Signature Editions began its publishing career under the name of Nuage Editions in 1986. As a 16-person collective based in Montreal, Nuage published two to four books a year for the next several years. In 1992 one of the partners, Karen Haughian, took over the reins and ramped up production, releasing six to nine titles a year, and she’s been running the show ever since.
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Signature Editions began its publishing career under the name of Nuage Editions in 1986. As a 16-person collective based in Montreal, Nuage published two to four books a year for the next several years.In 1992 one of the partners, Karen Haughian, took over the reins and ramped up production, releasing six to nine titles a year, and she’s been running the show ever since.There were more changes in store for Nuage: after eleven years in Montreal, the press moved its home base to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and in 2000 it was renamed to Signature Editions. What has remained consistent over the press’s twenty-nine year history is its commitment to discovering and developing new Canadian writing of literary merit, regardless of genre.The genres that are typical for Signature are poetry and literary fiction, with the occasional creative non-fiction piece. Each year Signature publishes a fantastic selection of poetry, which is a mix of debut and established voices. Back when Signature was still Nuage, they published Latent Heat by Catherine Hunter, which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award at the Manitoba Book Awards.
Recent works of fiction that stand out are 2011’s Solitaria by Genni Gunn, longlisted for the Giller Prize, a family drama set in the countryside of Italy, and Hat Girl by Wanda Campbell, winner the 2010 H.R. Percy Prize, which follows Pertice McIlveen as she moves to an island off New Brunswick to solve the mystery of an unexpected inheritance.Signature has also made a name for themselves with their mystery series’, including cozies from Judith Alguire—the Rudley Mystery series, based in Ontario cottage country—and Alison Preston’s Norwood Flats Winnipeg mysteries, including The Girl in the Wall, which was a Globe 100 pick in 2010.If poetry or fiction aren’t your thing, Signature’s non-fiction selections offer readers an eclectic mix of content, from Charlene Diehl’s critically-acclaimed Out of Grief Singing: A Memoir of Motherhood and Loss to Rain on a Distant Roof: A Personal Journey Through Lyme Disease in Canada by Vanessa Farnsworth, recommended by the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation.Regardless of what you like to read, Signature Editions offers quality Canadian Literature (and it just so happens to be available on All Lit Up!)
