- Corporate body
- 1971-
An informal writing collective was formed in Vancouver in 1969 and eventually grew into the “York Street commune”. They published books first as the Georgia Straight Writing Series and then as the Vancouver Community Press, before political and social trends shifted their editorial focus from literary works more towards titles relating to contemporary affairs and political non-fiction. This new direction was marked with a further name change to New Star Books in 1974.
From 1978 until 1990, publisher Lanny Beckman focused on titles left of the mainstream, serving and marketing mostly to independent or niche bookstores and organizations. The subjects of these titles ranged from criticisms of British Columbia’s Social Credit administration to works on the Nicaraguan and Cuban revolutions, feminism, gay rights, communism, and the immigrant experiences of Chinese Canadians and Eastern Europeans. This radical and activist publishing trend continued through the mid-1980’s, at which point the company began to identify a downturn in public interest in such works and saw sales begin to suffer.
Rolf Maurer assumed control of New Star Books in 1990, at which point the focus of titles began to shift once more. The company continues to publish on political and social issues, but has also reincorporated poetry and prose fiction into its repertoire. Some of the authors published by New Star include Stan Persky, Margaret Randall, Anthony Chan, Joel Lexchin, Helen Potrebenko, Rolf Knight, Jack Scott and Chuck Davis.