Faber to celebrate 90 years with special publishing

Faber is launching a special publishing programme to mark its 90th anniversary in 2019 as a "publisher of distinctive literature", featuring short stories, poetry and new branding.

The programme will celebrate the company’s history, authors and design heritage, beginning in January with Faber Stories, a landmark series of individual volumes in paperback livery, showcasing short story writers working in a range of genres and styles. Then in February, Faber Social will offer The Greatest Hits, the reissue of six "momentous" music publications. In September, the poetry list will be celebrated decade by decade, with ten collections of Faber poetry.

May will see the publication of Dear Mr Faber: The Untold Story of a Great Publishing House. This story is told through the words of the staff and authors who lived it – in letters, memoirs and diary entries that capture the excitement, hopes, fears and triumphs of 90 years of Faber.

Faber Children’s will usher in its 90th programme with Old Toffer’s Book of Consequential Dogs in September, a canine rejoinder to Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, which celebrates its 80th anniversary in 2019. Faber’s love of cats is also commemorated by new editions of the Millions of Cats and one of T. S. Eliot’s most popular cat poems, "Cat Morgan". Two cats even grace the new Faber Children’s colophon, specially designed for the year by Júlia Sardà.

The children’s list also features new editions of Ted Hughes’s collections of animal and nature poems.

Faber’s 90th branding and jacket design has been conceived and created by creative director, Donna Payne, and the Faber design team. Inspiration was taken from Faber’s archive, utilising fonts from the Wolpe Collection, revived by Toshi Omagari of Monotype Studio (Berthold Wolpe was Faber’s illustrious Art Director from 1941–1975). Promotional materials were designed by former Faber designer, Luke Bird.

Chief executive Stephen Page said: "It is exciting to be entering our ninetieth year on the back of such strong recent publishing success, and the list we will present in 2019 is among the richest in the company’s long history.

"Alongside the thrilling list of writers and new books, we will be celebrating Faber’s past and archive with some standout publishing from our backlist, focusing on short stories, poetry, Faber Social’s music publishing, children’s books, and our own history. It will also be an opportunity for us to champion literature and writers, and their vital place in our society and the world, which feels particularly necessary in these troubling times."