Left (L-R): Across the Inland-Ice, Flowers of Abeyance, a List of Probable Flora, ark Xylem, Relics, Wolfhou.

This is the first in a series of conversations with people running poetry micro-presses. I define a micro-press, loosely, as one that turns out fewer than fifteen books a year, and whose operation is relatively informal. Working by hand and attending closely to the qualities of typography and design: these are also likely traits. The term therefore touches on others like ‘fine press’ and ‘artist publishing’. As a micro-publisher myself (sine wave peak) my intention is that these conversations will make an informal guide, something more than an index but less than a map, and offer ideas for further investigation. As well as the books themselves, I will be interested in the pots and pans of how the press works, where the work is done, who is doing it.

My first conversation is with Autumn Richardson and Richard Skelton, who established Corbel Stone Press in 2008. Through the press they publish their own and others’ work in mainly small editions, some hand-bound, others printed professionally. They are usually numbered and in some cases signed. As well as books, and sometimes with them, Corbel Stone publishes sound works, loose artefacts, and prints.There is a particular attention to typographical experiment and to the subjects of ecology, etymology, and folklore.

≈

I first met you both in 2011 at the poetry book fair in London, by which point you ...