Viking Press

Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheimer[1] and then acquired by the Penguin Group in 1975.[2][3]

Viking Press
Parent companyPenguin Random House
StatusActive
Founded1925 (1925)
FoundersHarold K. Guinzburg, George Oppenheimer
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationNew York City
Key peoplePresident-Brian Tart, Children's publisher Kenneth Wright
Imprints
  • Viking Kestrel
  • Viking Adult
  • Viking Children's Books
  • Viking Portable Library
Official websitepenguin.com/vikingbooks

Imprints
  • Viking Kestrel
  • Viking Adult, who got in legal trouble in 1946 due to John Steinbeck's bold eulogy, and fell out of public favor in 1947
  • Viking children's Books
  • Viking Portable Library
  • Pamela Dorman Books

Viking Children's

In 1933, Viking Press founded a department called Junior Books to publish children's books. The first book published was The Story About Ping in 1933 under editor May Massee. Junior Books was later renamed Viking Children's Books. Viking Kestrel was one of its imprints.

Its books have won the Newbery and Caldecott Medals, and include such books as The Twenty-One Balloons, written and illustrated by William Pene du Bois (1947, Newbery medal winner for 1948), Corduroy, Make Way for Ducklings, The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (1993), The Outsiders, Pippi Longstocking, and The Story of Ferdinand. Its paperbacks are now published by Puffin Books, which includes the Speak and Firebird imprints. In 2023, Tamar Brazis was named v-p and publisher of Viking Children's Books.[4]

Viking Critical Library

The Viking Critical Library offers academic editions of literary texts. Like W. W. Norton's Norton Critical Editions, all titles print the text alongside a selection of critical essays and contextual documents (including relevant extracts from the author's oeuvre). The series, which only saw sporadic publications in the late '70s and late '90s, has been dormant since 1998, with no new titles released since then. However, a number of existing titles remain in print.

Titles
AuthorTitleEditor Year publishedNotes
Don DeLilloWhite NoiseMark Osteen 1998.
Graham GreeneThe Quiet AmericanJohn Clark Pratt 1996
James JoyceDublinersRobert Scholes 1996
James JoycePortrait of the Artist as a Young ManChester G. Anderson 1977The only title known to include explanatory end notes.
Ken KeseyOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestJohn Clark Pratt 1977Out of print.
Jack KerouacOn the RoadScott Donaldson 1979Out of print.
Arthur MillerThe CrucibleGerald Weales 1996
Arthur MillerDeath of a SalesmanGerald Weales 1996
John SteinbeckThe Grapes of WrathKevin Hearle 1997

Notable authors

Notable editors

Awards
  • 10 Newbery Medals
  • 10 Caldecott Medals
  • 27 Newbery Honors
  • 33 Caldecott Honors
  • 1 American Book Award
  • 2 Coretta Scott King Awards
  • 3 Batcheldor Honors
  • 5 Christopher Medals
  • 2 Margaret A. Edwards Awards for authors S. E. Hinton and Richard Peck

References
  1. Kenneth T. Jackson; Lisa Keller; Nancy Flood (1995). The Encyclopedia of New York City: Second Edition. New York City: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300055368.
  2. Egli, ed. (1975). "Viking Press Is Sold To Penguin Books". School Library Journal. 22 (4). New York City: Media Source Inc.: 16.
  3. Whitman, Alden (November 11, 1975). "Viking Press Is Sold to Penguin Books". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  4. Kantor, Emma. "Brazis, Santopolo promoted at Penguin Young Readers". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved March 6, 2024.

Further reading

Bean, Martha Sue. A History and Profile of the Viking Press, Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Theses, 1969.

"Viking Press, Viking Penguin", Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 46, pp. 365-368.

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