I'm very excited to say that March will be dedicated to Salt Publishing. Salt are my absolute favourite publishing house. They specialise in short story and poetry collections, truly dedicated to finding new talent, producing beautiful books and passionate about the literature they publish. In fact, if you remember, one of our very first author interviews was Tom Vowler, who is published by Salt. :) Here's a bit about them.
Salt’s origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched Salt Magazine in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry and poetics. Over the next decade, Kinsella, together with Tracy Ryan, went on to develop Folio(Salt), publishing and co-publishing books and chapbooks focused on a pluralist vision of contemporary poetry which extended across national boundaries and a wide range of poetic practices; a vision which still permeates our literature publishing today.
In 1999 John Kinsella, Clive Newman and Chris Hamilton-Emery formed a partnership to develop Salt Publishing, forming the template of today’s business. When Clive left in 2002 and the original partnership was dissolved, Jen Hamilton-Emery joined Chris to take over the running of Salt, relaunching the business in the UK. Since that time Salt has rapidly expanded its size and the range of the publishing programme. In November 2004, Salt was incorporated and Linda Bennett joined as a Director. In July 2005 John Skelton joined as a Director.
The international editorial team includes Janet McAdams, commissioning editor for the multi-award winning Earthworks Series of writing by indigenous peoples, and Katherine Hedeen and Víctor Rodríguez Núñez, joint commissioning editors for the Latin American Poetry Series.
From its offices in Great Wilbraham, Cambridge, Salt now publishes over 80 books a year, focussing on poetry, biography, critical companions, essays, literary criticism and text books by authors from the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Caribbean and mainland Europe.
The list includes a widening range of internationally-acclaimed authors, including major works by leading British poets John James, Tony Lopez, Peter Robinson and John Wilkinson, landmark titles by American poets Charles Bernstein, Maxine Chernoff, Forrest Gander, Peter Gizzi, Paul Hoover, Ron Silliman and Susan Wheeler, and new work by prize-winning Australian authors Pam Brown, Jill Jones, Kate Lilley, Peter Rose, Tom Shapcott and John Tranter. Salt’s authors appear at festivals and conferences the world over and their work continues to receive major critical attention.
The recession brings hard times for everyone and, in the book world, the indie booksellers and publishers are hit the hardest. It's these times, in particular, that we should stand up and fight for good literature and those dedicated to the cause. I'm running this month's dedication to Salt alongside their 'Just One Book' campaign. So, I ask all of you - if you can, please do buy a book from Salt in March [or whenever, now, even - go go go!] because I guarantee that you will find something in their lists which you will love. Go on: Just One Book [or two or three ;)].
And, in return, I'm giving you the opportunity to win a copy of one of their new releases. So, starting next Tuesday, I'm interviewing four Salt authors, one person a week, with a prize draw for their most recent book :)
Vanessa Gebbie is Welsh. She is author of Words from a Glass Bubble (Salt), a collection of her award winning fiction from prizes including Bridport and the Daily Telegraph. She is contributing editor of Short Circuit: Guide to the Art of the Short Story (Salt), and contributor to The Field Guide to Writing Flash Fiction (Rose Metal Press, USA). She teaches widely; in 2010 she was Writer in Residence at Stockholm University. Her latest collection of short stories is Storm Warning from Salt.
Anna Woodford has received an Eric Gregory Award, a major Leverhulme Award, a Hawthornden Fellowship and an Arvon Jerwood Apprenticeship. Her pamphlet Party Piece was a winner in the International Poetry Business Competition, selected by Michael Longley. Her pamphlet Trailer was a Poetry Book Society Choice. She is widely published in many literary magazines including the TLS, the Rialto and Horizon Review. Based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Birdhouse is her first full length collection.
Pinckney Benedict grew up on his family’s dairy farm in the mountains of southern West Virginia. He has published two collections of short fiction and a novel. His stories have appeared in Esquire, Zoetrope: All-Story, the O. Henry Award series, the New Stories from the South series, the Pushcart Prize series, The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, and The Ecco Anthology of Contemporary American Short Fiction. Salt have just published his collection of short stories, The Miracle Boy and other stories.
Wena Poon is a Singapore-born American author whose work has appeared in print, radio and film. Winner of the 2010 Willesden Herald International Short Story Prize in England, twice longlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award in Ireland, and nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize and the Malaysia Popular Readers’ Choice Award, Poon is the author of Alex y Robert, The Proper Care of Foxes, and Lions In Winter. She also writes a sci-fi action-adventure novel series, the first four volumes of which are collected in The Biophilia Omnibus, which was voted Best Book Gift of the Year by CNN Singapore. A graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School, and a practicing lawyer, she lives in San Francisco and Austin. Wena's latest book from Salt is a novel, Alex Y Robert.
So, yes, I hope that you enjoy the theme for this month, and do check back to read the interviews and for the links to reply for your chance to win a free book :)
London, Lowdham and Portsmouth
1 hour ago