New Writers' Press was an Irish small

press Press may refer to: Media * Print media or news media, commonly called "the press" * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press (newspaper), a list of newspapers * Press TV, an Iranian television network People * Press (surname), a famil ...

that specialised in poetry

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

. The press was founded in 1967 by the poets Michael Smith and Trevor Joyce and Smith's wife Irene in response to what they felt to be the stagnant state of

Irish poetry Irish poetry is poetry written by poets from Ireland. It is mainly written in Irish language, Irish and English, though some is in Scottish Gaelic literature, Scottish Gaelic and some in Hiberno-Latin. The complex interplay between the two mai ...

at the time. The first volume published by the press was Joyce’s debut collection, "Sole Glum Trek", which included an editorial by Smith that communicated the purpose of the press as follows: :: bring out a series of small books each of which will give a young poet the chance of finding the audience so necessary to him ... :: Most of the poets whose work will be included in this series are Irish and under thirty. Believing poets should be beyond the herd :: instinct, they belong to no school, movement, club or clique. They are all serious poets, that is, human beings for whom writing poetry :: is morally, a profoundly central activity, not a mere hobby or ornamental grace. (Joyce, 1995: 277) The press was very active for the first 12 years of its existence, publishing some 46 items, including the six issues of the journal ''

The Lace Curtain ''The Lace Curtain'' was an occasional literary magazine founded and edited by Michael Smith and Trevor Joyce under their New Writers Press imprint. Both press and journal were dedicated to expanding the horizons of Irish poetry by rediscoverin ...

''. Since 1979, there have been approximately 12 new titles, some of them in collaboration with British, Canadian and Polish small press publishers. The press was committed to help revive interest in the modernist tradition in Irish poetry, and to this end they published

Thomas MacGreevy Thomas MacGreevy (born Thomas McGreevy; 26 October 1893 – 16 March 1967) was a pivotal figure in the history of Irish literary modernism. A poet, he was also director of the National Gallery of Ireland from 1950 to 1963 and served on the f ...

's ''Collected Poems'',

Brian Coffey Brian Coffey (8 June 1905 – 14 April 1995) was an Irish poet and publisher. His work was informed by his Catholicism, his background in science and philosophy, and his connection to French surrealism. He was close to an intellectual Europea ...

's ''Selected Poems'' and a special 1930s issue of the journal, all in 1971. In addition to work by Coffey, MacGreevy, Joyce and Smith, New Writers Press authors included John Jordan, Anthony Cronin,

Michael Hartnett Michael Hartnett ( ga, Mícheál Ó hAirtnéide) (18 September 1941 – 13 October 1999) was an Irish poet who wrote in both English and Irish. He was one of the most significant voices in late 20th-century Irish writing and has been called " Mu ...

Augustus Young Augustus Young (born 1943 in Cork, Ireland) is an Irish poet. Biography Young worked in London as an epidemiologist and adviser to health authorities, and now lives in France. His first collections of poems, ''Survival'' (1969) and ''On Loani ...

, Jack Spicer,

Tom MacIntyre Tom MacIntyre (10 December 1931– 31 October 2019) was an Irish poet, playwright and writer. Born in Cavan, he grew up in Bailieborough with his four siblings, and briefly worked as a pharmaceutical chemist, before deciding to write. MacIntyre ...

, Patrick Galvin, Paul Durcan, Robert Pawlowski, and

Antonio Machado Antonio Cipriano José María y Francisco de Santa Ana Machado y Ruiz (26 July 1875 – 22 February 1939), known as Antonio Machado, was a Spanish poet and one of the leading figures of the Spanish literary movement known as the Generation ...

(in Smith's translation).

Notable titles

''Poems''. Jorge Luis Borges. Translated by Anthony Kerrigan. 1967. ''The Lace Curtain'', Issues 1-6. Ed. Michael Smith and Trevor Joyce. 1969 - 1978 ''Selected Poems''. Brian Coffey. 1971. ''The Poems of Sweeny, Peregrine.'' Trevor Joyce. 1976.

References

Print

*Coughlan, P. and Davis, A. (eds). ''Modernism and Ireland: the Poetry of the 1930s''

Online

A checklist of publications compiled by Trevor Joyce
{{Authority control Small press publishing companies Publishing companies established in 1967 Book publishing companies of Ireland Poetry publishers Irish companies established in 1967