How did Copper Canyon survive for so many years before going non-profit?
We had an “umbrella organization” in Centrum that allowed us to get grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and we learned to master the arts of poverty. We studied hard and worked hard and made sacrifices for the good of the press. NP: One of the things I’m always curious about is how publishing companies end up with their name. Is there a story behind the name, “Copper Canyon Press”? Hamill: It actually came to me in a dream in Denver when we were thinking about names. I grew up in Utah, on the east side of the Great Salt Lake valley, and at that time there was a huge open pit copper mine in the western mountains. That was a sacred place for the Utes, who made medicine jewelry out of the copper. So the name Copper Canyon has ecological resonance and echoes of our bloody history of annihilating the original Americans. NP: What kept you going in the business for 32 years? Hamill: Love of the work. As simple as that. NP: Is there a secret to selling poetry? Hamill: It helps to
