As part of our Independent Bookshop Week 2021 celebrations, we wanted to shine a spotlight on the work of several indie presses. We’ll be joined online by Clare Bogen (Fitzcarraldo Editions), Tice Cin (Tilted Axis Press), Samuel McDowell (Charco Press) and Stefan Tobler (And Other Stories). They will be in conversation with Jules Danskin, Publishing Director of Extra Teeth magazine.

During this event, we’ll hear directly from independent presses about the books they are publishing this year, challenges they’ve encountered whilst working throughout the pandemic, and what they are currently reading. Above all, we see this as a chance to showcase the brilliant work that they do to bring an incredibly diverse selection of books to readers.

Clare Bogen is the publicity director at Fitzcarraldo Editions and the founder of 3 of Cups Press. Fitzcarraldo Editions is an independent publisher specialising in contemporary fiction and long-form essays. Fitzcarraldo Editions publishes, among other authors, 2015 and 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature laureates Svetlana Alexievich and Olga Tokarczuk. Founded in 2017, 3 of Cups Press is a small press, focused on inclusive publishing and has published five anthologies to date.

Tice Cin is an interdisciplinary artist from north London and Community Manager at Tilted Axis Press. A London Writers Award-winner, her novel Keeping the House comes out in September with And Other Stories. She has been published by Extra Teeth and Skin Deep and commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and St Paul’s Cathedral. An alumnus of Barbican Young Poets, she now creates digital art as part of Design Yourself – a collective based at the Barbican Centre. She is also on the advisory board for Poetry Translation Centre.

Jules Danskin is the Publishing Director of Extra Teeth, a Scottish literary magazine. She has worked in the book industry for over ten years, in publishing roles and as a bookseller, and currently works freelance with independent presses and bookshops on a variety of projects. She has been a judge for the British Book Awards and Saltire Literary Awards and written book previews for The Bookseller. Jules is based in Leith.

Samuel McDowell founded Edinburgh-based Charco Press, along with his partner Carolina Orloff, in 2017. They are an independent publisher focused on bringing the best in contemporary Latin American fiction to English-speaking readers. Charco has gained significant attention in the short time it has been operating for its innovative approach to publishing, the quality of authors being produced and their championing of both translation and translators. In 2018, one of Charco’s first ever titles was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and in 2019 they won Best Scottish Small Press at the British Book Awards. In 2020 another Charco title was shortlisted for the Booker International Prize.

Stefan Tobler is a translator and founder of the publishing house And Other Stories ten years ago. Its titles include the Booker Prize shortlisted Swimming Home by Deborah Levy and the Best Translated Book Award-winning Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera. With English and Swiss parents, he was born in the Amazon. His translations include Clarice Lispector’s Água Viva, Raduan Nassar’s A Cup of Rage, Rodrigo de Souza Leão’s All Dogs are Blue and Arno Geiger’s The Old King in His Exile.

If you would like to support the bookshop, you can purchase a ticket which includes a £3 voucher that can be redeemed against any item on our website or in-store – including books by the featured publishers. There is also a free ticket option.

Indie Presses: An Independent Bookshop Week Conversation