Jonathan Cape

Founded in 1921, Jonathan Cape is renowned for its outstanding fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and has more Booker Prize winners than any other imprint

A brief history of Jonathan Cape

Founded in 1921, Jonathan Cape has been the home of some of the finest writing in the world for nearly a century. Early successes by T.E. Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway were soon joined by James Joyce, Christopher Isherwood and Ian Fleming. By the 1970s, Cape had become an internationally recognised literary hothouse with writers as diverse as Joseph Heller, Gabriel García Márquez, Thomas Pynchon, Roald Dahl and Doris Lessing. Cape authors have received more Booker Prizes wins and shortlistings than any other publisher.

Today, Jonathan Cape continues to lead the way in fiction, non-fiction and poetry Its bestselling and prizewinning authors include Martin Amis, Colin Barrett, Julian Barnes, Simon Callow, Jung Chang, Mark Cocker, Rachel Cusk, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Helen Fielding, Adam Foulds, Mark Haddon, Tessa Hadley, Howard Jacobson, A.L. Kennedy, Helen Macdonald, Tom McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Ottessa Moshfegh, Audrey Niffenegger, Thomas Pynchon, Anthony Quinn, Ross Raisin, Philip Roth, Salman Rushdie, David Szalay, Irvine Welsh, Jeanette Winterson, Tom Wolfe, Alison Weir, James Wood and Evie Wyld.

Cape’s thriving poetry list includes works by John Burnside, Mark Doty, Michael Longley, Andrew McMillan, Sharon Olds, Alice Oswald and Michael Symmons Roberts.

Cape is also proud to publish many of the best graphic novels of recent years, with books by Chris Ware, Daniel Clowes, Marjane Satrapi, Posy Simmonds, Raymond Briggs and Joe Sacco, as well as a selection of art and photography books, including the works of Don McCullin, Annie Leibovitz and Lucian Freud.

Man Booker winners:

- Nadine Gordimer, The Conversationalist (1974)
- David Story, Saville (1976)
- Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children (1981)
- Anita Brookner, Hotel du Lac (1984)
- Ben Okri, The Famished Road (1991)
- Ian McEwan, Amsterdam (1998)
- Anne Enright, The Gathering (2007)
- Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending (2011)

Books published by Jonathan Cape include:

Black Cat Bone book cover by John Burnside — John Burnside

*Black Cat Bone*

Building Stories Book cover by Chris Ware — Chris Ware

*Building Stories*

H is for Hawk book cover by Andrew Dickson — Helen Macdonald

*H is for Hawk*

Money book cover by Martin Amis — Martin Amis

*Money*

American Pastoral book cover by Philip Roth — Philip Roth

*American Pastoral*

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time book cover — Mark Haddon

*The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time*

Trainspotting book cover — Irvine Welsh

*Trainspotting*

At Work book cover — Annie Liebowitz

*At Work*

The Time Traveler’s Wife book cover — Audrey Niffenegger

*The Time Traveler’s Wife*

All the Birds, Singing book cover — Evie Wyld

*All the Birds,* *Singing*

City On Fire, Garth Risk Hallberg

Among the most eagerly anticipated and addictive novels of recent years – ‘Can you afford not to read this book?’ Guardian

The Graphic Short Story Prize

Are you an aspiring graphic novelist?

Do you have an original story to tell?

Jonathan Cape and Comica have got together with the Observer to offer you the chance to see your work in print and win £1,000. Take this opportunity to get your work read by industry experts. The judges are Phillip Pullman (writer), Stpehen Collins (author of The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil), Rachel Cooke (Observer), Dan Franklin (Publisher, Jonathan Cape), Paul Gravett (Director, Comica Festival) and Suzanne Dean (Creative Director, Vintage).

The first prize is £1,000 and publication in the Observer New Review.

The runner-up will receive £250 and their work will appear on theguardian.com.

Deadline for entries: Friday 29th September 2017.

Download the entry form
and view the terms and conditions here

More resources for Jonathan Cape

Academic inspection copies

If you are an academic, and wish to order an inspection copy, please email vintageclassics@randomhouse.co.uk.

Remember to include details of the book you are requesting, the course you are considering adopting the book for, the number of students taking that course, and the address you would like the book to be delivered to.

This service is only available to residents of the UK and Ireland.