In a couple of weeks time, I hope to be at this event at the British Library.

Susie Nott-Bower and Lynn Michell, Linen Press and Alex Pheby and Sam Jordison, Galley Beggar talk about the experience of writing and publishing new work. In the afternoon, Tony White, Piece of Paper Press, and students from the London College of Communication  collaboratively create our own independent publication.

I’ve been reading Susie Nott-Bower’s first novel, The Making of Her, and I’m impressed.  Too often one looks at the small and independent press as a second choice for publication, but The Making of Her shows that there’s nothing second rate about working with independent publishers. The book examines being a woman in the twenty first century where looks are valued over experience. I’ll be reviewing this book in more detail for The Contemporary Small Press next week.

More abut the speakers at the event

• Susie Nott-Bower has worked in theatre and television production, before writing her first novel, The Making of Her (Linen Press, 2012). Susie is currently working on her second novel, Reborn, and regularly writes on the Strictly Writing blog.
• Alex Pheby is the author of two books, Grace (Two Ravens Press, 2009) and Playthings (Galley Beggar, 2015). Alex is a graduate of Goldsmith’s Creative Writing MA and teaches at the University of Greenwich.
• Linen Press was founded by Lynn Michel to publish diverse, challenging and surprising books written by women, and with women readers particularly in mind. The press publishes work from new and emerging authors, as well as more established writers.
• Galley Beggar Press was established in 2012 specifically to support writers of ambition and literary merit, who nevertheless have struggled to either find or retain a publisher.
• Tony White is an author, whose works include Shackleton’s Man Goes South (Science Museum, 2013), and Foxy-T (Faber & Faber, 2003). He has been writer in residence for the Science Museum and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL. In 1994, he set up Piece of Paper Press as a low-tech imprint to publish new writings and visual or graphic works and distribute them for free.

The event takes place at the British Library on Saturday 20th February, 11am-4pm, and is run in association with The Institute for Modern and Contemporary Culture, University of Westminster. Book here.