Small Press Saturday: Freehand Books

Covers for the end of me by John Gould and Season of Fury and Wonder by Sharon Butala.

Happy Saturday once again!

This weekend I am taking things more literary and local (to me) – I am happy to introduce you to Calgary-based Freehand Books.

Freehand Books started out in 2007 as the literary imprint of academic publisher Broadview Press. For the past thirteen years, Freehand Books has been owned by JoAnn McCaig and just this January ownership was transferred to Glenn Rollans, who also owns Brush Education. Though ownership has changed, the staff of Freehand have not and still has Kelsey Attard at the helm as Managing Editor.

Since Freehand was established, they have released 65 titles. They only publish Canadian authors of fiction, poetry, literary graphic novels, and creative non-fiction, with significant representation of authors from marginalized communities. Their list is an assortment of diverse and award-winning titles. If you visit their award page on their website, be prepared to be blown away!

Not only does Freehand publish quality literature, but they also place an emphasis on readers—after all, books cannot be successful without readers! I absolutely love that they have a page on their website dedicated to book club discussion guides for some of their titles. I think this is brilliant and goes a long way to setting up book clubs for excellent discussion and makes Freehand titles all the more accessible to book clubs.

Since the weather is so lovely today, maybe you will consider grabbing a Freehand title to enjoy while basking outside in the prairie sun.

Happy Reading!

– Stacey

Covers for Water Shed by Doreen Vanderstoop and One Madder Woman by Dede Crane.

Covers for Roost and The Figgs, by Ali Bryan.