Wolsak and Wynn: A way with words
Hamilton publishing house now includes three imprints producing fiction, non-fiction and poetry that challenge, enchant and refuse to conform.
Sandwiched between restaurants on James Street North, you’ll find Wolsak and Wynn, a self-professed “charmingly contrary literary press” that’s been publishing challenging, enchanting, unusual, and often award-winning books for more than 40 years. It was first incorporated in December 1982 by poets Heather Cadsby and Marja Jacobs who were determined to create a space that prioritized the work of Canadian poets.
For its first 24 years, Wolsak and Wynn published only poetry, including The Word for Sand by Heather Spears, which, in the late 1980s earned the press its first Governor General's Award for Poetry. Now, under the longtime leadership of Noelle Allen, who purchased the company nearly 20 years ago, Wolsak and Wynn releases more than a dozen titles a year, including fiction, non-fiction, translation, and, of course, poetry.
“I moved the whole thing to Hamilton, and that’s when we really started growing,” says Allen, who began her career with the press as its third publishing assistant when it was still located in a small space on Spadina Avenue in Toronto. “Marja hired me even though the only Canadian poet I could name was Dennis Lee,” she says, referencing the author who is best known for children’s classic Alligator Pie.
Previously located on John Street, Wolsak and Wynn moved to its current location on James Street North in 2012. A thin space with exposed brick and high ceilings, the former junk shop is nestled between SaltLick Smokehouse and Bar Sazerac. Over a decade ago, when the press moved in, it was Atlantic Fish and Sam’s Hairstyling on either side.
The small Wolsak and Wynn team, which now includes Ashley Hisson (managing editor), Paul Vermeersch (senior editor), and Jennifer Rawlinson (production coordinator), has seen a rotating cast of storefronts and restaurants nearby on James North; however, through all these changes, Wolsak and Wynn’s distinctive blue signage has remained a steadfast presence.
“When I came to the press, it did six poetry collections a year,” says Allen. “We’re so much bigger now.”
Wolsak and Wynn is now home to three publishing imprints. Buckrider Books, led by Vermeersch, publishes “books that refuse to conform,” including cutting-edge literary works of fiction and poetry. Most recently, the Poplar Press imprint launched for the smart, funny books you read for pure pleasure, including the three books in Peter Darbyshire's "The Book of the Cross" series that Wolsak and Wynn is re-publishing this year.
Finally, there’s James Street North Books, which focuses on telling the fascinating stories that make Hamilton unique. From award-winning poetry that captures the essence of Hamilton’s neighbourhoods to historical works that investigate Hamilton’s institutions or celebrate the city’s music, these books bring Hamilton to the world.
Titles have included Denise Davy’s book about homelessness in Hamilton, Her Name Was Margaret: Life and Death on the Streets and the upcoming collection Echo-Mirror by much-loved dub poet Klyde Broox who passed away earlier this year.
Allen says she tries to do at least one Hamilton-focused book every spring and fall.
“People want to read about their city,” she says. “People like seeing their city in a book. They like reading about their history.”
Photo: Banko Creative Studio
Hamilton author Gary Barwin, whose national bestselling novel Yiddish for Pirates won the Leacock Medal for Humour and the Canadian Jewish Literary Award, has published three books with Wolsak and Wynn.
“Noelle often has the insight to know what might be in a writer, and what might inspire them, even before they do,” says Barwin. “I like to joke that Noelle tricked me into writing my last book. I submitted a small book of poems. She encouraged me to try writing an essay to accompany it – and, as she knew would happen – I wrote an entire book of essays and ditched the poems. I was so excited and inspired by this form that was new to me,” says Barwin of Imagining Imagining: Essays on Language, Identity and Infinity, released by Wolsak and Wynn in 2023.
“A fantastic editor knows how to draw out the best work from a writer and help them create the best version of the book, maybe even they themselves don’t know that they want to write,” says Barwin. “Noelle did this for me.”
