A space for undiscovered writers, artists and photographers: An interview with Swim Press

Swim Press is an indie, literary journal that allows new and emerging writers, artists and photographers a place to show off their creative work for readers to enjoy. The press was created by one current and three former students at Lancaster University.

The four creators of Swim Press all share a passion for the literary arts and the world of publishing, notably prioritising and promoting Women+ voices, which they say is very important to them.

A collection of work themed around water

The idea for Swim Press started when Bec and Charlie, the two co-founders, were talking about their shared interest for writing about water and that’s when the idea came about.

It was originally a joke but they both agreed that it would be great to have a collection of work themed around water, so they called in Vic and Trina to help create it, and this is how Swim Press was born.

Issue Two – Bodies

The theme of Issue One was water, which was a straightforward decision due to both founders being “very close to water” so it made sense for that to be the theme. They said that “Issue Two was a little more difficult as you want to pick something that isn’t too specific, but also not too vague”.

They said that it had to be something that “a lot of people can relate to” and in the end, they went with the theme of bodies. It offers so much variety and they mentioned that due to men and women having different relationships with their bodies, there are already so many pathways to explore.

After announcing the theme, submissions were opened and they said that they had an “influx of incredible pieces” which they whittled down to 25 pieces of writing, interspersed with artwork and photography.

Creating a literary magazine

According to the founders, there is a ton of work going on behind the scenes when creating Swim Press. They have to first advertise submissions which involves a lot of admin work like confirming the submissions have been received and sorting out the ones they can and cannot accept. They find themselves having to reject pieces as they like to promote new and emerging writer, so prioritise these over pieces written by well published writers.

There is then the job of reading through them all and deciding which ones will eventually be published and compiled together using Adobe InDesign. Trina said that for Issue One, it was “quite a task due to never using the software before”. They wanted it to look professional and said they they are happy with how it turned out.

The final steps are printing, based on the amount of pre-orders and then “the most exciting part” which is sending it out to people.

Pre-ordering Bodies

To pre-order Issue Two, go to the Swim Press website, where you can find the page to pre-order. They mentioned that it is important to read all guidelines carefully.

You can pre-order Bodies until Monday 31st May, and it will then be printed and distributed to everyone. Don’t miss out on the window to pre-order.

Future plans for Swim Press

They said they would “ideally like to keep it going for as long as possible”. They want to keep creating issues and publishing work by undiscovered writers as they really enjoy reading all the work they receive and helping people out by giving them confidence in their work.

There are talks of turning it into a business in the future, but they say that they aren’t in it for the money, and they are moving from university life to the real world so are taking it as it comes. They’d like to keep doing it and working it into their lives but who knows what will happen?

They said that there will definitely be an Issue Three though, potentially in the autumn, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

To find out more about Swim Press, visit their website, blog, Instagram and Twitter.

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