Welcome to Blair
Blair is a nonprofit press based Durham, NC. We publish ten to twelve books per year: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
We strive to publish quality writing, focusing on authors and subjects historically neglected by mainstream publishers, including authors of color, authors with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ authors. True to our roots in North Carolina, we look to the many voices of the South—and beyond—as sources of work and inspiration.
Blair is distributed worldwide by Consortium, which is part of Ingram.
The Blair organization combines the strengths of its predecessors. Like John F. Blair, we offer new and backlist books about culture, history, travel, and food in the Southeastern US and beyond. Strengthened by this backlist, Blair also continues to expand the mission of Carolina Wren Press, publishing literary fiction and poetry titles of both national and regional interest, with a focus on new and diverse voices.
Our Story
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We began as Carolina Wren Press, which Judy Hogan founded in 1976. From the beginning, CWP published authors from North Carolina, the South, and nationwide—works of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction.
And also from the beginning, the mission of the press was to publish emerging and diverse voices. CWP published the first poetry collections of Jaki Shelton Green, now North Carolina’s first Black Poet Laureate.
Poet Andrea Selch directed CWP from 2003 until 2015, strengthening the organization’s national reputation through its poetry series with titles that include L. Lamar Wilson’s Sacrilegion and Evie Shockley’s a half-red sea. Selch also established the Bakwin Award.
In 2013, Robin Miura joined Selch as Co-director and served as Director from 2015-2017. Miura, an independent editor who has previously worked at Press 53 and Oxford University Press, came to Carolina Wren to strengthen its fiction list. Together with Board Member Lynn York, she established the Lee Smith Novel Prize, awarded biannually.
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In 2018, the Board of Carolina Wren Press approved the acquisition of the titles of John F. Blair Publisher, another North Carolina press with an illustrious history.
In 1954, John F. Blair published his first book, Whispering Pines, by John Henry Boner. This volume of poetry by a native of Salem, North Carolina, was first published by Brentano Brothers in 1883.
Along with poetry books came more commercially successful titles about coastal North Carolina, including the perennial best-selling Judge Charles Whedbee books of folklore. Through the years, literary gems that sold minimal copies were published alongside popular cookbooks and travel guides.
After Blair's death in 1986, his family continued his legacy. Carolyn Sakowski, President, and Blair family member Margaret Couch led the enterprise for several decades, publishing award-winning fiction and nonfiction, continuing the mission of providing amazing books to North Carolinians, Southerners, and increasingly, the entire United States.
In January 1, 2018, Sakowski and Couch retired and sold the titles of John F. Blair to the nonprofit Carolina Wren Press. In light of the legacy and reputation of John F. Blair, the new press took on the name Blair.
Meet the Team
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Arielle Hebert
DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Arielle has worked in publishing since 2014 and joined Blair in 2018. She is a queer poet with roots stemming from Louisiana and Florida. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Great River Review, Nimrod Journal, Willow Springs, and Redivider, among others. She holds an M.F.A in poetry from North Carolina State University.
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Michael Levatino
BUSINESS AND SALES MANAGER
Michael Levatino has worked in publishing for over 25 years, most recently as a VP in Sales, where he directed WW Norton’s distribution business. He got his start in the book business working at the Boulder Book Store, in Boulder, Colorado. He lives with his wife on a farm near Charlottesville, Virginia, where they care for their donkeys, llama, chickens, dogs, and cats, and keep an extensive year-round garden. They have co-authored two books together on small farming: The Joy of Hobby Farming and The Woman-Powered Farm.
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Robin Miura
SENIOR EDITOR & ASSOC. PUBLISHER
Robin Miura is Senior Editor and Associate Publisher at Blair and has worked in publishing for more than 20 years. She has worked with all types of books, but her passion is literary fiction and creative nonfiction. She is also a founding editor of the online magazine South Writ Large.
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Lynn York
PUBLISHER
Lynn York is the Publisher of Blair. She is also the author of two novels: The Piano Teacher (Plume, 2004) and The Sweet Life (Plume, 2007), a Booksense Notable Book. A graduate of Duke University and the University of Texas at Austin, she began her career as a college textbook rep for Prentice Hall in Texas and worked in telecommunications and satellite television industries in Washington, DC, before returning to her native North Carolina where she now lives in Chapel Hill.
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Summer 2024 Intern