Tangerine Press publishes new, neglected and innovative writing in handbound, hardcover limited editions, in tandem with more readily available trade paperbacks. We have been known to dabble in photography and 1970s pornography too.
The press is entirely self-funded, receives no grants, except for a publication/project in 2016 which came about in unusual circumstances.
Tangerine champions work by authors who often exist on the fringes of society.
To fully understand Tangerine Press's foundations, we have to go back to 1996, when Michael Curran ran Tangerine Books, a mail order company specialising in small press oddities. A second job was always needed to stay afloat, however. Tangerine Books didn't work out, so two years later he wound up the company and entered the construction industry, first as a general labourer, then as a self-employed carpenter. But the literary itch was still there. Tangerine Press was founded in 2006. For the first seven years Mr Curran published and bound the books after work, at weekends.
A serious injury at the start of 2013 meant he had to leave 'The Building Game' and went full-time with the press later that year. In his own words: "I landed myself with a back injury in January 2013. At one point I lost all feeling in my left leg, was in and out of hospitals for three months, seeing doctors, consultants, the works. Gobbling Tramadol like they were smarties. At 43 years of age I suddenly had to reassess everything. Tangerine was all I had so went head on with that, to try and make it a viable proposition."
Previous publications include definitive poetry collections by cult US poet William Wantling (1933-74) and artist-musician-writer Billy Childish, as well as prose by controversial Booker winner James Kelman. In 2014 Tangerine co-published, with L-13 Light Industrial Workshop, a new edition of Jack London’s The People of the Abyss, with an introduction by Iain Sinclair. Photobooks include Seeing Richard, a selection of mostly unpublished images of Richard Brautigan by Erik Weber, with an introduction by William Hjortsberg (Jubilee Hitchhiker, Angel Heart) and foreword by Jarvis Cocker.
The press has also published work by Akiko Yosano, Will Self, R. Crumb, Mary Millington, Jenni Fagan, Jeanne Bernhardt, Tim Wells, Heathcote Williams, Joan Jobe Smith, Dan Fante, Adelle Stripe, Benjamin Myers, Richard Long, Salena Godden, Chris Wilson, John Dorsey, Mick Guffan, Ntozake Shange, Tony O’Neill, Hone Tuwhare, Kelsie T. Harder, Stephen Hines, Neal Brown, Lyn Lifshin, Fred Voss, Joel Williams, Jase Daniels, Ford Dagenham, Claudia Bierschenk, Richard Kostelanetz, Alexander Binder, &c.
Our authors and artists have been longlisted and shortlisted for awards such as The Edge Hill Short Story Prize, Republic of Consciousness Prize and the Athens Photobook Festival. Their books have been reviewed in Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, The Irish Times, Morning Star, New Statesman, The Scotsman, The Sunday Herald, Hackney Citizen, Black Country Bugle, Bookmunch, The Skinny, Never Imitate, Urban Fox, The Manchester Review, The Penniless Press, Stride, Humble Arts Foundation, American Suburb X, Dazed & Confused, &c.
Media coverage of the press itself includes: Times Literary Supplement, The Londonist, Courier, BBC Radio London, Beatscene, The Bookseller, The Irish Times, BBC 6Music’s Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service and a special feature on Channel 4 News (see below).
“Tooting publisher Tangerine Press runs a totally righteous tight ship, making beautiful limited editions of diligently and dotingly handbound books.”
— Dazed & Confused
“I am impressed by your publishing program. Keep up the good work!”
— John Martin, Black Sparrow Press