NEW AND NECESSARY
THE IRISH PAGES PRESS
2020
This is an auspicious period for the development of a new high-profile literary press firmly rooted in Belfast and Ireland. With the recent closure or contraction of several Northern presses, Irish Pages Ltd (the non-profit publisher of Irish Pages and The Irish Pages Press, and the organiser of Crossways Festival) is uniquely qualified for this important cultural endeavour. After 17 years of publishing Ireland’s premier literary journal, it possesses the literary experience, distribution networks and financial health sufficient to launch a book publishing programme of the highest quality, comparable to any in these islands.
Though Irish Pages as a journal published three previous titles – Unfinished Ireland: Essays on Hubert Butler (2003), Balkan Essays by Hubert Butler (2016), and The Other Tongues: An Introduction to Writing in Irish, Scots Gaelic and Scots in Ulster and Scotland (2016) – late 2018 saw the launch of the Press in the sense of an annual programme of major book-publishing, under its new bilingual imprint, The Irish Pages Press/Cló an Mhíl Bhuí.
Currently, the Press is limited to poetry, essays, memoir and other forms of non-fiction (including the graphic novel form), in both English and Irish.
Three opening poetry titles were published in late 2018: the magisterial Crann na Teanga/The Language Tree by Cathal Ó Searcaigh, drawn from 16 previous collections, and translated by Paddy Bushe; an outstanding first collection of poems by Ciarán O’Rourke, The Buried Breath; and a long-awaited fourth collection of poems by Chris Agee, Blue Sandbar Moon, following his previous celebrated volume, Next to Nothing (2009). The Divil Knows What, by Tom Mac Intyre – a posthumous selected edition of his poetry, prose and drama in both English and Irish – is scheduled for publication in Autumn 2020.
Our full publishing program for 2020-2021, both non-fiction and poetry (six titles), will be announced in September 2020.
The Irish Pages Press will always be characterized two essential and necessary components, flowing from the outstanding standards of the journal in an age of media noise and publishing hyperbole: literary content of exceptional quality, and production values (mainly hardback) unsurpassed by any in these islands. Apart from issues of finance, the sole criteria for publication by the Press will be the distinction of the writing and the integrity and independence of the individual voice.
Unsolicited manuscripts are equally welcome from new, emergent and established writers, especially those resident (regardless of background) in Ireland and Scotland. No electronic submissions to the Press will be accepted: submissions should be sent by post (for our full address, see the Contact section of this site). In the interim, however, established authors (currently with or without past publishers) are encouraged to contact the Editors (editor@irishpages.org) to discuss manuscripts that are fully completed.
To order our titles, visit the Irish Pages website by clicking here
& AMPERSAND & 