Barwin says Allen is more than a publisher and editor of books. “She is a leader who is involved in many aspects of supporting and developing writing and writers in Hamilton,” adding that she sits on a number of arts committees, arranges literary programming for Supercrawl, and assists with the LitLive Reading Series. She’s also previously the chair of gritLIT: Hamilton’s Readers and Writers Festival and of the Literary Press Group, a national publishing organization. She’s also volunteered her time and talent to the Hamilton Literary Awards and the Hamilton Review of Books.
“This kind of deeply committed and local involvement wouldn’t be possible without being truly grounded in the community,” says Barwin.
Allen is already busy planning the third annual Sharp Words book fair at Bridgeworks, a free event for book lovers to discover new books, talk to authors and artists, and to celebrate writing in our city. She says hand-selling books at book fairs and other events is instrumental to Wolsak and Wynn’s success.
“It’s very, very hard to sell a book,” says Allen. “My joke is that it has never been easier to publish a book, and it’s never been harder to sell one,” she says, mentioning how self-publishing and artificial intelligence have changed the industry, along with the shrinking of arts coverage locally and across the country.
In a blog post celebrating the press’s 40th anniversary, Allen said: “Here at Wolsak and Wynn, we fall for the book first, then we figure out the marketing.” She says finding new ways to connect with people, such as Wolsak and Wynn’s newsletter, is especially important in the absence of a full-time marketing person.
“A lot of people think we’re much bigger than we are,” says Allen. “We’ve been longlisted for the Giller Prize twice. We’ve shortlisted for the Trillium Book Award,” she says, adding that Wolsak and Wynn authors have won multiple Governor General's Awards and many regional awards.
“I feel so fortunate for my book Smoke (2024) to have been acquired by Wolsak and Wynn because they have a history of publishing excellent books by writers from across Canada, and they really punch above their weight in terms of quality,” says Nicola Winstanley, a local writer for adults and children.
“They are wonderful to work with, too; not only are they nimble, they're personal, responsive and give their authors room to breathe,” says Winstanley. “I feel that my book matters to them. They are not just a local publisher – they're a Canadian publisher, but they also act as the focal point for the literary scene in Hamilton, and that's incredibly valuable for Hamilton writers,” she says.
It generally takes two years for Wolsak and Wynn to get a book to press, meaning the titles that you’ll see on bookstore shelves this fall were acquired in 2022. Among them will be Grandfather of the Treaties: Finding our Future Through the Wampum Covenant by McMaster’s Daniel Coleman, whose previous book with Wolsak and Wynn, Yardwork: A Biography of an Urban Place, was shortlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction.
“I think it’s going to be an exceptionally important book,” says Allen of Grandfather of the Treaties, which introduces readers to the founding Wampum covenants that the earliest European settlers made with the Haudenosaunee nation. “It’s a different way of looking at how we organize our world and interact with each other in difficult situations,” she says.
Allen, who won a 2024 City of Hamilton Arts Champion Award, is proud of the type of books Wolsak and Wynn has become known for, including environmental and political books. Through her work with Supercrawl, she has been instrumental in ensuring that the literary arts are enmeshed in what we think of as art in Hamilton.
“People were very confused because they don’t think of books as art,” she says of Wolsak and Wynn’s early days in Hamilton.
“But books are art! In my mind, they’re one of the most democratic forms of art. For $20, you are whisked away for hours in a novel.”
When asked to reflect on what makes Hamilton’s literary scene so special, Allen cites the city’s warm nature. “We tend to come out to support people, which is lovely,” she says. This supportive environment has been key to Wolsak and Wynn’s success over the past four decades.
“We invest in people, and we’re always looking for space for new voices,” says Allen, emphasizing the press’s commitment to nurturing emerging talent alongside established Canadian writers. This unwavering support of authors, in Hamilton and beyond, ensures that important stories are not only heard but also celebrated on a national stage.
