Bluemoose in Leeds Library takeover, launching indie showcase initiative

Independent publisher Bluemoose Books will be taking over Leeds Central Library for the month of June, as part of a new initiative to spotlight indie publishing in libraries, and grow the readership of their titles. 

Bluemoose’s Publisher Takeover is the first in what will become a series of regular exhibitions that showcase the work of independent publishers, in the Room 700 venue in Leeds Central Library.

The flexible exhibition space will showcase exhibits and information about Bluemoose’s authors and publications as well as recounting the press’s history and origins.

The Hebden Bridge-based publisher has curated a programme of live events that includes author talks with Colette Snowden and Anna Chilvers, and a panel discussion about independent publishing, featuring Duffy of Bluemoose, Rawan Eisa representing Leeds-located indie Peepal Tree Press, and Habiba Desai and Sara Razzaq of new Bradford-based South Asian indie Fox and Windmill.

As part of the takeover, Bluemoose will launch Stu Hennigan’s non-fiction book Ghost Signs: Poverty and the Pandemic, a study of 21st-Century poverty based on the writer’s experiences delivering food parcels around Leeds during the first lockdown in 2020. Tickets and information for these events is available via Leeds Inspired and TicketSource.

Co-founder of Bluemoose Kevin Duffy said: “Libraries have always been very important to me. Growing up we didn’t have many books in the house so I spent a lot of my time at the local library. When we first started Bluemoose in 2006, without the support of libraries like Leeds, we simply wouldn’t have survived, so it was with utter delight that we accepted Leeds Central Library’s offer to promote Bluemoose Books for the month of June. 

“It is in our very DNA to find, develop and publish new writers who struggle to see their work on shelves and to be read. We can’t wait to talk to everyone who uses Leeds Libraries and put new books into their hands, celebrating the wonder of words and stories.”

The concept was suggested by Sarah Tyson of Books Up North, who is supporting the library service to develop its cultural strategy and programming.

The aim is to enable readers to discover new writers and books, generating an appetite for borrowing more indie titles from the library’s catalogue.

Raising awareness about the richness of the publishing landscape in the North is one of Leeds Libraries’ objectives. Reader development librarian Stu Hennigan said: “We have a clear plan to develop this initiative in 2023 and will be approaching publishers we’d like to work with in the upcoming weeks and months. We already have some ideas!”

Andrea Ellison, chief librarian of Leeds Libraries, commented: “It is such a pleasure to welcome Bluemoose to Leeds Central Library for the first of our Independent Publisher Showcase events. We are really excited to be able to support this sector of publishing which is so vital for new writers and also provides us with the opportunity of creative new ways to engage with our local community of readers in Leeds.”