A few weeks ago, our founder, Farhana Shaikh, posted a short thread on Twitter (X) about the pressures of running a small press against the tide of rising costs. Thr small presses have been doing their best, but with rising costs affecting paper, print, postage, and the usual utility bills – we need readers to …

Every year Dahlia Publishing hosts students from the University of Leicester for a 10-week placement. The scheme run by the university provides students with an opportunity to gain work experience in a small press to enhance their learning. Students often work remotely and are supported by editor Farhana Shaikh to pursue a personal project – …

Every year Dahlia Books hosts students from the University of Leicester for a 10-week placement. Students are given tasks from a range of the different sectors within publishing to give them a thorough understanding of the industry from the perspective of a small press. This scheme enhances the learning of students and allows them to …

A local writer has won first prize in this year’s Leicester Writes Short Story Prize (18 August). Laura Coleman beat off more than 250 entrants to triumph in the competition. The winning story, A Form of Freedom was chosen anonymously from entries received from across the world. A prestigious judging panel which included writers Joe Bedford and Mona Dash selected …

Every year Dahlia Publishing hosts students from the University of Leicester for a 10 week placement. The scheme run by the university provides students with an opportunity to gain work experience in a small press to enhance their learning. Students often work remotely and are supported by editor Farhana Shaikh to pursue a personal project …

We’re thrilled to share the news that we’ve been shortlisted in the Small Press of the Year category at this year’s British Book Awards. Farhana Shaikh, managing editor of Dahlia Books said she was in shock: “2020 was a tremendously challenging year. We were looking forward to celebrating our 10th anniversary but the pandemic had …

We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve been awarded funding from Arts Council England to run a new project aimed at short fiction writers. A Brief Pause is a professional development programme for 20 short fiction writers and 12 female creative writing practitioners. Writers will attend 12 two-hour online masterclasses, via Zoom, in fortnightly sessions, over …

“May you live in interesting times.” Falsely attributed to Confucius by Sir Austen Chamberlain, 1936, maybe. This false attribution may be yet one more example of cultural misappropriation and unquestioned white supremacy. The quote is apt. Minneapolis is going down a road now that was created by many, many activists in a long history of …

Every year Dahlia Publishing hosts students from the University of Leicester for a 10 week placement. The scheme run by the university provides students with an opportunity to gain work experience in a small press to enhance their learning. Students often work remotely and are supported by editor Farhana Shaikh to pursue a personal project …