Oak Knoll Press - Oak Knoll Books

10 Oak Knoll Press
John fuller and the sycamore press
A Bibliographic History
by Ryan Roberts
Set up in 1968, John Fuller’s Sycamore Press published some of the most
influential and critically acclaimed writers of the past half-century. Operating
from a garage, the press published established authors such as W. H. Auden,
Philip Larkin, and Peter Porter, as well as promoting young poets including
James Fenton and Alan Hollinghurst. The Sycamore Press ceased operations
in 1992, but remains an excellent example of the unique qualities associated
with the small press movement in England.
In addition to a full descriptive bibliography, the book includes an evocative
foreword by John Fuller, who wryly describes the trials and tribulations
of ‘garage’ publishing. In
a transcribed interview
with the author, Fuller
explains why a pamphlet
of poems took almost
a year to produce as he
experimented with letterpress
technology.
Personal reflections by
Sycamore Press authors such as Andrew Motion and Thom Gunn illuminate
the publishing process further and show what a powerful role John
Fuller played in the lives of young poets lucky enough to be published by
him. While this book is full of entertaining anecdotes about the hazards
of small book publishing,
it also provides invaluable
advice for small press
printers.
Ryan Roberts is a
Professor and Librarian at
Lincoln Land Community
College in Springfield,
Illinois. He also maintains
the official websites for Ian
McEwan, Julian Barnes,
Hermione Lee, and James
Fenton. He is co-editor of a volume of interviews with Julian Barnes and editor
of a volume of interviews with Ian McEwan for the University Press of
Mississippi’s Literary Conversations Series.
2010, hardcover, dust jacket, 6 x 9 inches, 160 pages
ISBN 9781584562818, Order No. 104085, $49.95
Available outside North and South America from The Bodleian Library
800-996-2556 www.oakknoll.com oakknoll@oakknoll.com