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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 1d

"It’s a book that knows how highly gay men hold youth and beauty despite how impossible one’s hold on it is, but how, perhaps, with a brushstroke, something can be captured, kept, held [...]" Mark Ward author of MASTERS wrote a lovely blog post for us!

Read more here: buff.ly/id01XwK

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 3d

‼️ GIVEAWAY ENDS MIDNIGHT TONIGHT‼️

👾 Pre-order today for a chance to win a digital game version of THE WAITER on USB cassette👾

We have 3 to give away, winners will be selected at random from any pre-orders before the deadline⭐

Pre-order buff.ly/DW2UHle

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 4d

👾 2 DAYS LEFT OF PRE-ORDER GIVEAWAY👾

Pre-order now for a chance to win a digital game version of THE WAITER on USB cassette!!

3 winners will be selected at random from pre-orders made before midnight UK time 5 OCTOBER‼️

buff.ly/DW2UHle

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Reposted by The Emma Press

The Stephen Spender Trust @stephenspender.bsky.social · 7d

Translated by David Colmer!

Why not use #CreativeTranslation to engage your students with poetry for #NationalPoetryDay?

Free resources: www.stephen-spender.org/resources/

@davidcolmer.bsky.social @theemmapress.bsky.social @edwardvandevendel.bsky.social @poetrydayuk.bsky.social #play #poetry

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 6d

👾 4 DAYS LEFT OF PRE-ORDER GIVEAWAY👾

Pre-order by 5 October for chance to win a digital game version of THE WAITER by @kwananntan.bsky.social alongside a collection of games designed by the author on USB cassette!

3 winners will be selected at random⭐

PRE-ORDER buff.ly/DW2UHle

The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 6d

It's National Poetry Day! If you're looking for inspiration, our chat with @lauratheis.bsky.social, author of POEMS FROM A WITCH'S POCKET, is now over on Youtube! #nationalpoetryday ✍️

buff.ly/X8LjNT5

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 7d

“Looking for a book of short stories to appeal to those who love quirky humour and to inspire creativity? [...] I highly recommend this hard to define book" - Brenda Marshall, from English 4-11 @englishassociation.bsky.social on Please Don't Read The Footnotes Please by @robwaltonwriter.bsky.social🦣

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 8d

We had such an amazing time at the recording of our first audiobook, The Waiter by @kwananntan.bsky.social!! Thank you Vera Chok and Birmingham Podcast Studios for having us⭐

👾 Preorder The Waiter + Audiobook here: buff.ly/DW2UHle 👾

3 Computer screens showing script and audio recording

Voice actor in booth reading from a screen

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 12d

NEW BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT!! The Emma Press is delighted to announce the acquisition of AARDVARK DAY by former Zoologist Victoria Gatehouse ⭐ 🌷

Publishing May 2026 ☀️ Illustrated by Kate Lucy Foster

🌿 Read the full announcement on our website 🌿

buff.ly/xTeh5qk

Black and white photo of blonde white woman with header The Emma Press acquires debut poetry collection AARDVARK DAY from former Zoologist Victoria Gatehouse

The Emma Press is delighted to announce Aardvark Day, the debut poetry collection by Victoria Gatehouse, an eccentric exploration of fascinating plants and creatures.
“As a poet with a degree in zoology, this debut children's collection brings together two of my greatest passions” - Victoria Gatehouse

As a zoology graduate and nature lover, Victoria shares her expertise and passion through poignant and funny poems on the fairy armadillo, unbelievable mushroom names and instructions on how to be a dragonfly.
Aardvark Day is also filled with interesting facts and figures and is to be fully illustrated by emerging artist Kate Lucy Foster.

Read the full acquisition announcement on our website!
Publishing May 2026

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 14d

Prepping for a little workshop to celebrate #WorldKidLitMonth this afternoon, and I wanted to share Deborah Smith's bio from her translation of I AM THE SUBWAY by Kim Hyo-eun (Scribble) 🤩

Head over to the brilliant @worldkidlit.bsky.social website & see where books can take YOU: buff.ly/BTBAT3E

I am Deborah Smith. I grew up in a small South Yorkshire town without a bookshop or books at home, never travelling. I read translations, learned Korean, then began to translate and founded Tilted Axis Press (publishing translations of writing from across Asia), all to learn, share and support a more nuanced and equitable awareness of our mutually entangled lives. These days I translate little and slowly, mainly poetry. My other translation work involves mentoring, curating, and learning to live in India.

