Name of Publishing House	fern wood publishing
website	https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/
Communication	errol@fernpub.ca

 

About Us

In an era when the restructuring of capitalism seems to be threatening to erase many of the gains that have been made by the oppressed in society, we think that our books have a part to play in bucking the trend. – Errol Sharpe, Fernwood Publishing

Our Goals

Fernwood Publishing and our literary imprint, Roseway, publish critical books that inform, enlighten and challenge. We are political publishers in that our books acknowledge, confront and contest intersecting forms of oppression and exploitation. We believe that in publishing books that challenge the status quo and imagine new ways forward we participate in the creation of a more socially just world. We are not afraid to take risks in this regard and are proud to publish those individuals or ideas that too often go unheard. While corporate giants act to silence dissent, we act to give dissent a voice. As an independent Canadian publisher, we also emphasize, though not exclusively, Canadian authors and the Canadian context. The quality of the books we publish and the relationships with our authors demonstrate that every member of our small team is dedicated to the publishing and political goals of social justice.

Our History

Fernwood Publishing Co. Ltd. was founded in August 1991 and published its first books in the spring of 1992. First located in Halifax, Fernwood Publishing now has an office in Black Point, Nova Scotia. In 1994, Fernwood Publishing expanded with the establishment of an office in Winnipeg. After twenty seasons, we have published over 450 titles.

Historically, Fernwood Publishing has published primarily for an academic audience. To this end, we publish books intended for undergraduate university and college courses, and monographs intended as supplementary texts in all levels of undergraduate and graduate courses. Our main focus is in the social sciences, with an emphasis on criminology, aboriginal studies, labour studies, women’s studies, gender studies, critical theory, politics, political economy, cultural studies and social work.

In recent years we have expanded our publishing mandate with more books intended for an audience of general readers who are interested in social change and social justice. With the acquisition of the Roseway imprint in 2006 we have launched a modest publishing program more oriented toward fiction. All of our books, non-fiction, fiction and academic, are designed to appeal to critical readers.

Our Team

Errol Sharpe, Co-Publisher: Errol has been active in publishing since the early 1970s. In 1978 he launched Fernwood Books Ltd. (now Brunswick Books), a national book marketing and sales company, and in 1982, was the co-founder of Garamond Press. He began Fernwood Publishing in 1991. Errol worked as a part-time lecturer for 25 years at Atkinson College, York University and Saint Mary’s University.

Wayne Antony, Co-Publisher: Located in Winnipeg, Wayne mainly works, in consultation with Errol, at acquiring and developing manuscripts for publication. He joined Fernwood Publishing in 1994, and has been the prairie sales representative for Brunswick Books since 1991. Wayne also worked for 20 years as a part-time lecturer in sociology.

Beverley Rach, Production Coordinator, as well as Publisher and Managing Editor for Roseway: Bev has worked with Fernwood Publishing since the beginning, in 1991. In 2008 Bev took over the role as publisher for Roseway.

Jessica Antony, Managing Editor: Jessica joined Fernwood Publishing at the Winnipeg office in September 2007, and works with manuscript acquisition and development, as well as some aspects of marketing and promotion.

Candida Hadley, Managing Editor: Candida joined Fernwood Publishing in July of 2009. She works with manuscript acquisition and development.

Nancy Malek, Marketing Manager: Nancy joined Fernwood Publishing in Nova Scotia in early 2008 and is responsible for coordinating the promotional activities for our academic books.

Curran Faris, Marketing Manager: Curran joined Fernwood Publishing in October of 2009. He now oversees all promotional efforts related to our trade titles.

Heather Fillmore, Office Manager: Based in our Halifax office, Heather handles the day-to-day operations of the office as well as other important tasks.

James Patterson, Office Manager: Based in our Winnipeg office, James manages our accounting and bookkeeping, as well as day-to-day and important tasks.