We’ve saved ourselves for last.
One may wonder why we’ve avoided mentioning a milestone anniversary until the end of that particular year, but it is one of the principles that have been guiding Dalkey Archive since the beginning: the books are the thing that matters. Having reached the middle of December, with all 2024 titles accounted for, we can turn our focus elsewhere—at least for a moment.
Dalkey Archive Press was founded in 1984 by John O’Brien, taking its name from the final novel by Irish satirist Flann O’Brien. It has, since then, amassed a true archive of some of the greatest literary talents to ever grace the page. Dalkey’s catalogue has a reputation for the avant garde, the experimental, the grotesque, and the difficult, but the throughline is dictated by a certain threshold of literary merit, rather than publishing a specific type of book. Here, the linguistic Dadaism of Gertrude Stein and Arno Schmidt sits comfortably beside the Latin American Boom (Carlos Fuentes), Russian samizdat (Vladimir Sorokin), midwestern mysticism (Marguerite Young & William H. Gass), and at least one doctoral thesis (Anne Carson).
Deep Vellum publisher Will Evans, alongside Dalkey associate-director and founder/publisher of Open Letter Books, Chad W. Post, approached John O’Brien about acquiring Dalkey Archive shortly before O’Brien’s passing in 2020. The most important thing, they thought, was to make sure that this monumental collection remained intact and in print. Since then, we have launched a new series of Dalkey Archive Essentials and returned countless titles to shelves as reprints of their original editions.
As a capstone to this 40th anniversary year, we will be sharing retrospectives, ephemera, and assorted other pieces of history from Dalkey Archive’s storied run. You can also enjoy 25% off on all books if you use the code “DALKEYBIRTHDAY” at checkout. Dalkey Archive is a literary nonprofit, relying on the support and contributions from readers like you in order to survive. To celebrate our 40th anniversary, we will be giving away a complete set of the Dalkey Archive Essentials that have been published since the series began in the spring of 2022.
To enter, head to the Dalkey Archive website and contribute a minimum of 5 dollars (USD). Every penny donated contributes directly toward the future of the press. Donating 40 dollars (for 40 years) will enter your name into the drawing a second time, and you will receive a signed “thank you” from Dalkey staff on a broadside print, featuring a quote from founder John O’Brien (as seen in the Spring 1996 issue of the Review of Contemporary Fiction—an issue guest edited by David Foster Wallace). We will be shipping the complete essentials from the Deep Vellum / Dalkey Archive Press headquarters in Dallas, Texas, and as a result, we must regrettably limit the giveaway to US residents only.
This giveaway will run until 11:59pm (CST) on New Year’s Eve. The winner will be chosen later that week, in the first days of January.
Thank you for the support over all these years.
Sincerely,
Dalkey Archive Press
Past, Present, and Future.
