Arcade Publishing Files for Bankruptcy

June 16, 2009

According to a recent report, the publishing house that was started 20 years ago and boasts an author list including Bertolt Brecht, Raymond Chandler and Octavio Paz, has filed for bankruptcy. Arcade Publishing filed in the Southern District of New York. After the publisher and co-founder Richard Seaver died in January, the company was reorganized.

Now, the company has said that it will attempt another reorganization to carry it through tough times. Another publishing company, Little Brown and Co., had lent Arcade a sum of $243,932. It owes an additional $242,876 under its distribution agreement. The Indian politician and novelist Shashi Tharoor is owed $25,779 from the company.

In total, the company owes more than 200 creditors and just over $6 million.

Richard Seaver was considered by many to be a literary hero. He defied pressures and censorship to publish works by D.H. Lawrence, Henry Miller, and William S. Burroughs. He continued to bring international and underexposed authors to the public eye throughout his career.