Ortac Press
@ortacpress.bsky.social
Independent publisher of non-fiction and novels #MDANT ortacpress.com/shop
#BookSky 📚 This will be in the print version tomorrow morning as well 💪
Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · yesterdayScuse the clickbait headline which i didn't write, but the iPaper asked for some thoughts on the non-listing of Keshed despite huge public clamour. Actually a piece about diversity in publishing and advocating for small presses. This link sans paywall archive.is/QghKz inews.co.uk/culture/book...
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Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · yesterdayScuse the clickbait headline which i didn't write, but the iPaper asked for some thoughts on the non-listing of Keshed despite huge public clamour. Actually a piece about diversity in publishing and advocating for small presses. This link sans paywall archive.is/QghKz inews.co.uk/culture/book...
We are part of an upcoming Debuts event at Bàrd Books in East London on 16th September. Henry from Ortac will be there in place of John Gay, with notes and answers provided by John. The Bedevilments is a darkly funny and surprisingly touching tale of sex, dependence and anonymity. Out next month.
The MD list of Alternative National Treasures: Ortac Press 🙏 'They do all the right things, for all the right reasons, with total clarity and integrity'
Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · 6d ago
Nearly there!! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼 Shelving pretty much done ✅ Books en route ✅ A few little bits n bobs to sort… but feeling confident for opening on Friday!! 📚🙌🏼❤️ #indiebookshop #booksky #indiebooks
On the best news ever. The Bearded Badger is back and opening a new bookshop. @beardedbadgerbooks.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...
On a new indie bookshop - the Bearded Badger is back.
Last week I was chatting to Paul Handley, chief guru and bookworm of all he surveys at Bearded Badger Books.
open.substack.com
Lengthy piece here following on from an interview question the great @heidijames.bsky.social asked about specific texts that have influenced Keshed. 5000 words and still not given a straight answer but if you join the dots some kind of shape may emerge. open.substack.com/pub/stuhenni...
Great thread from Stu on his and my publisher @ortacpress.bsky.social
Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · 2w agoTwo more of these already today, we've actually lost count. The buzz around it on Insta is just reward for Henry @ortacpress.bsky.social being bold enough to publish something so challenging in a risk-averse market, and i hope it brings the press to more peoples attention. 1/
In the shops tomorrow folks!
Turnaround Books@turnarounduk.bsky.social · 2w agoAnother stunning novel from the author of All My Precious Madness, Mark Bowles has delivered to us this deeply tender novel How Do People Stay The Same from the wonderful @galleybeggars.bsky.social Released tomorrow, look out for the review blog coming soon... uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-...
It's incredibly exciting to see Keshed by Stu Hennigan included in so many Booker Prize longlist predictions. For a tiny indie like Ortac, even being part of the conversation feels a bit surreal... @stuhennigan.bsky.social @turnarounduk.bsky.social @indiepressnetwork.bsky.social
Essay here on #ClimateChange, first published in 2023. See my SubStack post from earlier today for details, or click this link to dive straight in. open.substack.com/pub/stuhenni...
Burning Down the House
As promised earlier......
open.substack.com
There needs to an exemption for books, or getting anything to the EU will become impossible. It's already difficult and expensive enough, and we don't ship to the EU from our shop for this reason. The new tariff will impact trade sales to EU, particularly Ireland. Another blow. tinyurl.com/4jftjrvj
'Disastrous' new EU tariff deals 'significant blow' to publishers and bookshops
A new €3 EU tariff for small parcels introduced to tackle the influx of cheap Chinese imports could have potentially disastrous consequences for publishers already facing “thin” profit margins and pos...
thebookseller.com
On Thursday evening @stuhennigan.bsky.social was in conversation with @heidijames.bsky.social for a deep dive into Keshed. It was a captivating and wide-ranging conversation with some emotional readings. Listen back at the link in our bio. #getkeshed #stuhennigan www.buzzsprout.com/216795/episo...
Get Keshed: Stu Hennigan and Heidi James - First Graft Podcast
Stu Hennigan and Heidi James discuss Stu's brilliant first novel, Keshed, published by Ortac Press in 2025. This podcast is an edited recording of the live event. Stu Hennigan is a writer, poet, ...
buzzsprout.com
Podcast of Get Keshed available now (for 90 days only) for those of you who missed it or want to listen again. @stuhennigan.bsky.social #getkeshed #podcast #keshed @ortacpress.bsky.social
Massive thanks to everyone who came to this one, and to Heidi for all her hard work prepping what was one of the most challenging and interesting interviews i've ever done. Hopefully lived up to the hype i've been giving it the last few weeks. Buzzing now,sleepless night ahead!
Heidi James@heidijames.bsky.social · last mo.Get Keshed in progress…. There’s been laughter, tears and lots of love for Keshed. We’ve talked about the influence of Tristram Shandy, class, writing complex characters, literary style choices and refusing an easy redemption. Recording will be available if you missed out. @stuhennigan.bsky.social
This was great--sounds like video available soon. Congrats to @heidijames.bsky.social for steering the conversation, to @ortacpress.bsky.social for publishing, and of course to @stuhennigan.bsky.social, who's not only a meticulous, affecting writer, but also a terrific performer of his own work.
Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · last mo.#BookSky the time is upon us. Thursday 2nd July, 7 p.m. via Zoom, an in-depth dive for people who've already read Keshed, hosted by the great @heidijames.bsky.social. Unique opportunity to hear it discussed in this level of detail with one of the very best writers in the game. It's gonna slay 🙏🖤
FIERCELY, BLEAKLY ELOQUENT novel tells the brutal story of a shattered life without a bit of artifice or melodrama. Depression, alcohol, drugs, and too many losses lead to a man's slow disintegration in a drowning world. SOLID A 💙📚 #bookreviews #SmallPressSunday www.ortacpress.com/product-page...
Keshed | Ortac Press
In the derelict shell of what was once his family home, a dying man surveys the wreckage of his former life and drinks himself senseless, haunted by the chain of events that led him there. Dark, compl...
ortacpress.com
If you've read the book and wanna get down and dirty with the heavy stuff, this is gonna be unmissable. What a treat to be in conversation with great @heidijames.bsky.social too. No one gets my stuff better than she does, it's gonna be ferocious 💪🤘🖤
Ortac Press@ortacpress.bsky.social · last mo.KESHED DEEP DIVE with @stuhennigan.bsky.social and @heidijames.bsky.social Thursday 2nd July at 7pm - Online event Email getkeshed@gmail.com for an invite
KESHED DEEP DIVE with @stuhennigan.bsky.social and @heidijames.bsky.social Thursday 2nd July at 7pm - Online event Email getkeshed@gmail.com for an invite
We’re so excited to be working on this book with @davidhering.bsky.social. It’s going to be very special 🎞️ 🎥
David Hering@davidhering.bsky.social · last mo.Some news! 🎥 🍿 @ortacpress.bsky.social
Always a pleasure to publish the work of a rising literary star! Stu will undoubtedly feature as one of our authors going forward. And while you’re waiting for us to bring out our first book, you can go and read his novel, Keshed. It’s magnificent! @ortacpress.bsky.social @stuhennigan.bsky.social
Stu Hennigan@stuhennigan.bsky.social · 2mo ago#BookSky and esp #ShortStory lovers, get on board with this. One of the original series was the first fiction i ever had in physical print. Ye can read it online for free at 3:AM, with thnx to Andrews Leach and Gallix respectively for publishing it. www.3ammagazine.com/3am/last-cal...
Only a couple of weeks left to register for a free online event with me being grilled by my dark soul sister, evil literary twin, and one of the very best writers in the game, the great @heidijames.bsky.social. All the details here. open.substack.com/pub/stuhenni...
Notes From the Plague House (again)
Round-up, reminders and apologies
open.substack.com
The idea of who or what is relatable also gets taken to task a little bit by Stu – it can be a tricky and restrictive view of reading and writing. If we’re not doing that, why read at all? Listen to the full episode here podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...
Stu Hennigan on writing in vernacular and sympathetic truthful portrayals of the north
Podcast Episode · Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers · 28 May · 45min
podcasts.apple.com
If we only read books that are relatable to our environments, do we lose out on a window to a wider world? Indeed, Stu returns to some of those early environments and writes about them in KESHED.
🤔Fellow Leeds-based writer @stuhennigan.bsky.social is here talking about how and why he turned to reading, and how books and literature were fundamental to him in developing empathy compassion and perspective. We were talking about his novel KESHED @ortacpress.bsky.social
@stuhennigan.bsky.social is also a brilliant author - the one you need to read. From @ortacpress.bsky.social: Dark, complex and visceral, Keshed is an unflinching character study exploring class, belonging, fatherhood and conflicting ideals of modern masculinity. (It will also melt your face off.)
𝕖𝕔𝕜𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕚𝕟@ecksteinish.bsky.social · 2mo agore: @voxrox.bsky.social #MusicChallenge #Alt&Grunge 🤘 FYI: @stuhennigan.bsky.social sent me a few videos of him playing this both electric & acoustic for me, just because I asked. I was so honored. This one means a lot to me. Bush - Glycerine youtu.be/hOllF3TgAsM?...
Stu hit gold. Stu and I were talking about his novel KESHED @ortacpress What was the last book that really moved you? And where were you? .
His characters are flawed, in some cases deeply flawed, so he had to do a lot of work to achieve the effects he talks about here. You can hear how much Stu values when he moves a reader, and how much it means when do, when we consider it all comes from our heads and our pens.
In the episode, you’ll hear Stu talking about some of the different sections of the North he’s seen in film and TV. From Ken Loach to the Royle Family – Stu wanted to create something that was real but also that had pathos and tenderness.
😱How do we create an emotional response in a reader? And what’s it like when we do? @stuhennigan.bsky.social knows how, and perhaps it’s something to do with the way he writes his characters. We were talking about KESHED @ortacpress.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/r...