New Binary Press was an independent publishing house founded in 2012 in

Cork city Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city' ...

, Ireland. In a Tweet dated 19 January 2021, the New Binary Press announced that it had ceased operations. It published print books and

electronic literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. A work of electronic literature can be defined as "a constr ...

, specialising in more experimental works, as well as a number of periodicals. It was established and run by its editor, James O'Sullivan. In 2017, the literary scholar Dr Kenneth Keating described New Binary Press as being one of the first publishing houses to "explicitly

ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

the division between online and print publishing in Irish poetry in a more progressive fashion". Irish poet Matthew Geden also noted the role which New Binary Press played within Irish publishing, stating that "the press has published books by a number of new and interesting writers ndThe emergence of new voices owes much to small publishers like New Binary and others".

History

New Binary Press was founded in 2012 by James O'Sullivan, who stated that he founded the press because other Irish publishers were ignoring the creative potential of digital technology, and that he wanted to make "a real tangible contribution" to the literary world. The press was officially launched by Irish poet

Leanne O'Sullivan Leanne O'Sullivan is a poet from the Beara Peninsula in Cork, Ireland. She is the author of three collections of poetry. Writing career O'Sullivan's first collection of poetry, ''Waiting for my Clothes'' (2004), was published by Bloodaxe Book ...

at the City Library,

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, on 5 April 2013. A similar event was held at The Teachers' Club,

Parnell Square Parnell Square () is a Georgian square sited at the northern end of O'Connell Street in the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the city's D01 postal district. Formerly named ''Rutland Square'', it was renamed after Charles Stewart Parnell (18 ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, several days later. New Binary Press announced that it was ceasing operations in a Tweet posted on 19 January 2021. In 2017, New Binary Press' editor, James O'Sullivan, had been vocal on the difficulties faced by independent publishers in Ireland, and also questioned the need for publishers in the digital fiction marketplace.

Publication history

The press had a number of critical successes: Graham Allen's ''The One That Got Away'' (2014) was shortlisted for the Shine/Strong Award 2015, while '' Unexplained Fevers'' (2013) by

Jeannine Hall Gailey Jeannine Hall Gailey (born April 30, 1973) is an American poet. She has published five books of poetry and two books of non-fiction. Her work focuses on pop culture, science and science fiction, fairy tales, and mythology. Early life and educati ...

came second in the 2014

Science Fiction Poetry Association The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...

's Elgin Award. In 2016, the press published its first novel, Karl Parkinson's ''The Blocks'', which would go on to earn considerable critical acclaim. ''novelling'', a work of recombinant fiction by Will Luers, Hazel Smith, and Roger Dean, won the ELO's 2018 Robert Coover Award for a Work of

Electronic Literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature encompassing works created exclusively on and for digital devices, such as computers, tablets, and mobile phones. A work of electronic literature can be defined as "a constr ...

. New Binary Press published a number of works of

, most notably by artists like

Nick Montfort Nick Montfort is a poet and professor of digital media at MIT, where he directs a lab called The Trope Tank. He also holds a part-time position at the University of Bergen where he leads a node on computational narrative systems at the Center for ...

Stephanie Strickland Stephanie Strickland (born February 22, 1942) is a poet living in New York City. She has published ten volumes of print poetry and co-authored twelve digital poems. Her files and papers are being collected by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book And ...

Jason Nelson Jason Nelson is a digital and hypermedia poet and artist. He is Associate Professor of Digital Culture at the University of Bergen, where he was also a Fulbright Fellow from 2016-17. Until 2020 he was a lecturer on Cyberstudies, digital writ ...

, and John Barber. The first work that New Binary Press published was

digital poetry Digital poetry is a form of electronic literature, displaying a wide range of approaches to poetry, with a prominent and crucial use of computers. Digital poetry can be available in form of CD-ROM, DVD, as installations in art galleries, in cert ...

by Graham Allen, entitled ''Holes''. The one-line-a-day semi-autobiographical narrative was praised and analysed by several scholars and critics. In 2017, two born-digital works published by New Binary Press, ''The Bafflement Fires'' by

and ''novelling'', were shortlisted for the Turn on Literature Prize, co-funded by the European Union's Creative Europe Programme. A number of New Binary Press publications represent marked political leanings. In 2017, the press published ''The Elysian: Creative Responses'', an anthology of poetry, short fiction and critical essays. Edited by Graham Allen and Billy Ramsell, the collection includes contributions by a number of notable writers and critics, including

Cónal Creedon Cónal Creedon is an Irish novelist, dramatist, playwright and documentary filmmaker. Published books Creedon has written a number of novel-length works. * ''Pancho and Lefty Ride Out ''(Collins Press 1995) * ''Passion Play ''(Poolbeg Press 1 ...

Doireann Ní Ghríofa Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an Irish poet and essayist who writes in both Irish and English. Biography Doireann Ní Ghríofa was born in Galway in 1981, but grew up in County Clare. She now lives in County Cork. Ní Ghríofa has been published wi ...

, and Frank McDonald. The collection uses the symbol of

The Elysian The Elysian is a mixed-use Celtic Tiger-era building at Eglinton Street in Cork, Ireland. Construction of the building was completed in early September 2008. When built it was the tallest building in the Republic of Ireland. It was overtaken by ...

building in Cork city to reflect on the excesses of

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. ...

Ireland. Earlier in 2017, New Binary Press released John Barber's ''Remembering the Dead: Northern Ireland'', a web-based commemoration of the victims of

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

which builds on earlier iterations intended as a response to gun violence in the US. In 2018, New Binary Press published ''Autonomy'', edited by Kathy D'Arcy, a project which sought to raise funds in support of the campaign to repeal the

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn. Abortion had been subject to criminal penal ...

, as well as contribute to the campaign for "safe, legal abortion" in Ireland.

Kit de Waal Mandy Theresa O'Loughlin (born 26 July 1960), known professionally as Kit de Waal, is a British/Irish writer. Her debut novel, ''My Name Is Leon'', was published by Penguin Books in June 2016. After securing the publishing deal with Penguin, De ...

associated New Binary Press with the publication of working class writers.

References

{{reflist Publishing companies of Ireland