Press 53 is an independent publisher of literary fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The press was founded October 1, 2005 by Kevin Morgan Watson of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In November 2005, Watson partnered with Sheryl Monks of Hamptonville, North Carolina, and their partnership became official January 1, 2006. Monks left Press 53 in November 2008 to return to writing and teaching. In January 2009, Tom Lombardo joined Press 53 as poetry editor, and in February 2010, Robin Miura joined Press 53 as Novel/Memoir editor.
Press 53 publishes 12-16 books per year, including the every-odd-year anthology series, Surreal South, edited by Laura and Pinckney Benedict. Press 53 Classics is an imprint dedicated to republishing out-of-print books, such as The Land Breakers, by John Ehle; Two of the Missing, by Perry Deane Young; and Journey for Joedel, by Guy Owen. Other author published by Press 53 include short story collections by Anne Leigh Parrish, Pinckney Benedict, Amy Knox Brown, Quinn Dalton, Tom Sheehan, Doug Frelke, Jane Bradley, Ed Southern, Curtis Smith, Mary Akers, Clifford Garstang, and Susan Woodring. Poetry collections include work by Marjory Heath Wentworth, David Bottoms, Linda Annas Ferguson, Terri Kirby Erickson, Valerie Nieman, and Joseph Mills.