Milkweed Editions is an independent publisher of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Our mission is to identify, nurture, and publish transformative literature, and build an engaged community around it.
As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, our work is made possible by the generosity of sustaining funders and readers like you.
We are profoundly grateful.
We are currently hiring an Advancement Director.
Founded in Minneapolis in 1980, Milkweed Editions is one of the nation’s leading independent publishers of literature. Operating as a nonprofit organization empowers us to acquire titles on the basis of artistic excellence and transformative potential, and to invest significant resources in developing writers’ work and bringing it to a wide audience—engaging local, national, and international communities in the kind of conversation facilitated uniquely by literature.
We currently publish some twenty titles each year in the categories of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Our list is acclaimed for its originality and its variety. Our books and authors have earned numerous awards and distinctions, including two Nobel Prizes for Literature, three Lannan Literary Awards, six Whiting Awards, four American Book Awards, eight New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year, and fifteen Minnesota Book Awards. In 2015 alone, we had finalists for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
There are more than 300 Milkweed titles in print, and nearly 4 million copies of our books currently in circulation. Since 2010, we have published our books simultaneously in sustainably produced print and ebook editions, and we now have some 150 titles available in ebook format. We enhance the publication of each new title with original digital content, made available on our website and on other online platforms.
Lynn Abrahamsen, Chair
Sheila Letscher, Vice Chair
Keith Bednarowski, Treasurer
Nima Desai, Secretary
Jack Dempsey | Pamela Fletcher Bush | Jonathan Gaw | Ned Hancock | Laura Johnson
Leah Lamon | Stephanie Matz | Deepinder Mayell | Shawn Monaghan | Shelly Gill Murray
Emily Nicoll | Mary Reyelts | Daniel Slager, Publisher & CEO | Nell Smith | Stephen Spencer
Sarah Stoesz | Molly Sullivan | Deanna Thompson | Amy Vargo | Maryam Marne Zafar
Milkweed Editions raised $1.6M dollars in the multi-year Metamorphosis Campaign which concluded in 2015. $1.1M was raised to transform the press for the digital era of publishing and to increase cash reserves, and $500K was raised to create the Author Advance Fund, a revolving fund dedicated solely to providing advances for authors. Thank you to the generous donors who made these initiatives possible.
Milkweed was founded as a nonprofit book publisher in response to consolidation in the commercial book publishing industry and animated by the belief that books play a crucial role in shaping a better world. Four decades later, your donations ensure that Milkweed continues to create much-needed space for the books and writers we publish.
Milkweed Editions gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from our Board of Directors; the Alan B. Slifka Foundation and its president, Riva Ariella Ritvo-Slifka; the Amazon Literary Partnership; the Ballard Spahr Foundation; Copper Nickel; the McKnight Foundation; the Minnesota State Arts Board; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Poetry Series; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals.
Respecting the privacy of our supporters is very important to us, and we follow a strict donor privacy policy that pertains to the collection of personal information, both online and offline, about our donors.
Further, we are audited every year by an independent accounting firm.
You can view our recent tax returns below.