About Quattro Books

In 2006, writers Allan Briesmaster, John Calabro, Beatriz Hausner and Luciano Iacobelli came together to form Toronto WordStage, a monthly reading series designed to pair established writers and emerging writers of various genres in the interest of representing the diverse voices of the vibrant Toronto literary scene. The success of this series, and the apparent need for the same vision to be represented in the publishing industry, led to the founding of Quattro Books.

Quattro Books is motivated by the vision for open-ended literary expression. The literature that we are interested in aligns closely to what Northrop Frye aptly called “post-national literature”: literature which tackles and breaks taboos surrounding origin. We aim to publish meaningful literature regardless of its linguistic, cultural, and national background; in doing so, we contribute to a community which accurately reflects the multiplicity and excitement of literary production in Canada. For us, a good novella or poetry collection by a Canadian author familiar to readers is just as important as a literary creation by an unknown writer who experiments with form or style.

Our publishing agenda is thus three-fold: 1) to bring to the fore established writers who experiment with new forms; 2) to publish emerging writers who have produced strong work, but have been previously invisible to readers due to linguistic, stylistic and cultural obstacles; and 3) to provide a literary home for “the other” by representing Canadian immigrant or refugee voices. This third objective applies not only to ‘new’ immigrants; whether here for several generations or recently arrived, most Canadians find their origins in other cultures and have brought the traditions of those cultures to Canada with them. This import represents a deep resource, global in scope, with a potential to enrich the Canadian imagination.

Our publishing house  has three principal lines of  books: Quattro Poetry, Quattro Fiction, and Fourfront Editions, which explores other genres, including art and photography books and creative non-fiction. Regardless of the aegis of the line they are published under, all of the books we produce embody our inclusive vision.