The Rise of the Indie – London’s Inaugural Alternative Book Fair

It felt fitting to attend London’s first Book Fair dedicated to Independent Presses in the light of the success of Indie Publishers in the contemporary literary landscape. From the rise of Fitzcarraldo and its collection of Nobel Prize winning authors, to the recent shortlisting of Urszula Honek’s White Nights published by MTO Press for the International Booker last week, publications from Indie Presses are truly making their mark. Held at Islington Central Library on 16th March, the Fair was attended by a vast array of Indie Publishers including Weatherglass Books who I work for, Dead Ink, MTO Press, Époque Press, Afsana Press, Jantar Publishing, Scratch Books and many more.

The Fair made space for Independent Publishers to take centre stage after the madness of London Book Fair earlier in the week. In addition to stalls for publishers to showcase and discuss their current and upcoming publications, the day was also punctuated by a variety of talks about publishing. These ranged from Andrew Hayward’s lecture style talk on ‘A History of Publishing’, to author panel events, and an Indie Press panel with Neil Griffiths, founder of Weatherglass Books, alongside Harriet Hirshman from Dead Ink, and Will Dady from Renard Press. The event was such a successful and accessible way to foster a sense of community for Independent Presses in the UK. The tickets were free and the event was so popular that hordes of hopeful attendees were unfortunately turned away from talks in the afternoon.

Considering my blog is predominantly concerned with book reviewing, I thought it only right to shed some light on books I’m excited to read which I picked up at the Fair. The first being the aforementioned White Nights by Urszula Honek, translated from Polish by Kate Webster, published by MTO Press. It is a debut short story collection of thirteen interconnected stories following a group of people from the same village in the Beskid Niski region of southern Poland. Next, I’m looking forward to Dead Ink’s Swanna In Love by Jennifer Belle. It follows fourteen-year-old Swanna in 1980s America as she embarks on a romance with Dennis, a married father of two. Described by Dead Ink as ‘a kind of inverse Lolita’, this isn’t the type of novel I’d usually gravitate towards. However, I have recently read and loved Blood Red by Gabriela Ponce, translated by Sarah Booker, and The Doloriad by Missouri Williams. The two novels are disturbing, challenging and beautifully constructed. My love for the past two Dead Ink novels I have read gives me faith that Swanna In Love will not disappoint.

I’m also excited by Weatherglass’s two upcoming novels Amma by Saraid de Silva and The Pages of The Sea by Anne Hawk. (A little biased as I work for Weatherglass, but I truly love both of these novels). I’ve already written a full review of Amma, New Zealand based Saraid de Silva’s debut novel. It’s a three-strand family saga which charts the experience of the South Asian diaspora, following three generations of one family across Sri Lanka, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia and even to London. The next Weatherglass novel coming out in the Summer is Anne Hawk’s debut The Pages of The Sea. Set in the Caribbean in the 1960s, we follow Wheeler, a young girl left behind when her mother leaves for England in search of work. It is a truly heart-breaking exploration of the experience of a child left behind, set against the backdrop of challenging family dynamics. It’s written beautifully, moving between elegant prose and Caribbean English sections of dialogue and Wheeler’s internal monologue. The novel is cleverly constructed and voices the story of the Windrush generation left behind.

The Inaugural Alternative Book Fair was such a brilliant event, bringing publishers, authors, booksellers and readers together to celebrate the work of Independent Presses and their authors. I urge you to support the Publishers in attendance to champion the beautiful and innovative work they produce.