INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS SHOWCASE

#12 FLIPPED EYE PUBLISHING

It is the twelve in my series of Independent Publishers Showcase and this week I am delighted to welcome to the showcase Flipped Eye Publishing.

 Flipped Eye Publishing was founded by award winning writer Nii Ayikwei Parkes in 2001 focussing on fine literature both in poetry and fiction books and has won critical acclaim across the world for some fine poets in Inua Ellams, Malika Booker, Miriam Nash, Nick Makoha and Warsan Shire. All the writers from Flipped Eye publishing have a home in a publisher that really allows them to express themselves. There is a dedicated team at Flipped Eye from poetry to fiction as well as a team of editors. A publisher that really is worth having a look at.

During these difficult times small independent publishers need all our support to survivie. They have a very exciting listing of books in both fiction and poetry and these can be ordered by visiting their website and details are below:

Keep an eye on their Twitter feed @flippedeyeor visit their website:  Flipped Eye  

A selection of the poetry and fiction titles currently released:

A Warning to the House that Holds Me (Flap Series) by Amina Jama

Poetry

Published: 19^th December 2019

Summary:

 Warning to the House That Holds Me builds on the milestones and mythology of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo to perform a deeply personal act of reclaiming power. Fully aware of the political significance of rejecting the dominant, Amina weaves together a series of poems that pay homage to her home country and lineage – exploring displacement, dual nationality and Somali history. Drawing on a long tradition of Somali storytelling, these poems achieve the complex balance of being as conversational as they are crafted. Brimming in them is a sense of longing for escape, yet accepting the inescapable reality of generational trauma and the ever present grip of a mother’s embrace.

29 Ways to Drown by Niki Aguirre

Fiction

Published: 25^th October 2007

Summary:

From an incredible new talent come ten stories that fizz with the irreverence of ZZ Packer, the time-bending antics of Borges, the layered mystery of Alice Munro and whiffs of Marquez’s surrealism. Whether it’s a boy trapped at age fourteen after a botched attempt to capture time in a capsule, an organic seed distributor entrapping an errant lover with a replica pre-Columbian Aztec artefact bought in Chicago, or a woman attempting to drown herself in a water aerobics class in London, Niki Aguirre’s stories grip by their absolute logic and the sheer absurdity of the inevitable truths they unravel.

Breathe: Stories from Cuba by Leila Segal

Fiction Collection

Release Date:21^st January 2016

Summary:

Breathe is a collection that explores the heart of Fidel Castro-era Cuba; an outsider’s look that is balanced by a weight of empathy to illuminate truths that lie couched between the island’s propaganda and the Western media’s portrayal. Characters from Europe and the USA in Swimming, Taxi and Sabbatical seem to want to hold on to the indulgences that their countries offer them, while praising Cubans for the more abstemious lives they lead and seeking to sample what the locals experience; in Siempre Luchando, I Never See Them Cry and The Party, romantic liaisons strengthen or buckle under the strain of the minute exploitations that result from the assumptions one makes about the other; the seedy sexual aggression of Luca’s Trip to Havana is undercut by the subtle yet intense lust of Breathe; while Leaving Cuba, with its closing image of Havana’s night sky, is as eloquently balanced a tale of the lives of everyday Cubans as you will read in a long while – whichever path one takes, something is lost. As Aida Bahr, winner of Cuba’s Premio de la Critica Literaria says, “relying more on subtleties than on drama, [Segal] portrays the tensions and struggles, but also the joy and warmth, that fill Cubans’ lives.”

A Class Act by Chip Hamer

Poetry Collection

Release Date: 1st May 2020

Summary:

As the opening poem of this debut, Death of a Pie ‘n Mash Shop, attests: Chip Hamer is not your typical man of letters. A founding member of the Poets on the Picket Line squad, his poems have been bellowed against the din of rush hour traffic from picket lines throughout London, bringing solidarity and attention to workers across the capital. Chip’s first full collection is unflinching in its appraisal of the first fifteen years of the millenium, from New Labour’s descent into Middle Eastern conflicts to the ConDem government’s age of austerity. But while the outlook may seem grim, A Class Act is characterised by an attitude of stern determination and a tender, underlying empathy that never forgets the human story behind each headline and statistic. Revealing another passion, as a coach at the All Stars Boxing Gym, these poems jab, feint and move before catching you with a hard left hook.

Paper Doll (Flap Series) by Katherine Lockton

Poetry Collection

Release Date: 24^th September 2020

Summary:

Proudly staking a landmark for the UK’s Latinx community, Katherine Lockton’s debut pamphlet, Paper Doll, strikes the poetry landscape as disruptively as a meteor scars earth with its impact. Documenting a shape-shifting existence between activist and survivor, immigrant and alien, lover and loner, this is a tract of the unseen made visible and given a striking, defiant vocabulary. Having fallen from a building as a child in Bolivia, Katherine seems to have retained an ability to stack images that zip along, only leaving an imprint of their meaning as the poem descends to its conclusion. This quality, combined with a contrasting directness makes reading Paper Doll a profoundly affecting experience. There is no smooth ride to be had here. As the poet puts it in the poem The Paper Doll Chain, “she will defy me; time after time/ teaching me how to live when she does.”

For further information on the publications from Flipped Eye Publishing please visit their website: Flipped Eye

You can also find them on Twitter: @flippedeye and also their Instagram feed @flippedeye

If you have enjoyed this week’s showcase, please look out for my next Independent Publishers Showcase next week. If you are an indie publisher and would like to add your name to the showcase, you can contact me via Twitter: @TheLastWord1962