Bookhug Press

Bookhug Press A radically optimistic independent publisher working at the forefront of contemporary book culture

Celebrating adventures in literary publishing since 2004, Book*hug is a radically optimistic Canadian literary press working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. We publish bold, innovative books of literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, poetry, and literature in translation by both emerging and established writers. We are most interested in writing that challenges and pushes at the bou

ndaries of cultural expectations and are deeply committed to publishing culturally diverse voices whose work has historically been underrepresented in the publishing landscape.

“On a personal level, Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea felt like a mood ring of my life, vocalizing so much of what I’m ...
02/07/2025

“On a personal level, Inside Every Dream, A Raging Sea felt like a mood ring of my life, vocalizing so much of what I’m thinking and feeling right now, and have been feeling for so long… How marvellous to read these poems that are so succinct, so on point and so beautifully moving.”

Liz Worth's latest book, Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea, is reviewed by Lisa de Nikolits in her Substack newsletter, Turn of Phrase.
https://lisadenikolits.substack.com/p/inside-every-dream-a-raging-sea?r=3ynop&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&fbclid=IwY2xjawIQlyZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeDKTGxQ7AIyoHG1QbwZEWIalNwx_bSO26_f49GxKXehQ1n8829dMO8O_Q_aem_-jced8iBsd6jkZyW5FC42A&triedRedirect=true

The latest collection of poems by Liz Worth (Book*hug Press)

"In my mind, I peeled my body off like a mango, sat in my skeleton and watched the fear figure eight around my rib cage....
02/04/2025

"In my mind, I peeled my body off like a mango, sat in my skeleton and watched the fear figure eight around my rib cage."

Read an excerpt from the essay "Ligaments" by Mahta Riazi, from the anthology BACK WHERE I CAME FROM: ON CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND HOME on All Lit Up.

https://alllitup.ca/excerpted-back-where-i-came-from/

"In my mind, I peeled my body off like a mango, sat in my skeleton and watched the fear figure eight around my rib cage."

Today's is part of the essay "Ligaments" by Mahta Riazi, from the anthology BACK WHERE I CAME FROM: ON CULTURE, IDENTITY, AND HOME (Bookhug Press).

https://alllitup.ca/excerpted-back-where-i-came-from/

Book*hug Press is proud to be a 100% independently owned and operated Canadian publishing company. We're also proud to b...
02/04/2025

Book*hug Press is proud to be a 100% independently owned and operated Canadian publishing company. We're also proud to be part of Canada's vital independent publishing community. Like our independent publishing colleagues, we champion and support Canadian voices and stories and produce and manufacture our books in Canada. What does this mean? It means we contract and work with Canadians on our books from start to finish, including authors, editors, proofreaders, translators, designers, sales reps, distributors and wholesalers, printers, booksellers, and more, to get them into the hands of as many Canadian readers as possible. 🇨🇦

While this has been an anxious and worrying time for Canadians, with more uncertainty to come, we've been heartened to see our fellow Canadians unite and come together. While many of us are re-committing ourselves and our hard-earned dollars to supporting Canadian-owned businesses and sourcing domestic made goods, we encourage you to also support Canadian culture, including authors and Canadian-owned publishers. Next time you walk into your favourite Canadian independent bookstore, we invite you to seek out a book (or two or three, or...) published by a Canadian press. There are so many excellent presses in Canada publishing incredible books. Not only will you be supporting a Canadian-owned company, but you'll also help support the Canadian domestic publishing industry, thereby helping to ensure that the wonderful independent presses producing books here in our beautiful country continue to survive and thrive. It’s always a good time to buy Canadian, and this is now more true than ever. 🍁📚🍁

Book*hug Press is thrilled to be returning to the OLA Super Conference in 2025. Make sure to visit our booth in the OBPO...
01/28/2025

Book*hug Press is thrilled to be returning to the OLA Super Conference in 2025. Make sure to visit our booth in the OBPO pavilion!

January 29- Feb 1, 2025
Toronto Metro Convention Centre
Registration Required!

Plus don’t miss book signings with three of our 2024 authors!

⚡️Thursday January 30 @ 2:00 pm: Stephen Cain, author of Walking and Stealing

⚡️Friday, Jan 31 @ 11:00 am: Daniel Sarah Karasik, author of Disobedience

⚡️Friday, Jan 31 @ 12:00 pm: Liz Worth, author of Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea

More info on our online events calendar (link in bio)

This has been a scary week, preceded by a scary year. It is easy to feel hopeless and nearly collapse from the existenti...
01/25/2025

This has been a scary week, preceded by a scary year. It is easy to feel hopeless and nearly collapse from the existential horror of these times. It is undoubtedly going to be a long four years.

Now is not the time to give in and give up or disparage that all hope is lost. Rather this is the time to resist, mobilize, organize, agitate, and educate. We all have a voice and are strongest when we are united.

In these difficult and anxious times, books have so much to offer us and can help bring some light to the darkness. We have put together this selected but by no means exhaustive reading list of titles that we feel convey ideas that point to a brighter future.l

 presents Kate Cayley, author of How You Were Born, as part of their January lineup! Also featuring Robin Pacific and Ni...
01/24/2025

presents Kate Cayley, author of How You Were Born, as part of their January lineup! Also featuring Robin Pacific and Nicola Winstanley!

