What works gets published and who makes these calls? And what happens if a small press goes in a different direction – shares stories that might otherwise go unheard, in forms outside of the usual, if a collective of writers work together to simply do it themselves?
Small Press, Big Impact drew a small but welcoming crowd on Saturday morning of the WORD Christchurch Festival at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū, or as one audience member noted, “most of the people in the room know each other.” And yes, there were many writers and those who are a part of the world of writing in Ōtautahi and Aotearoa. We were there to hear from those who are challenging what publishing in Aotearoa can be:
- Damien Levi (Te Āti Haunui-a-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāpuhi) from Āporo Press
- Laura Borrowdale from ngā pukapuka pekapeka
- Murdoch Stephens from Lawrence & Gibson
They were in conversation with Brannavan Gnanalingam, who is also part of the collective of writers who make up Lawrence & Gibson.
Each of the three guests had a distinct origin story that had brought them to publishing. Damien wanted to read more stories about “young queer Māori people in a city” and so founded Āporo Press with Ruby Leonard. Laura’s realised Aotearoa doesn't have a chapbook scene for writers to step from single published pieces to complete books and established ngā pukapuka pekapeka with friends and writers Josiah Morgan and Isla Huia. Murdoch in 2005 co-founded the Lawrence & Gibson publishing collective and has gone on to publish more than 35 books of literary fiction.
It was a relaxed and welcoming conversation that included authors in the audience, Laura Vincent with her Ockham winning novel Hoods Landing (Āporo Press), and Murdoch passing around his new book, pākehā metaphysics (Lawrence & Gibson) with its beautiful cherry wood cover finish.
My top takeaways:
- There is more than one approach: Āporo Press with a focus on publishing work by minority voices; Lawrence & Gibson, a writing collective that prints all their work at Rebel Press (a publishing and printing collective); ngā pukapuka pekapeka who have a performance aspect to all of their published works.
- “It’s hard by the way,” says Laura, and there is an understanding that no one is in it for the money. Small presses rely on many unpaid hours from the editors, writers and the creative community that support them including publishing students at Whitireia and discount rates from artists friends. “It’s a beautiful collective of people supporting each other,” says Murdoch.
- This is the only way to get this work published (at the moment): when the writing defies genre, is in a form that is unsupported by mainstream publishing (the wonderful Hide, a manuscript by Rebecca Hawkes launched on Thursday by ngā pukapuka pekapeka) or is simply not considered commercial enough to make money then this is where small presses find a way.
- Finances are tough: partial funding from Creative NZ (if you can get it - Waipounamu received only 10% of the last major arts funding round) or from Creative Communities Scheme, from the founder’s own pockets, and small print runs where each run pays for the next.
- Awards are great: awards such as the Ockham win for Hoods Landing, and Gnanalingam’s short-listings for Sodden Downstream and Sprigs (Lawrence & Gibson) bring much wanted attention, more stock in bookshops (thank you to independent bookshops Scorpio Books, Unity Books, and specific franchise owners of Paper Plus), credibility to the quality of publishers, and some stress on printing and distribution to meet increased demands of stock on the shelf.
- Small presses are a risk and a privilege: there is freedom in selecting works without an expectation of profit; there is privilege noted by Laura, of being in a position to fund publishing (and hope that sales will cover costs). And small presses pay their authors a higher percentage than mainstream publishers.
Get out there and support your small presses who are publishing amazing writing each year – novels, poetry, chapbooks. Buy from their websites or from your local independent bookstore. Ask your local independent bookstore to stock a title if they don’t have it.
- Hoods Landing by Laura Vincent
- Spoiled Fruit: Queer Poetry from Aotearoa – edited by Damien Levi and Amber Esau
- Overseas Experience by Nicola Andrews
- Parallel Lines by Molly Laurence
- My Body Is a Horror Film by Ray Shipley
- Dead Ends by Laura Borrowdale
- Rat King Landlord by Murdoch Stephens
- The Life and Opinions of Kartik Popat by Brannavan Gnanalingam
Find small press books in the library by searching under Publisher:
WORD Christchurch Festival 2026
- Follow our WORD coverage
- Get a copy of the WORD programme at libraries or check it out online
- Visit our WORD Christchurch 2026 page
- WORD Christchurch's website
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