Farrar, Straus and Giroux has announced plans to relaunch North Point Press. Founded in 1978 by William Turnbull and Jack Shoemaker to publish literary fiction and nonfiction titles, the then Berkeley, Calif.-based independent press closed in 1990, and in 1992 FSG acquired its publishing assets, including the North Point name and backlist. Following the deal, FSG resumed publishing new books under the FSG banner and continued to distribute the backlist until 2008, at which point it stopped releasing new North Point titles on a regular basis.
Jenna Johnson, SVP and editor-in-chief of FSG, told PW that when the publisher was looking for ways to expand its nonfiction it felt that North Point’s approach—one that provides a way for readers to understand and navigate what is happening in the world—was the way to go. “North Point books have a spirit of action and energy,” she said.
Among the categories the new North Point will cover are ecology, natural history, environmental science, personal growth, psychology, spirituality, food, design, and health. The press will be looking to sign “leading thinkers, writers, scientists, and activists, emphasizing a practical, hopeful, and future-oriented approach,” the press announcement said.
In a statement, FSG president and publisher Mitzi Angel emphasized that North Point will be more practically-minded than FSG’s current nonfiction list: “It will not simply ask ‘What’s wrong?’ but also ‘What can be done?’ This dual approach will help FSG cater to an even wider range of interests and to foster a vibrant ecosystem of ideas that stimulates public discourse and personal transformation.”
To oversee the relaunch, FSG has hired Catherine Tung as a senior editor. Tung was most recently an editor at Beacon Press, and has also held positions at the Knopf Doubleday Group and Routledge. Authors she has worked with include Jai Chakrabarti, Ha Jin, Jaclyn Moyer, Nora Neus, Raoul Peck, Roque Raquel Salas Rivera, Anna Deavere Smith, and Alice Wong. Johnson stressed that building North Point will be a “FSG team effort,” with all editors contributing to the list.
The first new title under North Point will be What to Eat Now by Marian Nestle whose previous book with North Point, 2006’s What to Eat, has long been a steady seller. “We talked about revising it, but there was so much to cover, Marian wanted to do a new book,” Johnson said. What to Eat Now is slated for November.
Johnson said no other titles have been firmed up for 2026, but promised that the aim is to develop “a critical mass” of new North Point works.
The North Point announcement follows the January launch of FSG’s new science imprint, Quanta Books, in partnership with the Simons Foundation.
This story has been updated.
