Graywolf Press was founded by Scott Walker in Port Townsend, Washington, in 1974. Graywolf’s first publications were limited-edition chapbooks of poetry, which were printed on a letterpress and hand sewn by Walker and his colleagues.

Over the years Graywolf has expanded its list to include novels, short stories, memoirs, essays, as well as poetry. The Press has discovered and/or promoted such writers as:
Elizabeth Alexander, Deborah Baker, Mary Jo Bang, Kevin Barry, Charles Baxter, Sven Birkerts, Eula Biss, Robert Boswell, John D’Agata, Percival Everett, Nuruddin Farah, Nick Flynn, Tess Gallagher, Dana Gioia, Albert Goldbarth, Linda Gregg, Eamon Grennan, Matthea Harvey, Tony Hoagland, Leslie Jamison, Jane Kenyon, William Kittredge, Ander Monson, Maggie Nelson, Per Petterson, Carl Phillips, Claudia Rankine, Salvatore Scibona, Vijay Seshadri, Tracy K. Smith, William Stafford, Natasha Trethewey, David Treuer, and Brenda Ueland.

Today, Graywolf is considered one of the nation’s leading nonprofit literary publishers.