Swan River Press is an independent Irish publishing company dedicated to gothic, supernatural, and fantastic literature. It was founded in Rathmines, Dublin in October 2003 by Brian J. Showers. Swan River publishes contemporary fiction from around the world with an emphasis on Ireland's past and present contributions to the genre. They also issue the non-fiction journal The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature, and sporadically organise the Dublin Ghost Story Festival. [1][2][3][4]
The company name comes from the subterranean waterway which flows through the neighbourhood of Rathmines in Dublin and the logo was created by Duane Spurlock from the image of the keystone on the entrance of the Rathmines Town Hall.[5][6]
History
Swan River Press was founded in 2003, originally to print hand-sewn chapbooks and booklets for private distribution. In 2010 Swan River published their first hardback title, The Old Knowledge & Other Strange Stories by Rosalie Parker. The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature commenced publication in spring of 2013. [7]
Uncertainties is a series of anthologies considered to be the flagship publications of the company. Stories from this series have been given honourable mention in or selected for Ellen Datlow’s Best Horror of the Year and Stephen Jones’s Best New Horror reprint anthologies.[11] The volumes are "the very latest in weird storytelling" according to Michael Dirda in the Washington Post; with the series lauded by Joyce Carol Oates in the Times Literary Supplement as "Among the most memorable books I’ve read this year".[12][13]
The Green Book
Since 2013, the press has published a twice-yearly journal The Green Book: Writings on Irish Gothic, Supernatural and Fantastic Literature.[14]Ellen Datlow called The Green Book, "A welcome addition to the realm of accessible nonfiction about supernatural horror."[11] The publication includes articles and commentaries on Irish genre writers and their work, as well as reprints of classic writing, interviews, and occasional fiction, including previously uncollected work by both Bram Stoker and Dorothy Macardle. Past themed issues have given focus to J. S. Le Fanu on the bicentenary of his birth, the 1916 Easter Rising, writing by Irish women, and Lord Dunsany.
Awards
Dreams of Shadow and Smoke: Stories for J. S. Le Fanu, edited by Jim Rockhill and Brian J. Showers, won the Ghost Story Award for best anthology in 2014.[15][16]
Uncertainties IV (2020) edited by Timothy J. Jarvis
Uncertainties V (2021) edited by Brian J. Showers
Uncertainties VI (2023) edited by Brian J. Showers
Uncertainties VII (2024) edited by Carly Holmes
Dublin Ghost Story Festival
Swan River Press organised two Dublin Ghost Story Festivals. The first on 19 - 21 August 2016, co-organised with Irish author John Connolly; the second on 29 June - 1 July 2018. The venue for both festivals was the Grand Lodge of Ireland on Molesworth Street.[17][18]