Sunday, January 26, 2025
6:30 pm ET!
Type Books Junction, 2887 Dundas St. West, Toronto, ON
PWYC!

More info on our events calendar! Link in bio!

"A variation on a line by the Nicaraguan poet Daisy Zamora, the title of Jacob Wren’s novel Dry Your Tears to Perfect Yo...
01/23/2025

"A variation on a line by the Nicaraguan poet Daisy Zamora, the title of Jacob Wren’s novel Dry Your Tears to Perfect Your Aim artfully contrasts the despair and resilience of war victims. Through his lethargic protagonist, Wren considers the importance of community in times of political upheaval."

Caroline Noel reviews Jacob Wren's latest novel, Dry Your Tears to Perfect Your Aim, for the Literary Review of Canada.

https://reviewcanada.substack.com/p/bookworm-no-79?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZrbDDJCjSy8TJpVn9h3uKstIdyuAlNCGwFY5M9gViJdHMuST0C1UhuaX0_aem_BAnANwQWc0Bbn4aVsFdzFA

"In She Who Lies Above, [Beatriz] Hausner has penned a densely packed work; at once airy and light, oracular and lucid, ...
01/22/2025

"In She Who Lies Above, [Beatriz] Hausner has penned a densely packed work; at once airy and light, oracular and lucid, damning and promising. She ends with a timely injunction for each of us to be like Hypatia/Synesius who warn 'that if it comes to be that there is no library of books, there is no knowledge, no transformations, there will be no bodies, nothing will live.' Conjure such a world then immerse yourself in the refined intellect, and historically driven surrealist beauty of this work—and take heed."

Thank you to Giovanna Riccio for this thoughtful and engaged review of Beatriz Hausner's latest book for FreeFall Magazine.

https://freefallmagazine.ca/review-of-beatriz-hausners-she-who-lies-above/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1w5ZGoyBFo7a_IB7GiiZSGHsjpsmsXaQfCctdV14JIuT6StkECnYQcbeg_aem_gHfIPdycugTHCTseSO0TxQ

By Giovanna Riccio She Who Lies Above by Beatriz Hausner Book*hug Press (2023) Hypatia of Alexandria—the 4th-century philosopher, astronomer,

In Sugaring Off, "F***y Britt slyly explores what happens when the classes collide and effectively remove the sheen of p...
01/21/2025

In Sugaring Off, "F***y Britt slyly explores what happens when the classes collide and effectively remove the sheen of privilege from the privileged."

Thank you to Thalia Stopa for including Britt's award-winning novel, deftly translated by Susan Ouriou, for Scout Magazine's latest Scout Book Club column.

Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we're reading, what's staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we've already read and recommend.

Little Ghosts Books presents Liz Worth, author of Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea. Liz will be reading alongside Sepher...
01/16/2025

Little Ghosts Books presents Liz Worth, author of Inside Every Dream, a Raging Sea. Liz will be reading alongside Sephera Giron and Philip Rowan as part of “Horror & Poetry: Delight in Despair”.

Saturday, January 18, 2025
1:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Little Ghosts Books, 930 Dundas St. W, Toronto, ON
Free to attend!

More info here: https://www.littleghostsbooks.com/events

The longlist for the 2024 Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry has been announced and we’re thrilled that Kate C...
01/15/2025

The longlist for the 2024 Fred Cogswell Award for Excellence in Poetry has been announced and we’re thrilled that Kate Cayley (author of Lent) and Hana Shafi (author of People You Know, Places You’ve Been) are on it. Congrats to Kate and Hana, and all the longlisted poets and their publishers!

Many of you have been waiting for this announcement for a while now: Our submissions portal is now open!That’s right, Bo...
01/15/2025

Many of you have been waiting for this announcement for a while now: Our submissions portal is now open!

That’s right, Book*hug Press is once again open for direct submissions of innovative literary fiction, poetry, and narrative nonfiction. Our submission portal will remain open from January 15, 2025 until March 15, 2025.

Interested in submitting to Book* hug Press? Please take the time to carefully read our submission guidelines. Our team looks forward to reading your submissions.

https://bookhugpress.ca/bookthug-submission-guidelines/

💥 The big news is here 💥We could hardly stand the wait ourselves!Today we are beyond excited to reveal our Spring 2025 l...
01/14/2025

💥 The big news is here 💥

We could hardly stand the wait ourselves!

Today we are beyond excited to reveal our Spring 2025 lineup of books! Our entire team is working hard behind the scenes to get these titles ready for publication! Get out your pens and start making additions to your reading lists because you won't want to miss these phenomenal reads!

All titles are available to pre-order from our online store (link in bio), or from your local bookstore (support independent booksellers)!

Find more info about our Spring 2025 titles here: https://bookhugpress.ca/product-category/books/forthcoming/forthcoming-2025/

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Celebrating adventures in literary publishing since 2004, Book*hug is a radically optimistic Canadian independent literary press working at the forefront of contemporary book culture. Our mandate is to publish innovative and contemporary books of literary fiction, literary nonfiction, literature in translation, and poetry by emerging and established writers. Our mission is to publish work that meaningfully contributes to and reflects culture and society; books that challenge and push at the boundaries of cultural expectations. We are most interested in literary work that is bold, challenging, innovative and takes risks, writing that feels necessary and urgent.