The Nation is launching a new imprint in partnership with left-leaning indie publisher OR Books and will publish four to six titles per year, beginning this fall. Nation Books will be co-headed by OR publisher Colin Robinson and Nation editors Bhaskar Sunkara and Katrina vanden Heuvel, with OR Books handling distribution worldwide.
Per the announcement, Nation Books aims to widen the impact of the voices in the Nation’s flagship magazine, which has published progressive journalism since 1865. The imprint will launch in July with Nine Have Spoken, a collection of commentary by both old and new Nation contributors such as I.F. Stone and Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin on the “undemocratic” history of the U.S. federal court system, edited by Richard Kreitner. Rounding out the inaugural slate are Obsolete, a critique of the AI boom by Garrison Lovely, and These Dis-United States, a volume of reflections on America’s political moment in honor of the magazine’s 160th anniversary featuring Nation contributors such as Kaveh Akbar, Judy Chicago, and Lauren Groff.
OR publisher Colin Robinson emphasized the political urgency behind the new imprint, and their well-established history of partnership with the Nation. “The first book we published when we started OR [in 2009] was a searing anthology by Nation editors and writers about Sarah Palin,” he said in a statement. “With plentiful new targets, we are very much looking forward to repeating that experience, drawing on the terrific journalists at a superb progressive magazine.” Nation editorial director Katrina vanden Heuvel echoed the launch’s sense of timeliness. “At this perilous moment, The Nation’s indispensable voice and legacy has never been more essential,” she said.
A launch celebration will be held June 17 at New York's Francis Kite Club and will feature a conversation between vanden Heuvel and Nation contributor Ross Barkan.
