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The Dalkey Archive Press is a small publisher of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism, specializing in the publication or republication of obscure and out-of-print works, particularly contemporary literature. The publisher is named for the novel The Dalkey Archive, by the Irish author Flann O'Brien.
Founded in Chicago in 1984 by John O'Brien, the Dalkey Archive began as an adjunct press to the literary magazine Review of Contemporary Fiction, itself dedicated to highlighting writers that were overlooked by the mainstream critical establishment. Initially, the press published works that were featured in the Review but eventually branched out to other works, including original works that had not before been published. Along with the Review of Contemporary Fiction and CONTEXT magazine, the Dalkey Archive now operates under the aegis of the Center for Contemporary Book Culture, based in Normal, Illinois. The Center is closely associated with Illinois State University and depends upon donors and endowments for most of its funding.
Modeled on such publishers as Grove Press and New Directions, the Dalkey Archive's emphasis is decidedly upon so-called literary works, usually of a modernist or postmodernist bent. In the publisher's own words, the Dalkey Archive "place[s] a heavy emphasis upon fiction that belongs to the experimental tradition of Sterne, Joyce, Rabelais, Flann O'Brien, Beckett, Gertrude Stein and Djuna Barnes." One of the publisher's primary goals is to keep all of its books in print, regardless of commercial success, in the interest of maintaining the availability of works that are deemed culturally and educationally valuable.
Selected publications
The Dalkey Archive has published a variety of books and authors from many countries. In some cases, the publication of certain books by the Dalkey Archive has led to a resurgence in their author's popularity, particularly in the United States, as happened with Felipe Alfau and Flann O'Brien. Some notable books and authors published by the Dalkey Archive are listed below.
- Felipe Alfau, Chromos.
- Felipe Alfau, Locos: A Comedy of Gestures.
- Djuna Barnes, Nightwood: The Original Version and Related Drafts.
- Robert Coover, A Night at the Movies.
- Jean Echenoz, Chopin's Move.
- Carlos Fuentes, Terra Nostra.
- William Gass, The Tunnel.
- G. Cabrera Infante, Three Trapped Tigers.
- Hugh Kenner, Flaubert, Joyce, and Beckett: The Stoic Comedians.
- Danilo Kis, A Tomb for Boris Davidovich.
- Flann O'Brien, At Swim-Two-Birds.
- Flann O'Brien, The Third Policeman.
- Raymond Queneau, Pierrot Mon Ami.
- Ishmael Reed, Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down.
- Viktor Shklovsky, Theory of Prose.
- Gilbert Sorrentino, Blue Pastoral.
- Gilbert Sorrentino, Mulligan Stew.
- Boris Vian, Heartsnatcher.
- Douglas Woolf, Wall to Wall.
External links
Dalkey Archive Press home page (http://www.centerforbookculture.org/dalkey/)
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