|
Who names a publishing house for a fish? We asked Monkfish founder and president Paul Cohen this question. He told us—for the first time:
As I was brainstorming for a name for the press, the word “monkfish” came to mind, and I was immediately struck by it. It sounded more like a punk band than a book publisher—that seemed a plus. So, I started to research monkfish. An exceedingly ugly fish, it sprouts scary teeth, and an antenna coming from its forehead. The antenna emits light and is used to lure its prey.
In some places the species is known by other names which include angler fish, angel fish, and devil fish. That all seemed good too. So, I began to imagine Monkfish as a business enterprise. I could see from the start that the fish and I might have a challenging relationship.
Still, I felt called to the job of publishing the fish. So, who is the fish? The “fish” is the spiritual search. “Monkfish” publishing then means the kind of books that a monk or a nun (or any spiritual aspirant) might be engaged in or need to read. And this to me seemed an important and unique identity for a spiritual book publisher to strive for. For us, this would mean publishing across denominations with a combination of independence and absorption. I felt that such a press might do something holy or special at times.
Understanding that the imprint was carrying some contradictions, we resolved to create a logo to counterbalance those. And the result, thanks to Georgia Dent and Gina Palmer, added an important overlay to the brand.
Here you can see that Monkfish (the fish) is softened by the ocean. And something else, his eyes are looking in different directions, making him look goofy.
Goofy is a way to soften the ugly and to add some humor. Goofy is our way of saying, we intend to publish great books, but we (monkfish) humans will not take ourselves or our efforts too seriously. In other words, we could seek to understand but to not necessarily take the Kool-Aid ourselves. This would be true spiritual journalism.
From there, Monkfish’s publishing history is reflected in our books, authors, and their doings.
|
