warren, 1967
* Robert Fitzgerald, 1961
* Delmore Schwartz, 1960
* Ezra Pound, 1948

==== [[Robert Frost Medal]] ====
* Susan Howe, 2017
* Kamau Brathwaite, 2015
* Lawrence Ferlinghetti, 2003
* Denise Levertov, 1999
* James Laughlin, 1999
* Robert Creeley, 1987

==== [[Windham-Campbell Literature Prize]] ====

* John Keene, 2018
* Hilton Als, 2016

==== Vilenica Kristal Prize<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.versopolis.com/poet/29/luljeta-lleshanaku|title=Luljeta Lleshanaku {{!}} Versopolis|last=Beletrina|first=Production|website=www.versopolis.com|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref> ====
* Luljeta Lleshanaku, 2009