Who We Are
Photo: Sabina Poole / Oregon Arts Commision
M. Allen Cunningham, Editor & Publisher
M. Allen Cunningham founded Atelier26 Books in 2011 out of deep personal convictions as a reader and writer, and he brings a writer’s sensibility to his editing and publishing practices. Cunningham released his debut novel The Green Age of Asher Witherow (Unbridled Books) at age twenty-six. Set in a coal-mining town in nineteenth-century California, The Green Age served as the inaugural title for independent publisher Unbridled Books. The novel was widely acclaimed, selected by the American Booksellers Association as a #1 Indie Next Pick, named a Finalist for the Indie Next Book of the Year Award in a shortlist with Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, listed as a USA Today Novel to Watch and as a Salt Lake Tribune Best Book of the West, and dubbed a "Regional Classic" by the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association. Foreword Reviews called The Green Age "a feat reminiscent of William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness, likewise published in the author's twenty-sixth year," adding: "not only are the stories of both novels carefully designed, but every sentence in each one is crafted with care." Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler called The Green Age "a startling accomplishment," and Booklist said it "display[ed] a mastery that is surprising in a novelistic debut." The Green Age was published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by Atrium Verlag in 2005. An audio edition appeared in 2014.
Three years after the publication of The Green Age, Cunningham released Lost Son (Unbridled Books), an experimental biographical novel about Rainer Maria Rilke. The culmination of more than ten years of reading, writing, research, and travel, Lost Son is a fantasia on Rilkean themes and an exploration of the enduring conflicts between life and art. One of the most distinguished literary critics of the 20th century, Ihab Hassan, said of Lost Son that "the magic of Rilke reach[es] out from every page," and called the novel "a subtle and signal imaginative achievement, putting readers on notice: an extraordinary talent has come upon the scene." Lost Son receives in-depth consideration by scholar Zvile Gimbutas in her book-length study of artist novels, where it is the sole work by a living author discussed alongside works by James Joyce, John Updike, and Virginia Woolf. The book Truthful Fictions: Conversations with American Biographical Novelists (Bloomsbury) features an extensive interview with Cunningham about Lost Son, in the company of interviews with the likes of Russell Banks, Anita Diamant, Ron Hansen, and Joyce Carol Oates. Lost Son was listed as a Top 10 Book of 2007 in The Oregonian.
Cited in Dzanc Books' list of 20 Writers to Watch, Cunningham has published seven additional books since 2007, including the dystopian samizdat work Partisans, which received the praise of the legendary John Berger, who called it a book "where we join forces." Cynthia Ozick lauded Cunningham's The Honorable Obscurity Handbook, his existential guide to the creative life, as "ingenious, important, inspiring, and inspiriting." Cunningham's fourth novel Perpetua's Kin appeared in late 2018 and was named among the Most Anticipated Titles of the season in New York Magazine. "With Perpetua's Kin," says Pulitzer Prize Finalist Eowyn Ivey, "Cunningham once again demonstrates he is one of the bravest and most talented novelists writing today." Cunningham's new book Q&A, a large hybrid work about television and screen-fixation in the U.S., appeared from Regal House Publishing in 2021. Cunningham's work is frequently included in university curricula, and his short stories and nonfiction have appeared in many publications including Alaska Quarterly Review, Boulevard, Catamaran, Epoch, Glimmer Train, The Kenyon Review, Oregon Humanities Magazine, Poets & Writers, and Tin House. He was a semi-finalist in the 2017 American Short Fiction Prize. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from Literary Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, as well as residencies at the Yaddo Colony. He has written many reviews and original essays for the Books section of The Oregonian. A contributing editor for the literary journal Moss, host of the In the Atelier podcast, and creator of Thoreau's Leaves: the Thoreau Podcast, he is a frequent public speaker on books and literary culture. After two decades of writing and publishing, he received an MFA degree from the Pan European Program, and he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Portland State University, where he teaches creative writing, including the summer program in Vienna. A teacher in various capacities for 17 years, Cunningham also teaches creative writing in UC Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program and courses in writing and film appreciation for Clackamas Community College. For four years he served as a scholar/facilitator for the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project, conducting public conversations in dozens of communities on the subject of the cultural impact of e-reading. For more than a decade he has provided freelance writing, editing, and literary consulting services to a broad array of clients, ranging from national charities to rocket scientists.
