Image Credit: Oscar Wilson

Scotland has a long, rich history of excellence in publishing and literature. It would be difficult to talk about the history of Edinburgh without noting the influence of the city’s presses and publishers, which were a central driver in the city’s economics and culture and effectively a launchpad for the city’s reputation and influence across the world. That influence can still be seen today, as Edinburgh is filled with independent bookshops catering to specific genres, interests, and even those specialising in second-hand books. But the love of publishing is not localised to the capital alone – it is just as prevalent over on the west coast, in Scotland’s largest city: Glasgow.

A little bit off the beaten path, tucked away between Merchant City and Glasgow Green, is Good Press – a workers cooperative specializing in work that is either self-published or from small independent presses and publishers. Their focus on the small has not been a limiting factor, as Good Press has long-since had an established reputation amongst Glasgow’s book and zine lovers, and on the eleventh of October, Good Press opened their doors in the evening to celebrate their thirteenth birthday.

Image Credit: Good Press.

Attending the Good Press thirteenth birthday provided opportunity not only to meet the team but to also browse their selection with a limited time 13% discount. Good Press is unique amongst bookshops due to its choice of stock and their open submissions policy – where anyone can send in their work to be stocked. The shelves and tables are an eclectic mix of works that you won’t find anywhere else, and, in particular, there is a heavy focus on zines.

Zines – stemming from magazines – are small, self-published works often tailored to niche areas of interest and historically produced by photocopier or xerox and distributed by hand. Zines have gone through something of a renaissance in recent years, providing a medium for artists, poets, and writers to share and develop their craft amongst a vibrant community of likeminded people.

For evidence of Glasgow’s booming zine scene, look no further than the Glasgow Zine Library – the largest in the UK. Glasgow Zine Library houses an extensive collection that is free to the public, alongside running various events and workshops that are either free or priced according to ability. The events that they run speak to the core ethos of zines – they are very much community-orientated, with workshops on typography and queer reading groups. They are also running a free, non-ticketed event to engage secondary school students with zines. Glasgow Zine Fest, ran by Glasgow Zine Library, celebrated its tenth year this year with a packed program that blended online events with in-person events at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and across Glasgow Southside.

Ultimately, while it is not within the remit of this blog post to settle the age-old debate on which Scottish coast is better, it is absolutely worth taking the chance to highlight Glasgow’s active, community-driven scene of independent bookshops and zine publications.

Bibliography

GUTTER (2021) ‘The Conversation: Glasgow Zine Library, Good Press, SPAM Press & Hedera Felix’. Available at: https://www.guttermag.co.uk/news/the-conversation-glasgow-zine-library-good-press-spam-press-amp-hedera-felix (Accessed: 21 October 2024).

Information (2024) Good Press — good books & more. Available at: https://goodpress.co.uk/pages/information (Accessed: 21 October 2024).

Kero, R.H. (2021) ‘A History of Zines’, BOOK RIOT, 2 December. Available at: https://bookriot.com/history-of-zines/ (Accessed: 21 October 2024).

Who We Are (2024) Glasgow Zine Library. Available at: https://www.glasgowzinelibrary.com/about (Accessed: 21 October 2024).