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 15d

Come and see Rachel Spence alongside some other fantastic poets at Poetry Salon @indiepressnetwork.bsky.social Saturday 4th October! ⭐

See our events page for more information: buff.ly/XVgiPYW

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 19d

"To write something that children will enjoy, I think it's important to have elements of silliness, but also some heart" 🦣 Read our children's author @robwaltonwriter.bsky.social's interview with @peters-books.bsky.social!

Find the interview: buff.ly/RovCW03
Order the book: buff.ly/iCGywXO

Yellow book cover of Please Don't Read The Footnotes Please on a white background

Cartoon illustrations with quote "To write something that children will enjoy, I think it's important to have elements of silliness, but also some heart. I love the idea of children having fun with their teachers."- Rob Walton

Book cover with quote “Riddings Library in Scunthorpe was where it all started for me [...] That library, those bookcases, the windows, the porch and the loans desk are so clear in my memory”. - Rob Walton

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 20d

Happy Publication day to Laura Theis ~ POEMS FROM A WITCH'S POCKET, illustrated by Kate Lucy Foster, is out now! 🔮✨

Join us for a witchy poetry webinar tonight to celebrate the launch ~ all aspiring witches welcome: buff.ly/E4tyhqV

Order your copy: buff.ly/t4NPn2A
💜

The image shows a copy of the book POEMS FROM A WITCHS POCKET next to a brown mug with a pumpkin-shaped biscuit and a candle.

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Reposted by The Emma Press

Farhana Shaikh 🍉 @farhanashaikh.bsky.social · 26d

💯 Our afternoon in conversation session features Edge Hill shortlisted @afahynes.bsky.social and this year's winner of the debut prize, Malachi McIntosh @theemmapress.bsky.social This will be a deep dive into putting together a collection, working with a small press, and the impact of prizes.

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 22d

Witches also have bad days!
If this sounds like you, why not get comfy and tune in for some witchy writing inspiration with our webinar to celebrate the online launch Laura Theis' POEMS FROM A WITCH'S POCKET? 🔮✨

September 18, 7pm UK time (Zoom)

Free ~ book your place here: buff.ly/t4NPn2A ⭐

The text in the image reads:
witches also have bad days
let’s say you’re feeling uninspired
let’s say that for days you haven’t looked or
been looked at by anyone
but the bird pattern of your duvet cover
and the backs of your own eyelids
did you know you can still make a spell song
from oxygen and the muscles you’ve been
using for your long yawns?

that you can still turn a pebble into a grain of sand
and back again with a flick of your tired mind?
that you can fast forward or slow down time
as you are waiting to be let in, or for the good part
to begin?

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 26d

An interactive fiction debut by Kwan Ann Tan (@kwanann.tan) inviting readers to pick their way through a future London on the brink of collapse.

👾 Publishing 13 November 2025 ~ PRE ORDERS NOW OPEN!: buff.ly/SVrCq9R 👾

THE WAITER by Kwan Ann Tan
Pre-order by 5 October for a chance to win a digital game version of The Waiter, alongside a collection of games designed by the author

The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 27d

A few months ago we hosted a scratch night for the translators involved in our collab with the Feminist Translation Network. It was an honour to peek behind the scenes of the translations-in-progress, with the translators sharing insights into their processes. Watch the recording: buff.ly/XkswZyU

A screenshot of an online meeting, featuring 7 people and one illustration of flowers

A screenshot of a Word document with various lines of Arabic and English highlighted in different colours, showing a translation process

A picture of a bedsheet decorated with red ribbon stencils and completely covered in black handwriting

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · 28d

MASTERS copies hot off the press ~ here's author Mark Ward with his beautiful MASTERS first edition, printed by Birmingham's Holodeck!
🖌️ Order your copy now: buff.ly/1vWnrkg
🖌️Join us 9 October online to hear Mark talk about his writing inspiration: buff.ly/3TNBN5E