To learn more about the background of Atelier26 and Cunningham's vision for the press, please see the following links:
M. Allen Cunningham's author website
"Dispatches" (Cunningham's occasional author blog)
Nathan Shields, Designer
The physical elegance of all our titles is a main priority at Atelier26 Books. Since our inception, we've had the great good fortune to work with designer Nathan Shields. Nathan is an artist, mathematician, teacher, and, as the mind behind SaipanCakes.com, the famous creator of pancake portraits and motifs. His work has been featured by the Today Show, Good Morning America, Nickelodeon, PBS.org, USAToday.com, The Huffington Post, and at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. As the founder of Draw4Us, he has served clients as diverse as Nutella and the Canadian government. He lives in Port Angeles, WA with his family. Read a bit about our design process HERE and HERE.
Diane Prokop, Publicist & Advisory Board Member
Atelier26 publicist Diane Prokop brings more than 20 years of experience in public relations and magazine writing. She is a widely published freelance book reviewer and a well-known literary blogger and author interviewer. She also serves on the Atelier26 Advisory Board. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
https://www.facebook.com/diane.prokop.7
Laura Stanfill, Advisory Board Member
Laura Stanfill is the founder and publisher of Forest Avenue Press. She serves on the PubWest Board of Directors and is a sought-after public speaker on the topic of small press publishing. Laura’s professional background includes stints in public relations and freelancing for regional magazines and newspapers in Virginia, New York, and Oregon.
M. Allen Cunningham founded Atelier26 Books in 2011 out of deep personal convictions as a reader and writer, and he brings a writer’s sensibility to his editing and publishing practices. Cunningham released his debut novel The Green Age of Asher Witherow (Unbridled Books) at age twenty-six. Set in a coal-mining town in nineteenth-century California, The Green Age served as the inaugural title for independent publisher Unbridled Books. The novel was widely acclaimed, selected by the American Booksellers Association as a #1 Indie Next Pick, named a Finalist for the Indie Next Book of the Year Award in a shortlist with Marilynne Robinson's Gilead and Philip Roth's The Plot Against America, listed as a USA Today Novel to Watch and as a Salt Lake Tribune Best Book of the West, and dubbed a "Regional Classic" by the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association. Foreword Reviews called The Green Age "a feat reminiscent of William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness, likewise published in the author's twenty-sixth year," adding: "not only are the stories of both novels carefully designed, but every sentence in each one is crafted with care." Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler called The Green Age "a startling accomplishment," and Booklist said it "display[ed] a mastery that is surprising in a novelistic debut." The Green Age was published in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by Atrium Verlag in 2005. An audio edition appeared in 2014.
Three years after the publication of The Green Age, Cunningham released Lost Son (Unbridled Books), an experimental biographical novel about Rainer Maria Rilke. The culmination of more than ten years of reading, writing, research, and travel, Lost Son is a fantasia on Rilkean themes and an exploration of the enduring conflicts between life and art. One of the most distinguished literary critics of the 20th century, Ihab Hassan, said of Lost Son that "the magic of Rilke reach[es] out from every page," and called the novel "a subtle and signal imaginative achievement, putting readers on notice: an extraordinary talent has come upon the scene." Lost Son receives in-depth consideration by scholar Zvile Gimbutas in her book-length study of artist novels, where it is the sole work by a living author discussed alongside works by James Joyce, John Updike, and Virginia Woolf. The book Truthful Fictions: Conversations with American Biographical Novelists (Bloomsbury) features an extensive interview with Cunningham about Lost Son, in the company of interviews with the likes of Russell Banks, Anita Diamant, Ron Hansen, and Joyce Carol Oates. Lost Son was listed as a Top 10 Book of 2007 in The Oregonian.
