Find out about the Presses here
Manchester’s radical small presses have long been engines of literary innovation, born from necessity and driven by conviction. Working outside the mainstream, these independent publishers took bold creative risks, elevating voices and stories too often overlooked. Hard-Pressed uncovers the histories of these presses—their founders, their missions, and their impact—honouring the spirit of DIY publishing that has helped shape the city’s cultural identity.
Set up by Pete Kalu and Tariq Mehmood, Suitcase Books is the imprint of Shorelines, “an online literary magazine and agency which aims to promote writing from migrants living in Europe and their descendants, and also writings about working class issues.” An imprint for books for children called Satchel.
A poetry press publishing chapbooks / pamphlets by global majority Manchester writers. Published work in the mid- to late nineties.
Published as a set of booklets in 1975. A collective autobiography within a series of booklets published by the Manchester Studies department at what was then called Manchester Polytechnic.
A short-lived Manchester-based poetry / short story magazine. Ran for five issues in the 2000s.
Flapjack Press set up in the 2000s and is still publishing. It specialises in publishing writers known on Manchester’s spoken word and live poetry scene.
Cheers Ta was set up by Mike Garry and its published works have a distinctly Mancunian live poetry feel.
Gatehouse was set up in Manchester in the late 1970s to provide “an opportunity for writers to express their thoughts and feelings on aspects of their lives.”