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Sep 8

Highly Recommended in SCHOOL READING LIST Autumn Titles!
Order your copy of POEMS FROM A WITCH'S POCKET: buff.ly/aQsqQWW
Free online webinar with author Laura Theis to celebrate the launch: buff.ly/2cqSU0c

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Sep 5

I think about this poem every single Friday, when I take my girl swimming. As that's now a year and a half of musing I thought some other people might enjoy it too! 💞

Listen to Laurie read the whole poem here: buff.ly/Eq1LMmd

Image of a book against a swimming costume, with the following excerpt legible:
Swim
When my pastel-coloured swimming costume started to wear away at the chest
it told my legs to keep on swimming
to be flecks of 80s confetti and prick the man who
called them
pins
nice pins
he kept saying from the window of the plastic barber shop
the bus stop
the supermarket floor.
I swam past them all
the little men
got stuck in the filter
like they told me I would with all my hair
my fake glow fell away
I swam past the prom dress on the hanger
and through the turnstile at Loftus Road

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Sep 3

Join us on 9 October to celebrate the launch of Mark Ward's MASTERS, a tender & daring gallery of writing in response to paintings by queer men.

Feat. guest poet Jarad Bruinstroop

7pm UK time, via Zoom: buff.ly/3TNBN5E
Explore poems from the book: buff.ly/1vWnrkg

9 October, 7pm UK time, Online launch for MASTERS, POEMS by Mark Ward, featuring guest poet Jarad Bruinstroop

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Sep 1

Did you know that September is #WorldKidLitMonth? The month for everyone of any age to explore the world through international children’s books!

💡 Head over to the World Kid Lit blog for book recs from over 180 countries: buff.ly/plKVZ5g

☀️ Happy travels wherever you fly by book!

World Kid Lit Month bingo board - can you read a title from Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe and The Americas? Can you find a translated picture book, middle grade book, YA title and graphic novel or comic?

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Aug 29

Ease your child back into the school routine with Rob Walton's PLEASE DON'T READ THE FOOTNOTES PLEASE, on sale until Sunday: buff.ly/jtx9Miu

"The stories are so short that readers who can’t face a whole novel are set free just to enjoy this – and there is a great deal to enjoy!" ~ Hilary Elder

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Aug 27

We're delighted to announce the shortlist from our February 2025 open call: huge congratulations to the selected authors, and thank you to all writers who trusted us with their projects! 💚

Read the full shortlist & longlist on our blog: buff.ly/bxFrVii

We're delighted to announce the shortlist & longlist from our February 2025 open call: huge congratulations to the selected authors, and thank you to all writers who trusted us with their projects!

SHORTLISTED WRITERS
Cath Drake with 'Atlas of Human Endeavour'
Craig Barker (@cregfromengland) with 'A Welcome Party of Cicadas'
Elleke Boehmer with 'The Boy in The Cave'
Emily Spivey (@emilyaspivey) with 'My Body Is An OS Map'
Jane Wilkinson with 'Household Ghosts'
Prea Kaur (@preakaur) with 'my heart an aquarium'
Rachel Jeffcoat (@rachel__jeffcoat) with 'There Is No Word Alive For What I Am'
Rachel Rankin (@rakelrank) with a translation of Karoline Brændjord’s 'I Want to Wake Up to the World'
Rakhshan Rizwan with 'Why is it called a strawberry if it doesn’t have a straw?'
Melanie Han (@melhan) with 'No Way of Returning Home'

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The Emma Press @theemmapress.bsky.social · Aug 25

Daunting week ahead? Try this 'Spell Song for Extra Courage', from Laura Theis's POEMS FROM A WITCH'S POCKET, ills. Kate Lucy Foster!

🔮 Join our relaxed webinar exploring poetry with Laura on 18 September - ALL ASPIRING WITCHES & WRITERS WELCOME: buff.ly/y1cJRzY

🔮 Buy the book: buff.ly/XePxTjz

In thorny woods where darkness sleeps/I walk the path with shadowed feet. Above, my sister lights the way/till night becomes a yawning day. I won't turn back, won't doubt, won't fear. I am a witch. My magic's here.

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