About
Red Deer Press publishes upscale children’s picture books, including illustrated children’s Indigenous titles, contemporary juvenile and young-adult fiction, adult fiction and non-fiction.
We produce creative and contemporary books by enlisting a balance of established and emerging authors and illustrators guided by a production team of expert editors, designers and production personnel. We enlist publishing talent from across Canada, publish to the national and international markets, and continually strive to creatively promote and market our books.
Our History
Red Deer Press began as an affiliate of Red Deer College in 1975, producing one to two poetry books a year. The house focus expanded in 1985 to include children’s literature, adult literary and cultural works, and general history and biography titles.
The house moved to Calgary in 2000 and was purchased by Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited in 2005. Red Deer Press is now housed in Fitzhenry & Whiteside Limited’s head office in Leaside, Ontario, where we retain full editorial autonomy.
Red Deer Press authors and the house have won well over 300 awards, nominations, and citations for excellence, including two Governor General’s Literary Awards, a Bologna Ragazzi Award Nonfiction Mention, Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize, White Ravens International Youth Library Selection of Outstanding Books, and the Alcuin Design Award; a large number of regional awards such as six Alberta Publisher of the Year Awards; the Ann Connor Brimer Award for Children's Literature, Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival Winner for Children's Book of the Year, Shining Willow Award, the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction and recently, the Hackmatack English Fiction and Non-Fiction Shortlist for 2014-2015. Works continue to be included on the Canadian Children’s Book Centre for Best Books for Kids & Teens.
Today, Red Deer Press remains a quintessential small Canadian publisher distinguished especially by its fine children’s and young adult program. Recent Governor General’s Award honours for our young adult novels include a 2021 GG nomination for Sharon Jennings’ Unravel, a 2015 GG winner for Caroline Pignat's Gospel Truth, a 2014 GG nomination for Lesley Choyce’s Jeremy Stone, all of which came on the heels of a 2013 GG nomination for Beverley Brenna’s The White Bicycle. Caroline Pignat had previously won a GG for Greener Grass in 2009, our double-winnter!
For further reading:
Boultbee, Paul G., “Vain Dream to Mainstream: The Growth of Red Deer College Press”, Papers of The Bibliographical Society of Canada. 33(1):51-66, 1995.
Acknowledgments
Red Deer Press acknowledges with thanks the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Ontario Arts Council for their support of our publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities.
