SVS Press receives high praise at Patristics Conference
The publishing house of Saint Vladimir’s Seminary, Yonkers, NY—SVS Press—was amongst the “brightest stars” at the 17th International Conference on Patristic Studies here August 10–14, 2015. According to Press Marketing Director Deacon Gregory Hatrak and Production Manager Michael Soroka, SVS Press’s Popular Patristics Series was hailed as “one of the most useful, accessible, and sought after resources” among the nearly 1,000 scholars at the conference.
At the gathering, Deacon Gregory and Mr. Soroka manned the SVS Press section of the vendor booth run by publisher SPCK—the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge—the Press’s UK and European distributor. As they interacted with scholars, authors, and book buyers at the conference and informally, Deacon Gregory and Mr. Soroka came to realize the tremendous respect the Popular Patristics Series had garnered.
“Professor Paul Blowers, an internationally renowned expert on the writings of Saint Maximus the Confessor, said that he sends his best students to SVS Press,” noted Deacon Gregory, “and he assures them that if they are published in a PPS volume, their work will be used as course material at the undergraduate or graduate level.
“PPS volumes are regularly ordered for classroom use in such renowned institutions as Harvard, Fordham, and Notre Dame Universities and Wheaton College,” explained Deacon Gregory. “Additionally, when I saw our PPS books on a promotional stand in the famous Blackwell’s Bookshop in Oxford, I was struck by how highly respected these volumes are among academics and how highly accessible they are to the average lay reader. I saw similar displays in other public books shops and in religious book shops housed in local churches throughout the city.”
Seminary Dean, Archpriest Dr. John Behr, a renowned Patristics scholar, editor of the PPS, and seminary Dean, chaired a session at the conference and spoke at a special outdoor reception hosted by SPCK and SVS Press on the quad of Oxford’s Examination Schools. At the reception, Father John introduced and thanked SPCK’s Commercial Director Alexandra McDonald and Sales Director Alan Mordue. He also thanked the PPS contributors who were present, including Alistair Stewart, translator of the newly revised edition of On the Apostolic Tradition (PPS 54) and Luis Joshua Salés, translator of Two Hundred Chapters on Theology (PPS 53). Father John also enjoined the scholars to submit new translations and studies to the Press for consideration in order to expand the breadth of PPS titles.
In turn, PPS collaborators praised their working relationship with the SVS Press family and spoke about the ease of the publication process, the high caliber of the editorial staff, and the top level strategic marketing. Professor Stewart said, “I’ve worked with a lot of presses, but I especially appreciate the one-on-one attention afforded by SVS Press staff, along with their collegiality and, in particular, the eye of editor Father Benedict Churchill.”