Seizin Press

Seizin Press was a literary small press established in 1927 by the writers Laura Riding and Robert Graves. It operated in London from 1928 and moved its base to Mallorca in 1930, where it remained associated with the authors until the press ceased activity in 1935. The press belonged to the interwar small-press tradition in which writers exercised unusually close control over editorial selection, design, and publication. Its catalogue combined work by its founders with books by other modernist and experimental writers, including Gertrude Stein, Len Lye, Honor Wyatt, and James Reeves. The press is significant less for scale than for its role in the literary networks surrounding Riding and Graves. Its publications connected poetry and prose with avant-garde artistic practice and helped circulate work by authors whose writing did not necessarily fit the commercial publishing market. The Mallorca period formed the principal setting of the original press's mature activity, although the available reference material does not establish a complete bibliography, print run, or financial history. A separate revival, known as the New Seizin Press, was operated during the 1980s by an acquaintance of Robert Graves. The relationship was commemorative or continuational rather than evidence of uninterrupted operation by the original press. A later Florida-based initiative, Seizin Press Vero, has been owned and operated by the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation in Vero Beach. Its first identified volume, Decades, presents poetry by American poets who participated in the foundation's annual Poetry & Barbecue program. The available material does not provide a launch date for Seizin Press Vero or establish whether it should be treated as a direct corporate continuation of the original Seizin Press. Accordingly, Seizin Press is best understood as a historically important literary imprint with several later revivals or related uses of the name, rather than as a conventional large publishing company. Its known publishing activity centers on poetry, literary writing, and experimental or modernist work.

Seizin Press began in 1927 when Laura Riding and Robert Graves established a small literary publishing venture. The press operated in London from 1928, placing it within the interwar British literary and small-press environment. Its founders' involvement gave the imprint a strongly authorial character: rather than functioning primarily as a commercial house, it was closely connected to their own literary activities and to a circle of modernist and experimental writers. In 1930, the press's base moved to Mallorca. The island became the principal setting for its later original operations, and Seizin Press continued there until 1935. Its list included books by Riding and Graves as well as works by Gertrude Stein, Len Lye, Honor Wyatt, and James Reeves. This range suggests an interest in literary innovation across poetry, prose, and work connected with visual or avant-garde practice. The available reference material does not identify every publication, edition, or design contributor, so the catalogue cannot be reconstructed fully here. The original Seizin Press ended its activity in 1935. The name later reappeared in the 1980s in the form of a New Seizin Press operated by an acquaintance of Graves. The available account distinguishes this revival from the original operation and does not establish a continuous legal or managerial succession. A further institution, Seizin Press Vero, was subsequently owned and operated by the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation in Vero Beach, Florida. Its first noted volume, Decades, consists of poetry by leading American poets who had participated in the foundation's annual Poetry & Barbecue gathering. This later activity extended the Seizin name into an American literary and foundation context, but the available sources do not provide a date of establishment, a full publishing list, or enough corporate information to determine its precise legal relationship to the 1927 press. The history of Seizin Press therefore comprises an original interwar small press founded by two writers, a 1980s revival, and a later Florida-based foundation-operated publishing initiative. The brand's enduring identity rests on selective literary publishing, poetry, and associations with modernist and experimental writing rather than on scale or broad commercial distribution.

• 1980

  New Seizin Press revival

  [1]Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org

  A New Seizin Press was operated during the 1980s by an acquaintance of Robert Graves.

• 1935

  Original press ceases activity

  [1]Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The original Seizin Press's known operating period ended in 1935.

• 1930

  Base transferred to Mallorca

  [1]Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Seizin Press moved its base from London to Mallorca.

• 1928

  London operations begin

  [1]Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The press operated in London from 1928.

• 1927

  Seizin Press founded

  [1]Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Laura Riding and Robert Graves founded Seizin Press as a literary small press.

A writer-led literary small press associated with modernist, experimental, and poetry publishing.

• Poetry anthology

  Decades

  The first identified volume associated with Seizin Press Vero. It presents poetry by leading American poets who participated in the Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation's annual Poetry & Barbecue event. The available source does not specify its publication year, editor, contents, or print details.

• Poetry & Barbecue

  United States

  The Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation's annual Poetry & Barbecue gathering provided the participating poets represented in Seizin Press Vero's first volume, Decades.

  Outcome. The event's participants were represented in the inaugural identified Seizin Press Vero volume.

  Source

1. 1Seizin Pressen.wikipedia.org