NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Catapult Book Group has acquired Portland Oregon-based independent press Hawthorne Books & Literary Arts, which will join Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press as the fourth imprint of the group. Under the deal, Catapult, an award-winning literary publishing house founded by Elizabeth R. Koch and operating within Unlikely Collaborators Inc, has purchased Hawthorne's catalog of titles, as well as the Hawthorne trademark.

Additionally, distribution for Hawthorne Books will move from Publishers Group West to Catapult's distributor Penguin Random House. Hawthorne Books will continue to publish new releases with its first acquisition scheduled for Fall 2026.

"We were immediately drawn to how closely Hawthorne's sensibility mirrors our own," said Catapult Publisher Alyson Forbes. "Hawthorne has long published writers who probe beneath the surface of experience, work that echoes Catapult's mission to illuminate complexity and broaden perspective. Bringing our lists together strengthens our shared commitment to stories that resonate on both an emotional and reflective level and ensures readers have more opportunities to discover writing that is insightful and meaningful."

Hawthorne Books was founded in 2001 by Publisher and Executive Editor Rhonda Hughes. With the acquisition, Catapult gains a well-established backlist of critically acclaimed titles such as Lidia Yuknavitch's The Chronology of Water (now a major motion picture directed by Kristen Stewart), Poe Ballantine's Love and Terror on the Howling Plains of Nowhere, Frank Meeink and Jody M. Roy's Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead, and most recently Sidney Morrison's novel Frederick Douglass, among many others.

Hughes will stay on with Catapult, serving as Contributing Editor for Hawthorne Books, acquiring on behalf of the imprint, and reporting to group Editorial Director Dan Smetanka.

In a statement, Hughes remarked, "Having Hawthorne become an imprint alongside such esteemed publishers as Catapult, Counterpoint Press, and Soft Skull Press—and having the opportunity to work with the remarkable Catapult team—is both a joy and an honor for me and for our authors. This new chapter has reaffirmed my deep appreciation for the art and spirit of publishing."

About Catapult
Catapult is an independent publishing collective created by the founders of Electric Literature and Black Balloon Publishing, comprising the imprints Catapult, Counterpoint Press, Soft Skull Press, and Hawthorne Books. Operating within Unlikely Collaborators, the nonprofit founded by Elizabeth R. Koch, Catapult's authors have received major recognition, including the International Booker Prize, Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, National Book Critics Circle Award, and was a finalist for several National Book Awards.

Anchored in the Perception Box™ framework developed by Koch, Catapult champions a writing process grounded in self-reflection and curiosity. We support authors who examine the beliefs and experiences that shape their perspectives, creating work that challenges assumptions, reveals nuance, and invites readers to expand the way they see themselves and one another.

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SOURCE Catapult Book Group