Northern Publishers’ Fair at Central Library
Sarah-Clare Conlon, Literature Editor
Various independent publishing houses will be setting out their stalls at Manchester Central Library for the latest Northern Publishers’ Fair, organised by Manchester’s own Fly On The Wall Press.
The organisers aim to showcase publishing houses (mostly independent) based in the North of England who have been around for at least two years and who publish multiple authors.
Pretty much now a fixture on the literature scene, the Northern Publishers’ Fair has previously taken place in September and November 2021 and in May and November 2022. This time round, as well as plenty of book-buying opportunities, the fair will be “trialling more of a networking format” – perfect for chatting about as well as stocking up on the latest titles.
Expect “friendly publishers and cracking books”, says Isabelle Kenyon, Managing Director of Fly On The Wall Press, a social enterprise company and a not-for-profit publisher of anthologies, collections and chapbooks. Their titles include David Hartley’s Edge Hill Prize-longlisted Fauna and, part of FOTW’s 2021 shorts season, Muscle and Mouth by Louise Finnigan (recently seen performing at The Other).
The organisers aim to showcase publishing houses (mostly independent) based in the North of England who have been around for at least two years and who publish multiple authors, many of whom will be on hand at the event to answer your questions and sign books. Regulars include award-winning indie Saraband Books, publishing fiction alongside “absorbing nature writing, pressing environmental issues and compelling memoir”. Based in Salford and members of the Northern Fiction Alliance, in 2022 Saraband published Adam Farrer’s creative nonfiction work Cold Fish Soup.
Also signed up are Stairwell Books across from York, offering fresh writing by authors from Yorkshire and beyond, counting on their list literary fiction, genre fiction, biography and memoir, short story and poetry collections, and children’s lit. They’ll be joined by Manchester’s Comma Press, Confingo Publishing and Nightjar Press, while Flapjack Press and Carcanet Press bring the poetry and avant-gardists If P Then Q bring the leftfield. Other publisher tables booked include And Other Stories, Exit Press, Hidden Voice Publishing, Northodox Press and UCLAN Publishing, with Sinoist Books featuring as the international guest and HarperNorth due to pop in to represent the big boys.
