Shearsman Books

Shearsman Books is a very active small press based in Oxfordshire, England, publishing mainly poetry. It publishes around 50 books and two issues of Shearsman magazine every year. Its author list is completely international, with more British authors than those from elsewhere, and it has a very strong translation list with a particular emphasis on Hispanic poetry from Latin America or the Peninsula, as well as books from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, Scandinavia, Turkey, and elsewhere.

The first series of Shearsman magazine ran from 1981 to 1983 and consisted of six journal issues, plus two issues that consisted of chapbook collections (issue 4: slim pamphlets by Martin Anderson, Philip Crick, Gustaf Sobin & Nathaniel Tarn; issue 8: two thicker, stapled books by David Jaffin). It was edited from Malaysia, where the editor was then working. A move from Malaysia to the Middle East rendered further publication impossible, and the magazine ceased publication after the eighth issue and was merged into a new London-based venture called Ninth Decade (subsequently Tenth Decade). Ninth/Tenth Decade was co-edited with Robert Vas Dias, previously editor of Atlantic Review and Permanent Press, and the late Ian Robinson, editor of Oasis and Oasis Books. Ninth/Tenth Decade continued until 1991 and then folded, after fourteen issues. In 1991, Oasis and Shearsman magazines were revived by Ian Robinson and the editor of Shearsman, respectively, in similar A5 formats. Shearsman's format was an imitation of the successful one initiated by Oasis, with size driven by the weight for postage. Design was by then being achieved through computer-based DTP, and printing moved from offset to photocopying. From 1991 to 2005 Shearsman published 62 issues in a resolutely minimalist, low-cost format.

A very active small press publishing mainly poetry, with a completely international author list and a very strong translation list.

• Shearsman magazine

• Poetry books

• Poetry in translation

1. 1Poetry books | Modern Poetry | Classic Poetry | Poetry in Translation | Hispanic Poetryshearsman.com
2. 2History of Shearsman magazineshearsman.com
3. 3Tony Frazer Publisher Shearsman Booksshearsman.com
4. 4Shearsman Bookswikidata.org