Writers as Witness: Keynote Event

Publishers decide, in a very real sense, what makes it into publication and much of the print information available to the consumer. If a small press publisher can survive in a notoriously fickle business, they have the chance to make little-known work available or to respond quickly to new information.

Early this year, Dennis Johnson and the staff at Melville House worked around the clock to prepare the just-released Mueller Report for publication and wide distribution. They’ve become specialists at this type of quick turnaround publishing, having previously published The Climate Change Report and The Torture Report, among others.

In this discussion, PEN America has collaborated with Scuppernong Books and Greensboro Bound to bring the co-founder and publisher of Melville House, Dennis Johnson, for a keynote event.

Dennis Johnson is a Pushcart Prize-winning fiction writer and journalist who founded the first American book blog, MobyLives. With his wife, Valerie Merians, he is the co-founder and publisher of Melville House. He lives in Brooklyn.