Broken Pencil has nothing but love and appreciation for presses and publications that deviate from the standard conventions common in literary publishing – in both style and content, as well as the voices selected to be heard. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled across Platypus Press a few weeks ago.
Platypus Press is a boutique press based in England with a well selected curation of voices from around the globe, both new and established. There’s a lot of cool things taking place here! Their quarterly online literary journal, Wildness, demonstrates a delicate attention to language.
Their most recent issue, the aptly titled Echoes, demonstrates this quality with poetry and prose that evokes in imagery, style, and inclusivity, the opportunity for new beginnings, the idea of exposing what was previously masked. You almost get the sense that every word is carefully curated at Platypus.
This December, Platypus is releasing 2412 – a series of micro-chapbooks published daily until the 24th for free. Don’t let the length of these micro-chapbooks fool you, these tiny works are to be savoured. Print them and take them on the go! There are instructions on how to fold them for maximum portability on their website. Additionally, their website has an online catalogue available for sale, which includes the limited edition hand-bound anthology, the Quieting. Check it out! And if you’re looking for something to look forward to in the new year, be on the watch for The Wilds, a daily section coming to the press January 2017.
Faith Arkorful is an associate fiction editor at Broken Pencil.