Three-year-old Regina press aims to increase 
their genres, publish more books in a year

There’s something about the wide-open prairies that fosters creativity. For Debra Bell, publisher and managing editor of Radiant Press, it makes Regina an apt place to publish great books.

“I think that Saskatchewan brings unique voices and viewpoints to CanLit,” she says. “Perhaps it is the long cold winters and the feeling of isolation that invite a specific kind of thoughtful imagination and introspection to their work.

“That history of enduring brutal weather and being surrounded by an ocean of wheat helps our writers connect to the terrible loneliness of the human experience, which is a universal condition. It also contributes to a panoramic imagination.”

She adds there are many visual artists in the province, and a high number of writers per capita.

Formed in 2017, Radiant Press publishes literary fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction. The press published five books in 2019 and will publish six in 2020, four of which are by Saskatchewan writers, one 
by a Manitoban, and one by a Quebec writer.

Radiant also took over the backlist of Hagios Press, which had been publishing for 21 years, and continues to distribute their titles.

The people behind the company are Bell, who works full-time; book designer Tania Wolk, who works half-time; and publisher and operations manager John Kennedy, and artist Mia Bell, who work part-time.

They all came to it from different creative paths.

“I worked for a publisher before I went on to work in event management, doing promotion and marketing for authors,” says Debra Bell. “It was my favourite job, and I went from fundraising for non-profits to acquiring the backlist of a local publisher, while also establishing our company. I already had connections to many Saskatchewan writers, and we continue to sell and promote 
their books.

“John wanted to support my dream, and he became the operations manager. Tania worked at a creative agency, had extensive book design experience, and I had met her in the non-profit world. Mia is a visual artist who is also tech-savvy, plus 
she is my daughter, so that was a great fit.”

They have published poetry by Bernadette Wagner and Victor Enns; fiction by Gloria Mehlmann and Trent Portigal; and non-fiction by Angela Long and Vic Cicansky, among other writers.

“We look for books that are unique literary fiction or poetry generally; we agreed early on that we wanted to publish the best writing we could find in Canada,” says Bell. “For us that means we don’t necessarily focus on authors that are established. We love to receive manuscripts from first-time authors, and we hope our audience is willing to give emerging writers a chance.”

Radiant is still something of an emerging press itself, and challenges it faced in the beginning included becoming a member of publishing associations and getting a distributor. “We had to have a minimum number of books in print, which makes sense – [just] having a backlist does not equal legitimacy as a publisher,” 
says Bell.

One of their current challenges is promoting the company to aspiring authors and readers in eastern Canada, given the realities of advertising budgets for a small press.

Bell says that going forward, they would like to publish more speculative fiction and magic realism, as well as adding graphic novels and children’s books to their list. She’d like to see the press grow to the 
point where they can publish 10 books a year.

“We feel that everyone should participate in the TRC calls to action, all voices are important, and we’d like to hear more Indigenous voices. We built our houses on their land.”

Radiant Press also acknowledges it is located on Treaty 4 Territory. “It is extremely important to us that we make space for Indigenous authors,” says Bell, who notes they plan to publish two books by Indigenous authors in 2021.

“We feel that everyone should participate in the TRC calls to action, all voices are important, and we’d like to hear more Indigenous voices. We built our houses on their land.”

When it comes to upcoming books she’s most excited about, Bell says that’s like asking a parent who their favourite child is. “We are excited about all of our titles this year,” she says. This fall they will publish Tiny Ruins, inter-connected flash fiction by first-time author Nicole Haldoupis, and a post-apocalyptic novel, Strange Labour, by Robert G. Penner.

“Our spring books are The Vivian Poems by our current poet laureate, Bruce Rice, and mystical realism by Ven Begamudré, The Teller from the Tale.”

Given the diversity in titles and the press’s ambitions for the future, it seems that – as on the wide-open prairie – the sky really is the limit.