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Coffee House Press' Allan Kornblum receives Kay Sexton Award

Posted at 4:12 PM on February 24, 2012 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Books, Writing

Allan Kornblum, the founder and long-time editor-in-chief of Coffee House Press, will be honored for his dedication to fostering books and reading at this year's Minnesota Book Awards in April.

Kornblum only recently stepped down from his leadership position at the press, which is one of the most successful independent literary presses in the country. He is still on staff in the position of senior editor.

Allan Kornblum

Kornblum will be presented with the Kay Sexton Award, named after a book buyer who worked for many years at Dayton's and B. Dalton Bookstores in the Twin Cities. Previous recipients include Emilie Buchwald, the founder of Milkweed Editions, and former Governor Elmer L. Andersen.

In a release from the Minnesota Book Awards, colleague Fiona McCrae, Director and Publisher of Graywolf Press, said "Allan has come to represent, both to those within publishing and those outside it, the spirit of independence and the single-minded pursuit of artistic integrity."

Anyone who has spent any amount of time with Kornblum knows him to be a consummate lover of every aspect of books, from the paper they're printed on to the writers who create them. It's a devotion that has served both his press and the literary community well

You can read more about Allan Kornblum and Coffee House Press here and here.