On April 5, during Cumulus Press' 10th anniversary celebration, publisher David Widgington
stood up on a chair, thanked everyone for helping celebrate 10 years of independent publishing,
then prior to cutting into the massive cake of Cumulus' logo, announced that Cumulus Press was
shuting down.
"This is not a funeral," Widgington said to more than 100 people in attendance. “It is a wake to
celebrate 10 great years!" He also stated that several of Cumulus' titles will remain in print and
carried by other publishers like Montreal's Conundrum Press. "Cumulus Press books will live on
through these types of collaborations," the publisher added.
Widgington stressed that he is not ending his publishing career because he of a difficult financial
situation but rather because he is changing his medium of communication. "I loved publishing
books that criticize established structures and propose new ones even though it is increasingly
difficult to do so," which he emphasized with the $6-million SLAPP lawsuit by Barrick Gold
against non-profit Les Editions Ecosociete and the authors of the title, Black Canada: pillage,
corruption and criminality in Africa. "I will continue in the same direction as Cumulus but will
evolve further with documentary filmmaking, which I have been dabbling in for many years as
member of video collective Les Lucioles."
Widgington thanks all of the authors, editors, publishers and others that he has collaborated with
over Cumulus Press' ten-year lifespan. "I look forward to sharing my film work with them in the
future," he said.

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