Founded in 2022 by Joe Vaughan, south Bristol-based Strange Region press is an independent publisher of experimental writing by artists, novelists and poets.
Their new collection Vocal Inhabitants will be released on June 16, featuring contributions from 15 writers, including Maria Sledmere, Ian Macartney, Galia Admoni, Flora Neve and Harper Walton.
“Though described as an anthology, Vocal Inhabitants is not part of a series, and does not represent an ongoing anthology project, but rather it is a single work created by many voices”, Vaughan explains.
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“The collection is interested in questions of degradation, liminality and companionship.
“But at its heart, it represents an exploration of that which is lost between speaker and receiver, the decay of thought between the mind and the page, the fraying of relationships between lovers and families and the generation of new, abstract ways of communicating.”
Vocal Inhabitants, June 2025 – photo: Strange Region
The first live event featuring the new release will be at East Bristol Books on June 27, with further events in London and Glasgow still to be announced.
For Vaughan, who also cites the impact of local independent bookshops and literary festivals, the indie publishing landscape within Bristol has been a key facet of the success of Strange Region.
“We’re incredibly proud to be a part of this explosion of literary activity”, he says.
Vocal Inhabitants is published on June 16 by Strange Region, and available for pre-order now. For more information, visit www.strangeregion.com or follow @strangeregionpress.
Main photo: Strange Region
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