For over three decades, books published by Bridget Williams have contributed to critical scholarship in New Zealand; they have told our stories, and deepened our understanding of what it is to inhabit these islands. The BWB Publishing Trust was established in 2006 to ensure that this work continues.
The Trust shares the commitment expressed in BWB’s publishing: a commitment to the significance of New Zealand publishing in a digital age. It is through books – the printed page between two covers and words emerging on screen – that ideas are captured, stimulated, debated and documented. And it is through books we understand our history and know the present better. For New Zealanders, this exploration has a special urgency, as our cultural identity encounters the neutralising impact of globalisation.
The economics of publishing serious New Zealand non-fiction are framed by a small immediate market and a more remote international one. Under an innovative concept, the BWB Publishing Trust will enhance and sustain the work of a highly creative and commercially astute company.
Trust funds will enable BWB books to be written, published and digitised. The BWB Publishing Trust will seek funding through grants and donations, and accept support from state institutions, other trusts, corporates and individuals.