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Independent publishers including Bedford Square Publishers and Dead Ink Books hosted the first Indie Showcase on Thursday 18th April, providing an opportunity for booksellers and journalists to hear from authors, meet the indie publishing teams and explore their highlights across fiction and non-fiction.
The event was held at London’s Canal Museum near Kings Cross, and featured publishers including The Indigo Press, Oldcastle Books and Peninsula Press, as well as Verve Books and Weatherglass Books.
"Great writing, great delivery, great audience, a palpable feeling of excitement for what small presses and our fabulous writers can achieve," said Susie Nicklin, founder and publisher at The Indigo Press. "I’m proud that The Indigo Press has been part of an event which shows we all punch way above our weight."
The evening opened with a talk from Bonnie Burke-Patel, author of the upcoming crime novel I Died at Fallow Hall (Bedford Square Publishers), and Suzanne Joinson, author of the memoir The Museum of Lost and Fragile Things (The Indigo Press). Their talks were followed by a debut novel panel featuring Ania Card, author of Above Us (Dead Ink Books), Ammar Kalia, author of A Person is a Prayer (Oldcastle Books), and James Roseman, author of Placeholders (Verve Books).
Following the panel, Graham Caveney spoke about his memoir The Body in the Library (Peninsula Press), and Saraid de Silva closed the event with a reading from her novel Amma (Weatherglass Books).
Lisa Gooding, communications director at Verve and Oldcastle Books, said: "The event was such a joyful celebration of the rich breadth and diversity of the UK’s independent publishing industry. It was wonderful to meet so many book lovers across the trade, media and social media and hear from such a range of exciting authors. As small independents, we decided to combine our resources and amplify our outreach to spotlight our fantastic authors and forthcoming books and we hope that this will be the first of more similar events."