18 February – Events

Yesterday I had the opportunity to witness two (different) but related events – both in the field of writing and publishing.

One, in Edinburgh, was the second year anniversary of Luna Press Publishing, an independent Scottish small press. Established in 2015 in Edinburgh, “the current focus of Luna Press Publishing is in academic research, non-fiction, PhDs, and art. On the non-fiction front, our steadily growing catalogue is exploring Fantasy and Science Fiction through papers and research. Currently, the press has the following projects: “Beyond Realities”, which launched on the 1st of January 2015, it’s a short story competition for writers and illustrators of SF, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy and their sub-genres. Its little brother “BR-FLit”, is the flash-fiction equivalent. “A Thousand Word Picture” is a series where writers and illustrators work together to realise illustrated novelettes and stories for children and adults.”Visual Words” explores the realm of graphic novels in unconventional ways.”Academia Lunare” is the non-fiction branch for the critical exploration of fantasy and science fiction. “Lines to Life” is our art series, with colouring books and more generally art books. “Traditional Fiction” includes all fictional work – from full-length novels to anthologies to parodies – for YA, Teen and a more general audience.” (See more on the publisher website).

The second event was the launch of an independent bookstore in the centre of the magnificent medieval town of Perugia, Italy. The bookstore (named “Mannaggia” after the title of a short story by one of the owners, writer Carlo Sperduti) specialises in small presses, children books and graphic novels (I have found there a rare edition of The Crow – simply amazing!) and will host in future weeks a series of literary events. To my delight, I’ve found a great deal of speculative fiction – classics like Asimov and Philip K. Dick, but also authors less known.

I do recommend a visit if you plan a trip to Perugia at the next Umbria Jazz!

6 Comments

  1. sjhigbee

    From Edinburgh to Italy… what a lovely wide-ranging post, Steph. Have a great week:).

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Many thanks and a great week to you, too! Looking forward to your next posts 🙂

      Reply
  2. Marje @ Kyrosmagica

    Interesting post Steph will have to take a look at the Edinburgh press details. Love to visit Perugia never been.

    Reply
    1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

      Perugia is an amazing town, and, albeit its (small) size, quite international. Worth a visit if you go to Italy at some moment.

      Reply
      1. Marje @ Kyrosmagica

        I’d love too! Thanks for the tip Steph. One to put on my bucket list.

        Reply
        1. Steph P. Bianchini (Post author)

          😀

          Reply

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