Five Islands Press to wind up

14 September 2018 Books+Publishing

Specialist poetry publisher Five Islands Press has announced the company will wind up in 2020.

The small press announced last week that it is no longer accepting new manuscripts, and will cease to publish new titles after 2019. ‘Until then we are committed to publishing and promoting our existing and forthcoming titles,’ said the publisher.

Five Islands Press was founded in 1986 by Ron Pretty, who published more than 230 books by Australian poets before he retired in 2007. In a 2014 interview, Pretty said that the press was formed as ‘a co-operative publishing house in response to the difficulties we were having in getting our work out.’

The current publishing team—comprising Kevin Brophy, Katia Ariel, Eddie Paterson and Bella Li, with graphic designer Libby Austen—thanked readers for their ‘support over the last three decades’. They also thanked founder Pretty, and past editors Lyn Hatherly, Robyn Rowland, Dan Disney, Susan Fealy, Sandy Fitts, Michael McKay and Jenna Shaw.

‘We are immensely proud of the achievements of our authors, and thank them for trusting us with their writing. It has been a privilege to publish so many fine books and be a part of Australian poetry publishing history,’ they said.

Five Islands Press declined to comment any further.

Category: Local news