Cune

A Small Wedge Lifts Heavy Objects

Cune was founded in May 1994, to explore innovative ways of bringing superior writing to public attention. We are a press (and more, see Strategy). Our name is derived from "cuneiform." (In Latin cunei means "wedge.")

In the ancient Near East the development of cuneiform script—simpler and more adaptable than hieroglyphics—enabled a large class of merchants and landowners to become literate. Clay tablets inscribed with wedged-shaped stylus marks made possible a broad intermeshing of individual efforts in trade and commerce. Cuneiform allowed scholarship to exist, art to flower, and created what some commentators define as the world’s first civilization.

The idea of Cune is the democratization of learning, the faith that rarefied ideas—pulled from their pedestals and displayed in the streets—can transform the lives of ordinary people. And it is the conviction that ordinary people, trusted with the most precious gifts of civilization, will give our culture elasticity and depth—a necessity if we are to survive in a time of rapid change.

Cune proposes that writers, independent presses, and mission-oriented large publishers make common cause to lift public taste—to cultivate the creation and distribution of American literature.

Cune is conducting several pilot projects and invites public participation. (Vote on manuscripts you would like to see in print; click here:  mss)

Support Cune Press by making a tax deductible charitable donation to The Cune Project/Allied Arts. Mail your check or MC/Visa info to: Cune P.O. Box 31024 Seattle, WA 98103.

Support Cune Press by purchasing books in our online bookshop or by making an online donation. Click on "Bookshop" above.