The New Press

History and Activities

The New Press is a nonprofit left-of-center publisher that states it “amplifies progressive voices” to achieve “a more inclusive, just, and equitable world.” The New Press publishes books focused on left-wing principles of diversity, equity, racial justice, environmentalism, and civic engagement and describes itself as “a book publisher with a social justice mission.” ¹

The New Press was founded in 1992 by Andre Schiffrin and Diane Wachtell and was created to be a home for left-wing thinkers, journalists, scholars, political leaders, and activists. The publisher develops manuscripts and produces books based on ideological criteria, not commercial success. ¹

In addition to books, in 2010 the New Press launched the New Press Social Justice Award to honor left-wing activists and writers. Previous recipients of the New Press Social Justice Award include U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) in 2023 in recognition of her support for preserving sexually explicit books in school libraries and Nikole Hannah-Jones in 2022 in honor of her work on the 1619 Project that argued that the central even of the American founding was the importation of slaves. ⁴

Books

As of July 2024, recent books published by the New Press include How We Win the Civil War: Securing a Multiracial Democracy and Ending White Supremacy For Good by Steve Phillips; An End to Inequality: Breaking Down the Walls of Apartheid Education in America by Jonathan Kozol; Intertwined: Women Nature, and Climate Justice by Rebecca Kormos; Poverty for Profit: How Corporations Get Rich off America’s Poor by Anne Kim; and On Cuba: Reflections on 70 Years of Revolution and Struggle by Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad. ⁵

Other notable titles published by the New Press include Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen, a revisionist anti-American history book that won the American Book Award and the Oliver Cromwell Cox Aware for Distinguished Anti-Racist Scholarship, and The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, which argues that so-called mass incarceration of minorities in America is an extension of slavery and Jim Crow. ^{2 3}

People

Andre Schiffrin was a co-founder of the New Press. Schiffrin spent roughly 30 years as the managing director of Pantheon Books and roughly 20 years as the founding director of the New Press. Schiffrin died on December 1, 2023. ⁶

The second co-founder of the New Press was Diane Wachtell. As of July 2024, Watchell was also the executive director of the New Press. ^{1 7}

Ellen Adler is the publisher of the New Press. ⁷

Related Organizations

New Press staff are affiliated with the Technical Office and Professional (TOP) Union, the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, and the AFL-CIO. ¹

Financials

According to tax filings, in 2022 the New Press reported $9,659,193 in assets, $5,045,167 in expenses, and $5,201,397 in revenue. That year, New Press received $2,553,281 from gifts, grants contributions, and membership fees. The publisher reports receiving financial support from both private individuals as well as left-of center foundations, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Arcus Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the Overbook Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the W.K Kellogg Foundation. ^{8 1}