About Lightship Publishing

Lightship Publishing is an exciting new independent publishing company based in Hull, UK. It is the aim of Lightship to promote and develop new writers and publish their work. Lightship Publishing will publish literary fiction and poetry. To help fund our lists and discover new voices, we will run annual international writing contests: the Lightship International Short Story Prize, the Lightship International Poetry Prize, the Lightship International Flash Fiction Prize, and First Chapter. We hope to establish the Lightship International competitions as a part of the global literary calendar. 

The winners of the Lightship International Short Story Prize and the Lightship International Poetry Prize will be awarded £1,000 each. The winner of the Lightship International Flash Fiction Prize will be awarded £500. Lightship Publishing will be publishing a paperback anthology of the winning entries, in partnership with the highly successful independent publisher, Alma Books. The winner and nine runners-up in each competition - Short Story, Poetry, and Flash Fiction - will be published. Lightship Publishing will stage an awards ceremony for the winners and runners-up in Kingston-upon-Hull in 2011. Kingston-upon-Hull has a long literary history and is a great place to launch the Lightship anthology. Lightship Publishing will be working in partnership with Alma Books to publish the Lightship Anthology in 2011.

To contact Lightship, please click here.

 

Our Patrons

Lightship is dedicated to promoting exellence in contemporary literature written in English. In this endeavour we are absolutely delighted to have the support of our honorary patrons: Christopher Reid, Winner of the 2009 Costa Book of the Year; Sir Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate and Chairman of the Man Booker Prize 2010; Hilary Mantel, Winner of the Man Booker Prize 2009; and Lindsay Clarke, Winner of the Whitbread Prize, 1989. Click on our patrons to find out more about them.

 

Sir Andrew Motion	Christopher Reid	Lindsay Clarke	Hilary Mantel	Cynthia Ozick

 

 

The Publisher

Simon Kerr is an Irish author. His debut literary novel, The Rainbow Singer was published in the UK for a five-figure sum and the US for a six-figure sum. It was nominated for the IMPAC Dublin Award (2002). His second novel, As Seen on TV (written under the pseudonym Chris Kerr) was published in 2005 and optioned by Ideology Pictures in Hollywood. He writes under various pen names and is represented by Simon Trewin at United Agents. Simon has taught Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, Reading University, and the University of Leeds. He currently lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Hull and convenes the MA there. He has worked as a reader for Fish Publishing and The Literary Consultancy. In 2005 he set up the Huddersfield Literature Festival and directed it for two years.

Simon established Lightship Publishing because he is a writer and is absolutely passionate about developing new writing and helping new writers get the recognition they deserve. He was inspired to name this enterprise 'Lightship' because every day he used to walk past the Spurn Head Lightship in Kingston-upon-Hull, and because the purpose of a lightship is to help other vessels steer to safe haven. That seems a suitable metaphor for a company that aims to help new writers win recognition and get published. 

 

 

 

‘The Rainbow Singer is a fine debut! Buy it.’ Patrick McCabe

‘As Seen on TV is very funny, and perfect for any film or TV fan.’ Matt Thorne

 

Featured Artwork

 

Cliff Forshaw is a poet and painter currently living in Hull. Collections include Trans (The Collective Press, Wales, 2005) and two recent chapbooks: A Ned Kelly Hymnal (A Paper Special Edition, 2008) and Wake (joint-winner of the Flarestack Poets Pamphlet Prize 2009). Cliff has been International Writer-in-Residence at Hobart, Tasmania, winner of the Welsh Academi John Tripp Award, and twice a Hawthornden Writing Fellow. Follow the link for Cliff’s website.

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