About
Pandora Press
Pandora Press is an independent publisher focusing on scholarly and popular titles in Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies. Named after the street on which its first offices were located, the image of Pandora's box conjures thoughts of how books contain worlds that defy the expectations of their readers. In Hesiod's Works and Days, Pandora's box initially appears to contain a curse, but it also reveals a form of hope (ἐλπίς) that entangles expectations of positive and negative futures. So too with the books that Pandora Press aims to publish.
We collaborate with established scholars and early career researchers to produce high quality monographs, edited collections, and other literary-autobiographical texts, and we are currently expanding in new interdisciplinary directions that move within and beyond historical and theological approaches to Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies.
Founded in the early 1990s by C. Arnold Snyder, the press established itself as a leader in scholarly Anabaptist and Mennonite publishing with its flagship title Anabaptist History and Theology. In 2014, Jonathan Seiling wrote in an article in Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme that "Over the past two decades this publisher has produced more studies and collections of translations focusing primarily on the Anabaptist and Mennonite traditions than any other publisher in Canada." During the 2010s the press was directed by Christian Snyder, and in early 2021 Jo Snyder's Vegan Mennonite Kitchen was published to great acclaim from Chatelaine and CBC Radio.
In January 2022, Maxwell Kennel became the new Director of Pandora Press, initiating several new titles, translation projects, and editions. Pandora Press author and Associate Professor of History at Brock University Michael Driedger writes that “Maxwell Kennel is ideally suited to take over direction of the Pandora Press. His energy and enthusiasm, plus his work on Mennonites and philosophy, as well as his qualifications in the area of Religious Studies, mean that he is well-situated to publish new titles in Mennonite Studies.”
Since its inception, Pandora Press has published well over 100 titles and several long-standing book series, and the new catalogue includes several out of print titles that will be returning to print in different forms in the coming years. Although Pandora Press remains independent, informal friends of the press include the former Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, colleagues and connections at Conrad Grebel University College, Sue Sorensen at the Canadian Mennonite University Press, the CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre, Jamie Pitts and David Cramer at the Institute of Mennonite Studies at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Aileen Friesen and her colleagues at the Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, Kyle Gingerich Hiebert at the Conrad Grebel Review, Joel Nofziger at the Mennonite Heritage Center and Anabaptist Historians, Jonathan Seiling at Gelassenheit Publications, and Elizabeth Miller at the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism (which hosts open access titles, as well as the Biblioteca Digital Anabautista and Bibliothèque numérique anabaptiste).
We collaborate with established scholars and early career researchers to produce high quality monographs, edited collections, and other literary-autobiographical texts, and we are currently expanding in new interdisciplinary directions that move within and beyond historical and theological approaches to Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies.
Founded in the early 1990s by C. Arnold Snyder, the press established itself as a leader in scholarly Anabaptist and Mennonite publishing with its flagship title Anabaptist History and Theology. In 2014, Jonathan Seiling wrote in an article in Renaissance and Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme that "Over the past two decades this publisher has produced more studies and collections of translations focusing primarily on the Anabaptist and Mennonite traditions than any other publisher in Canada." During the 2010s the press was directed by Christian Snyder, and in early 2021 Jo Snyder's Vegan Mennonite Kitchen was published to great acclaim from Chatelaine and CBC Radio.
In January 2022, Maxwell Kennel became the new Director of Pandora Press, initiating several new titles, translation projects, and editions. Pandora Press author and Associate Professor of History at Brock University Michael Driedger writes that “Maxwell Kennel is ideally suited to take over direction of the Pandora Press. His energy and enthusiasm, plus his work on Mennonites and philosophy, as well as his qualifications in the area of Religious Studies, mean that he is well-situated to publish new titles in Mennonite Studies.”
Since its inception, Pandora Press has published well over 100 titles and several long-standing book series, and the new catalogue includes several out of print titles that will be returning to print in different forms in the coming years. Although Pandora Press remains independent, informal friends of the press include the former Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, colleagues and connections at Conrad Grebel University College, Sue Sorensen at the Canadian Mennonite University Press, the CommonWord Bookstore and Resource Centre, Jamie Pitts and David Cramer at the Institute of Mennonite Studies at the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Aileen Friesen and her colleagues at the Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies, Kyle Gingerich Hiebert at the Conrad Grebel Review, Joel Nofziger at the Mennonite Heritage Center and Anabaptist Historians, Jonathan Seiling at Gelassenheit Publications, and Elizabeth Miller at the Institute for the Study of Global Anabaptism (which hosts open access titles, as well as the Biblioteca Digital Anabautista and Bibliothèque numérique anabaptiste).
Masthead
Editorial Advisory Board (2022- )
Director Maxwell Kennel |
Submissions
Pandora Press invites manuscript submissions for both our academic and popular imprints. We specialize in Anabaptist history and Mennonite theology, but we are expanding in new interdisciplinary directions and we encourage submissions from scholars across the social sciences and humanities.
Pandora Press uses double-blind peer review for its academic titles to ensure a high standard of quality and scholarly rigor. Submissions can be sent to [email protected] |
Forthcoming Titles
Several new Pandora Press titles are scheduled for 2024-2025.
Two major translation projects are underway at the press. Donors who are interested in supporting the translation of scholarly work in Anabaptist and Mennonite Studies are invited to contact [email protected] |
