Black Pepper is an independent Australian publishing house founded by Kevin Pearson and Gail Hannah in 1995 specializing in Australian

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditi ...

. Its innovative titles have won critical acclaim.

Publication

In 1995 it published the first poetry collection by

Jennifer Harrison Jennifer Harrison (born 1955) is a contemporary Australian poet. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Born in Liverpool, Sydney, Harrison studied medicine and then specialised in psychiatry. Since her first volume of poetry, ''M ...

, ''Michelangelo’s Prisoners'' (winner of the

Anne Elder Award The Anne Elder Trust Fund Award for poetry was administered by the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers from its establishment in 1976 until 2017. From 2018 the award has been administered by Australian Poetry. It is awarded ann ...

1995). It has also published her later poetry including ''Cabramatta/Cudbmirrah'' (1996), ''Dear B'' (1999) (shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards 2000,

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awa ...

Award 1999 and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize), ''Folly & Grief'' (2006) and ''Colombine, New & Selected Poems'' 010 Amongst a number of other poetry titles are:

Jordie Albiston Jordie Albiston (30 September 1961 – 28 February 2022) was an Australian poet. Early life Jordie Albiston grew up in Melbourne, the second of four children. She studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts before completing a doct ...

’s ficto-historical ''Botany Bay Document; A Poetical History of the Women of Botany Bay'' (1996) and ''The Hanging of Jean Lee'' (1998), John Anderson’s eco-poetry, ''the forest set out like the night'' (1997) and dream poems, ''the shadow’s keep'' (1997), Alison Croggon’s ''The Blue Gate'' (1997) (shortlisted for the C.J. Dennis Prize for Poetry), two poetry collections by Australian playwright

Jack Hibberd John Charles Hibberd (born 12 April 1940 in Warracknabeal, Victoria) is an Australian playwright and physician. Biography Hibberd studied medicine at the University of Melbourne and resided in Newman College. He worked as a registrar in ...

, English/Gaelic poetry by Irish Louis de Paor, works by K.F. Pearson and

Andrew Sant Andrew Sant (born 1950) is an English-born Australian poet, essayist, and former editor. In 1962 Sant moved from London, where he was born, with his family to Melbourne where he finished his formal education. He has since lived in London for ...

, including

’s ''Tremors; New and Selected Poems'' (2004), Shelton Lea’s final poetry collection, ''Nebuchadnezzar'' (2005), Emma Lew’s first collection, ''The Wild Reply'' (1997) (shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Prize 1997, co-winner of The Age Book of the Year Prize (The Dinny O'Hearn Poetry Prize) 1997, winner of the Dame

Mary Gilmore Prize __NOTOC__ The Mary Gilmore Award is currently an annual Australian literary award for poetry, awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Since being established in 1956 as the ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award, it has been awar ...

1997 and runner-up for the

), Adrienne Eberhard’s ''Agamemnon’s Poppies'' (2003) and ''Jane, Lady Franklin'' (2004), four collections by the formalist poet Stephen Edgar, ''Other Summers'' (2006), ''History of the Day'' (2009), ''Eldershaw'' (2013) (short-listed for the Queensland Literary Awards 2013 and the Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2014 and joint winner of the 2013 Colin Roderick Award) and ''Exhibits of the Sun'' (2014), and Homer Rieth’s epic poem ''Wimmera'' (2009) (short-listed for

2010 for Poetry). In novels, Black Pepper has published a number of works including those of Phil Leask,

Alan Wearne Alan Wearne (born 23 July 1948) is an Australian poet. Early life and education Alan Wearne was born on 23 July 1948 and grew up in Melbourne. He studied history at Monash University, where he met the poets Laurie Duggan and John A. Scott. H ...

, Alison Croggon’s ''Navigatio'' (1996), Barry Klemm’s

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

novel, ''Running Dogs'' (2000), Wayne Macauley's ''Blueprints for a Barbed-Wire Canoe'' (2004), ''Caravan Story'' (2007) and ''Other Stories'' (2010) (short fiction), David Cohen’s ''Fear of Tennis'' (2007), Nicolette Stasko’s episodic ''The Invention of Everyday Life'' (2007), Susan Hancock's ''The Peastick Girl'' (2013) and

Alan Gould Alan Gould (born 22 March 1949) is a contemporary Australian novelist, essayist and poet. Life and career Gould was born in London to an English father and an Icelandic mother. His family lived in Northern Ireland, Germany and Singapore before ...

's ''The Poets' Stairwell'' (2015). Other works published have included a book of plays by Daniel Keene, ''To Whom It May Concern and other plays'' (2000), short fictions by Graham Henderson and the commentary by Alan Loney, ''The printing of a masterpiece'' (2008). Black Pepper is a member of SP

(Small Press Network - Australia).

External links

Black Pepper publishing's website
Book publishing companies of Australia