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| Parent company | New Left Review |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) (as New Left Books) |
| Headquarters location |
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| Distribution | Penguin Random House (U.S.) Macmillan Distribution (UK) Bloomsbury Publishing (Australia) |
| Publication types | Books |
| Official website | www |
Verso Books (formerlyNew Left Books) is aleft-wing publishing house based inLondon andNew York City, founded in 1970 by the staff ofNew Left Review (NLR) and includesTariq Ali andPerry Anderson on its board of directors. According to its website, it's the largestindependent, radical publishing house in theEnglish-speaking world, publishing one hundred books a year.Harper's called it "Anglo-America's preeminent radical press," andThe Sunday Times called it "a rigorously intelligent publisher."[1]
In 1970, Verso Books began as a paperbackimprint of New Left Books and became its sole imprint. It established itself as a publisher ofnonfiction works oninternational politics. Verso Books has also periodically publishedfiction over its history.[2]
On April 8, 2014 Verso began bundlingDRM-free e-books with print purchases made through its website. Verso's managing director and US publisher, Jacob Stevens, stated that he expected the new offer on the Verso website to contribute £200,000 to the publisher's revenue in its first year helping to "shake up how publishers relate to their readership, and help to support independent publishing".[3]
In 2019, Verso Books launched a dedicated fiction imprint, Verso Fiction.[4] The fiction editor, Cian McCourt, said, "We want to publish bold, intelligent writing that's politically astute, but not dogmatic or charmless."[2] In an article titled, "The best (and worst) fiction books of 2023,"The Telegraph said of the imprint, "But the gem has been Verso, our closest thing to a mainstream radical publisher. It’s building one of Britain’s most interesting fiction lists."[5]
Verso Books titles are distributed in the United States byPenguin Random House.
The publishing house is known to host many events in the United States and the UK, focusing on radical politics and history.[6]
In 2021, Verso was publicly accused of poorly handling an internalsexual harassment grievance brought by a former publicist employed in the company's US office against its long-time publisher, Jacob Stevens. She described the incident in aMedium piece thus: "He then said, of my hiring, 'We needed someone nice to look at in the office besides Wes.'” She claims that this remark caused severe depression andself-harm.[7] The board of directors responded with apublic apology and updates on their sexual harassment policy. However, they likewise maintain that their procedures were properly followed, as determined by an independent review.[8]
In September 2024, Verso launched acrowdfunding campaign via the websiteKickstarter, in response to the bankruptcy of its UK distributor, Marston Book Services.[9] UK-based United Independent Distributors, of which Marston was a subsidiary, had enteredadministration on 25 July 2024.[10]
Verso expected that the revenue crowdfunding campaign would allow it to publish its planned Autumn 2024 catalogue and pay for expenses as it transitioned to a new distribution arrangement with Macmillan Distribution.[11]
The publisher gained early recognition for translations of books by European thinkers andContinental philosophy, especially those from theFrankfurt School, and its affiliation withMarxist andneo-Marxist writers. Verso Books' best-selling title is the autobiography ofRigoberta Menchú, who was awarded theNobel Peace Prize in 1992.[12]
Verso has published books byTariq Ali,Benedict Anderson,Robin Blackburn,Judith Butler,Noam Chomsky,C.L.R James,Mike Davis,Norman Finkelstein,Fredric Jameson,Edward Said,Max Shachtman,Rebecca Solnit,Nick Srnicek,Paul Feyerabend,Ellen Meiksins Wood, andSlavoj Žižek.[13] Updated translations ofJean Baudrillard,Régis Debray,Jürgen Habermas, Rigoberta Menchú, andPaul Virilio have also been published through Verso.
By 2020, Verso Books had published over 1,800 titles.[14]
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