An arts and culture venue in Manchester is hosting a small press fair on the 3rd and 4th of July.
SEESAW, in collaboration with award-winning independent publisher Fly on the Wall Press, and Manchester City of Literature, is hosting the Manchester Press Fair event to celebrate the city’s independent literary scene.
Friday evening will feature readings from the publishers and Saturday morning will host a panel with the publishers about their work.
Director of Fly on The Wall Press, Isabelle Kenyon, spoke to Quays News about the creation of the event.
“The fair is an idea which came around from the fair that I already run called the Northern Publishers Fair which has been going since 2019 and attracts hundreds of people twice a year to Manchester Central Library,” Isabelle explains. “That particular fair is focused on allowing writers to see the plethora and diversity of books that are out there in the north.”
“The Manchester Small Press Fair will represent smaller, artist-led, community-led and some self-published or zine publishers.” Isabelle continues. “Seesaw and I have split the creation, so they are bringing more artist-led and I’m bringing more community-led publishers.”
Artists expected to be at the fair are Maddison House Press, a non-fiction publisher who will be launching their fiction in print and literary bookazine for the North West at the fair; Northodox Press, who specialise in historical fiction from as far north as Scotland; Big Thinking Publishing, a small press in the north, which focuses on inclusive storytelling in children’s and adult fiction; Caterpillar Press a queer and trans-owned risograph publishing house and Sweet Tooth, a literary magazine centred around the autistic experience and many more.
There is a lot to expect from Fly on The Wall themselves. “We will be championing our political fiction and anthology titles, including feminist voices, dark humour and conversation-starting stories.” Isabelle states.
Isabelle is looking forward to the performances that will be hosted at the fair, which Fly on The Wall hasn’t been able to do previously. “You can do the performance element in a library but it halts the conversation.” she says. “At Seesaw, we’re holding it across two floors so we can have a performance space and a browsing and networking space so we don’t have to halt the conversation to listen to the performances.”
There have been increasing efforts to highlight the artistic offerings within Manchester and the wider region, which is why Isabelle thinks the event is important. “In the North, there is still a narrative that publishing is London-centric,” she says. “It’s also important to show the diversity of artists that are operating and bring those fields together.”
“This will very much be a cross-disciplinary event in that illustrators and publishers and authors are all going to mingle. We decided to collaborate with Manchester City of Literature because they have an amazing events calendar.”
The Manchester Small Press Fair will be about inspiring creativity and to show the various pathways artists can go down to showcase their work. “Not only are there traditional pathways, your work might also be suitable for a handcrafted publication that may be where you start your career.” Isabella notes.
Tickets for the Manchester Small Press Fair are available now. The event is free to attend. More information can be found here. To learn more about the events hosted by Seesaw, Fly on The Wall and Manchester City of Literature, visit their websites.
Images: Courtesy of Isabelle Kenyon