Michael Oliver-Semenov

Balloon is a literature and music event based, currently, in Cardiff. Having been involved in the music and literature scenes in Cardiff for some years now, it became clear to us that the regular crowd that came out in support of local musicians didn’t come out in support of local writers, despite many having a self-professed love of literature and Cardiff having a great deal of excellent literature events already running. With Balloon, we want to coax this audience into the fold by putting on events usually reserved for music venues and having musicians and DJs play at the same events as our readers. We endeavour to make sure that each of our events showcases at least one Welsh-based writer so that this loyal, gig-going crowd has a chance to get behind local literature talent in the same fashion they have the local music scene and, hopefully, branch out to attending other literature events as well. Mostly we want to keep our events varied and fun.

Based in Cardigan/Aberteifi on the west coast of Wales, we publish an innovative range of new fiction, poetry, and drama, from writers as varied as Deborah Kay Davies, Dai Smith, Rachel Trezise, Lewis Davies, Glen Peters and Jeni Williams. 2010 saw a new series launched, the Bright Young Things, with novels, short stories and travelogues by Tyler Keevil, J. P. Smythe, Susie Wild and Wil Gritten to add to the carnival. There's full details at www.brightyoungthings.info/ Jump to the future and get yourself a Bright Young eBook. New to our list in 2011 is Niall Griffiths' travelogue and memoir, Ten Pound Pom, along with the latest novel by Betty Trask Award Winner Cynan Jones, Everything I Found On the Beach, and a debut novel, A Fish Trapped Inside the Wind, by American-born writer and poet Christien Gholson. What we publish reflects a diverse contemporary Wales with stories and perspectives from writers who are looking out at a wider world.

PiNBACK is a new 40 page literature and art magazine based in Cardiff, Wales. The idea is to create a platform of expression both literary and visually for anybody willing to get their voice out there. The magazine will be available in selected shops around Cardiff, Wales. Issue One will be out in shops shortly and contains work from artists, designers and writers from Ireland, the U.K, USA and Egypt.

blown is a high production value, biannual publication distributed throughout the UK and North America. blown promotes contemporary photographic art, fashion, music, literature and performative practice.

Diversion Press has been in business since 2008. We are a small publisher looking for quality books. We are a traditional publisher and DO NOT accept pay from authors to publish their works. We review all proposals, approximately 125 per month, and select books that seem to have the best fit with our goals and interests. Currently we have published 15 books ranging from children's, young adult, history, non-fiction, and poetry. We are always happy to hear from authors and customers, and bloggers and reviewers.

Dear Sir, is a quarterly online journal created from the want to present innovative, unconventional or emerging voices in literature. It is based around the concept of quality over quantity, and will therefore only feature a clutch of writers in each issue whose work in some way, and somehow, surprises.

The magazine was formed from the Square Writers’ Circle, which met at Chris Brooke’s house on Adamsdown Square, Cardiff. Chris has been part of the Cardiff literary scene for many years, including at one time jointly running the highly successful Sampler poetry nights. In 2006, his first book of poetry “& The Concept of Zero” was published by Cinnamon. Other former members of the group, such as Clare Potter and Rachel Tresize, have also gone on to publishing success.

Jemma Bailey is a Welsh visual artist and curator whose practice revolves around people and communication. She unpicks the fabric of human interface in a curious, often playful exploration. Her projects are the results of lines of enquiry sprouting from daily observations Bailey produces drawings, lists, sculpture, happenings and web based activities.

The Raconteur was established as a print journal in 2009. It ran for just five themed issues, based on Landscapes, Nostalgia, Melancholy, Bohemia and Genius before morphing into an online publication in the autumn of 2010. Our aim is to publish writing with passion, skill and wit. To submit your writing, email [email protected] and or [email protected]

Mab Jones is a Cardiff-born poet, comic, writer, and performer, under the umbrella title of "spoken word artist". Winner of the John Tripp Spoken Poetry Audience Award in 2008, and also in last year’s worldwide Liverpool Lennon Performance Poet competition (which drew over 600 applicants worldwide), she is a performer who places emphasis on entertainment and audience enjoyment. She has also been a finalist or semi-finalist in the UK SLAM! Championships, the BBC Radio 4 National Poetry Slam, the annual Funny Women awards, and was Literary Mention of the Year 2010 on the Welsh Icons website. She received an Academi bursary in 2007 and was Write Out Loud's Poem of the Month in May 2010.