Cited in Dzanc Books' list of 20 Writers to Watch, Cunningham has published seven additional books since 2007, including the dystopian samizdat work Partisans, which received the praise of the legendary John Berger, who called it a book "where we join forces." Cynthia Ozick lauded Cunningham's The Honorable Obscurity Handbook, his existential guide to the creative life, as "ingenious, important, inspiring, and inspiriting." Cunningham's fourth novel Perpetua's Kin appeared in late 2018 and was named among the Most Anticipated Titles of the season in New York Magazine. "With Perpetua's Kin," says Pulitzer Prize Finalist Eowyn Ivey, "Cunningham once again demonstrates he is one of the bravest and most talented novelists writing today." Cunningham's new book Q&A, a large hybrid work about television and screen-fixation in the U.S., appeared from Regal House Publishing in 2021. Cunningham's work is frequently included in university curricula, and his short stories and nonfiction have appeared in many publications including Alaska Quarterly Review, Boulevard, Catamaran, Epoch, Glimmer Train, The Kenyon Review, Oregon Humanities Magazine, Poets & Writers, and Tin House. He was a semi-finalist in the 2017 American Short Fiction Prize. He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from Literary Arts, the Oregon Arts Commission, and the Regional Arts & Culture Council, as well as residencies at the Yaddo Colony. He has written many reviews and original essays for the Books section of The Oregonian. A contributing editor for the literary journal Moss, host of the In the Atelier podcast, and creator of Thoreau's Leaves: the Thoreau Podcast, he is a frequent public speaker on books and literary culture. After two decades of writing and publishing, he received an MFA degree from the Pan European Program, and he is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Portland State University, where he teaches creative writing, including the summer program in Vienna. A teacher in various capacities for 17 years, Cunningham also teaches creative writing in UC Berkeley's Academic Talent Development Program and courses in writing and film appreciation for Clackamas Community College. For four years he served as a scholar/facilitator for the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project, conducting public conversations in dozens of communities on the subject of the cultural impact of e-reading. For more than a decade he has provided freelance writing, editing, and literary consulting services to a broad array of clients, ranging from national charities to rocket scientists.
To learn more about the background of Atelier26 and Cunningham's vision for the press, please see the following links:
- "Publisher Spotlight: Atelier26," a q & a with Cunningham on the website of Independent Publishers Group
- "A Publisher's Journey," Cunningham's notes on traveling to Boston to attend the 2016 PEN/Hemingway Award ceremony
- Cunningham joins Atelier26 author Harriet Scott Chessman on KBOO Radio (audio)
- Cunningham Introduces Atelier26 Author Harriet Scott Chessman at Powell's
- Author testimonials and more in our homemade video: "A Glimpse Inside Atelier26"
M. Allen Cunningham's author website
"Dispatches" (Cunningham's occasional author blog)
Nathan Shields, Designer
The physical elegance of all our titles is a main priority at Atelier26 Books. Since our inception, we've had the great good fortune to work with designer Nathan Shields. Nathan is an artist, mathematician, teacher, and, as the mind behind SaipanCakes.com, the famous creator of pancake portraits and motifs. His work has been featured by the Today Show, Good Morning America, Nickelodeon, PBS.org, USAToday.com, The Huffington Post, and at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. As the founder of Draw4Us, he has served clients as diverse as Nutella and the Canadian government. He lives in Port Angeles, WA with his family. Read a bit about our design process HERE and HERE.
Diane Prokop, Publicist & Advisory Board Member
Atelier26 publicist Diane Prokop brings more than 20 years of experience in public relations and magazine writing. She is a widely published freelance book reviewer and a well-known literary blogger and author interviewer. She also serves on the Atelier26 Advisory Board. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
https://www.facebook.com/diane.prokop.7
Laura Stanfill, Advisory Board Member
Laura Stanfill is the founder and publisher of Forest Avenue Press. She serves on the PubWest Board of Directors and is a sought-after public speaker on the topic of small press publishing. Laura’s professional background includes stints in public relations and freelancing for regional magazines and newspapers in Virginia, New York, and Oregon.
