Champions of the Writing Obsessed

Mid-September, Insurgent Press will release The Psychogeography of Brussels at the annual meeting of the European Writers Salon, which will be held not in Belgium, as you might expect, but in Madrid.

Only a few weeks later, Ireland’s online literary journal Frazzled Lit plans to publish a best-of anthology in eBook and print-on-demand format. It will include my short story “EXPERIENCE SHARING ACTIVATED,” which first appeared last August. (Read it here.)

Editor Jennifer McMahon says she hopes to publish Frazzled Lit Volume 1 — An Anthology of Voices, Stories, Memoir and Verse by the end of September or start of October, adding, “I haven’t even thought about doing a launch party, but I love the idea of doing one, so let’s say that we will.”

Brian Kelly, the force behind Insurgent Press, is equally easy-going. I suspect that’s one of the advantages of being a small publication or an independent press: being loose with publication dates and up-in-the-air about launch parties. From my seat behind a laptop, it makes for more relaxed writing. There’s a comfortable give-and-take with Brian and Jennifer, an ease with which we communicate.

One example: last year, when Frazzled Lit asked me to record one of my short stories, I was a nervous wreck and flubbed sentences, especially, crucially, the ending. I had to read it two or three times. McMahon edited the piece seamlessly because, she wrote, she had a background in radio. I emailed back. “Then why don’t you start a podcast?” A few months later, she did. I suspect she already had the idea in the back of her mind, but I like to think I had a hand in pushing her to action.

Both Kelly and McMahon told me in interviews that niche publications — which I define as small presses or literary journals more interested in literature than the bottom line — keep their focus on writers. Their wealth, as we say, is defined by the richness of the literary world.

“We really love our writers and poets, and value their work. Our role is to champion it, and get it out to as wide an audience as possible,” McMahon says. “This is part of the reason behind the anthology.”

McMahon and Kelly are both writers themselves, so they understand how rewarding it is to see one’s work published, especially as an emerging artist.

“Insurgent Press is a place to experiment and develop,” Kelly says. Novels are massive undertakings that require years of work. Shorter pieces — flash fiction, short stories or essays — let writers try new things and give readers a taste of what’s going on in our society and culture.

Frazzled Lit and Insurgent Press are outlets for the writing-obsessed.

“It’s fun; it brings me joy. You can take risks with these stories that you can’t in a novel,” Kelly says.

McMahon agrees. “Producing a great story is the literary equivalent of cocaine – the hit is strong, and it’s totally addictive.”

The print-on-demand format for Frazzled Lit’s anthology is itself an experiment, a chance to see if the journal can eventually expand into a small press, publishing full novels alongside short fiction.

“We’re not expecting big sales. The point of the exercise is to celebrate the work of our writers, and to put it out in as many forms as we can,” McMahon writes in an email. Online. Podcase. Print.

Psychogeography, From Turnpike Lane to Ixelles

If Frazzled Lit does grow into a press, it will be following in the path of Insurgent Press.

Insurgent Press books can be purchased online, but they also sell their books in local bookstores around London and at their monthly Verbal Discharge readings in pubs (IYKYK). A typical print run is around 250 books. Their goal is to make enough money to publish their next title. Profits are shared with writers. One London cabby sells riders his book of poetry from his taxi and does quite well.

The Brussels book will be the fifth Psychogeography title from the London-based group. The series has become their calling card. (Their first, the Psychogeography of Turnpike Lane, remains one of their best sellers and has had a second printing.)

Psychogeographies look at the emotional and psychological side of urban life: writers study how a place and its built environment affect people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior, then write about how that city “feels” to them.

At last year’s European Writers Salon, a group of us fanned out around the Ixelles neighborhood. One person focused on the nearby Flagey Market, which was open that day. Another dallied in the church. Someone hilariously misunderstood a local. I walked around the ponds and, well, pondered.

“It’s a cool concept. It’s entirely your own perspective, and you can do it anywhere. It’s fun. It gets people together,” Kelly says.

Insurgent hopes to hold another release party in Ixelles later this year. Maybe next year. That loose, unhurried timeline is part of the vibe of being a small press and part of the charm.