Community Books
The Number 79 Bus to Chidwell more
History and Heritage
The People's Histories of Pontefract People and Castleford People more
Poetry by Brian Lewis
The Search for the Plastic Grail more
A View from St Giles Tower more
Poetry by Julie Boden
Community Books
It is often said that everyone has at least one book in them, however what often goes unsaid is how to go about transforming book ideas into a realised product. Pontefract Press helps groups to set up their own community publishing operation, offering both organisational and practical assistance to help bring ideas to life. The services offered range from initial planning right through to assistance with book production.
How we do this
Our community publishing services can be broken down into three main elements:
We don't take any of the profits, nor can we guarantee them. The responsibility for publishing rests with the organisation being helped and we can't provide any financial support or distribute the book.
Organisations who have used this service vary greatly, from a publishing house set up by eight young mothers to an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in Greater Manchester.
History and Heritage
Currently we have two innovative history books for sale: A People's History of Pontefract People and a People's History of Castleford People. They are scholarly, light of touch and give a clear sense of place. Steve McClarence, Travel writer for The Times describes them as 'a subversive alphabet of anecdote from A to Y. Full of cheek, glee and good stories, this is history made as accessible as a phone book.'
Poetry Books
Pontefract Press only publishes the works of invited poets, we are self funding and cannot afford to do otherwise. Regretfully work by uninvited poets will be sent back without stamps, unacknowledged and unread.
Below we showcase two of our Poets, Julie Boden and Brian Lewis.
A Tasty Trip Around Town Published by Tiny Bookworms
This full colour illustrated children's book, based upon the favourite fruit and places of a group of babies living in Normanton, West Yorkshire. The book was created and published by Tiny Bookworms a co-operative, which comprises of 8 first time local mothers who decided to produce a book for their young chidren.
Tiny Bookworms was set up with the help of Pontefract Press and uses the individual skills and knowledge of group members in all aspects of the creative and marketing process.
Not The Norm Published by Sliced Press
This book of text and photographs is an appreciation of the surprising enterprise found in the small Yorkshire town of Normanton. It contains stories by local people who are developing their own business's and explains where their ideas for enterprise came from and their success and failure. It is intended to inspire and encourage others.
Pontefract Press brought together the entrepreneurs and assisted with design, editing and print negotiation.
Sliced! Press, which was established by the owner of a restaurant on Normanton high street.
Both Tiny Bookworms and Sliced! Press were setup as part of Yorkshire Forwards Creative Regional Economic Strategy (RES). These publishing projects emphasised aspiration and entrepreneurship and healthy eating, pride of place and the neighbourhood agendas.
The 79 Bus to Childwall Published by Liverpool Housing Action Trust
This book, commissioned by Liverpool Housing Action Trust, records the seven year history of the regeneration of this Liverpool community estate. Pontefract Press used the voices of residents to show the benefits of regeneration and the creation of houses which rely upon sustainable energy sources.
A People's History of Castleford People and Pontefract People
by Brian Lewis
Yvette Cooper, MP for Pontefract and Castleford writes: "Books that provide an insight into the personalities behind a town bring history alive for local people. Pontefract and Castleford can now boast a witty and original people's history that will ensure that the great, the good and the downright eccentric are not forgotten."
Prices per book
Softback: 13 pounds (Inc. Postage)
Signed Hardback: 20 pounds (Inc. Postage)
The Search for the Plastic Grail
The first poem in the Jude series, introduces the reader to Jude, she is young and questioning. The book works on the proposition that Northern women don’t travel far, but on this occasion during a two mile train trip she meets Einstein’s daughter, sees Europa mating with the bull, and a battle between men in hard hats and others in Armani suits. The poetry, as a play was presented as a major item at the 25th Ilkley Festival.
Year: 1996
Price: 7 pounds
ISBN: 1-900325-04-7
The Bus to Hope
In this poem Jude descends into hell from Leeds Art Gallery, where she meets Henry Moore-or-Less and exits at Meadowhall Sheffield before boarding the Bus to Hope. This forthright attack on modernism leads to the conclusion that if you want to study life through art then you should learn to draw.
Year: 1998
Price: 7 pounds
ISBN: 1-900325-12-8
A View from St Giles Tower
This one hundred sonnet sequence relies on the belief that the souls of all of the worlds immortals continue to exist in the town occupying the bodies of those who current residents.
Lewis forever blowing raspberries at the establishment is no purist. He seeks to liberate the sonnet until it bursts its stay in imaginative splendor.
Year: 1999
Price: 6 pounds
ISBN: 1-900325-18-7
The Twin Collection
This is a collection of poems taken from two earlier but now out of print books: Beyond the Bullring and Cut on the Bias. It takes the reader with a fantastic journey across the public and intimate middle heartlands of England. The landscape created focuses not only on the industrial and rural Midlands but also its people and the lives of the various types of every-man and every-women encountered.
