Case studies

During the 1970s, numerous community publishers emerged across the UK. From Commonword in Manchester to the Basement Writers in London, the origins of the publishers were various. Many developed from adult education or writing workshops, while some were linked to bookshops or community arts spaces. Although community publishers did produce books, they also published works in pamphlet format. 

Via poetry, autobiography, and prose the publications gave space to working-class, Black, elderly, young, and women’s voices. The works produced were a challenge to often exclusionary, mainstream literary production. The publishers had a local focus but a common aim towards accessibility. The works on display provide a snapshot of the creativity and variety of writing that was produced by community publishers.  

Centerprise was founded in Hackney in 1971 by Glenn Thompson and Margaret Gosley. It was a bookshop and publishing project, but also included a coffee bar, adult education, and various youth groups. The pamphlet Talking Blues is a poetry anthology written by young people who met weekly at Centerprise, supported by youth worker Oliver Flavin, with illustrations by Doffy Weir. The young poets, including Hugh Boatswain and Sandra Agard, describe their lives in verse, focussing on education, racism and unemployment, but also the power of music.  

Published a year later, A Street Door of Our Own describes life on the Honor Oak Estate in South London and was organised as a social history project by community worker Jim Cowan. Alongside photographs, twelve elderly residents reflect on estate life in the 1930s via transcribed interviews, covering topics including “First Impressions” and “Respect Honesty and Authority”. The publication also had a contemporary impact. The residents used press interest about the publication to ensure the council upheld their promise to build a community centre on the estate.  

The Basement Writers, named for their location in the basement of St George’s Town Hall in Cable Street, East London, was formed in 1973 by teacher Chris Searle. Sally Flood, who was then nearly 50, was one of a few older writers who joined the group. A factory embroidery machinist and prolific poet, Sally described her verse as being like a diary. This is exemplified by 1980’s A Window on Brick Lane, in which it is noted that most of her work was written “at the factory, from her seat with its window facing Brick Lane”. The illustrations in this pamphlet are by Patricia Flood.    

In 1977, and as part of the work of local community bookshop The Bookplace, the Peckham Publishing Project began with the aim to publish local writing. 1981’s Captain Blackbeard’s Beef Creole: And Other Caribbean Recipes originated in the Bookplace’s English classes. The contributors discussed together ingredients and terminology and produced a Caribbean (mostly Jamaican) recipe book interspersed with related food information. The illustrations were provided by students from the local Collingwood Girls’ School.  

Manchester’s Commonword stemmed from an oral history project, beginning in 1977 as the Commonword Workshop. The groups developed to include one focussing on women’s writing. The 1982 publication Diary of a Divorce was written and illustrated by Wendy Whitfield, who also worked at Commonword. Designed to reflect a calendar, the pamphlet depicts the disintegration of a marriage from the woman’s point of view, against a backdrop of left-wing political activism.  

In a 1976 meeting at Centerprise, many of the groups united as the Federation of Worker Writers and Community Publishers.

Pamphlets, leaflets and brochures have been and continue to be used to spread both practical information and advice, as well as to promote ideas and spread propaganda for the state and organisations. This case study highlights items from the collections that disseminate information and coordinate campaigns focused on food and health issues.  

A pamphlet and flyer address dairy consumption as part of two very different causes. Health Without Dairy Produce is a pamphlet by W.H. White, reprinted from his article in The Vegetarian News. White was a doctor who advocated vegan diets from infancy through lectures, recipe books and the maternity homes he managed. The pamphlet, published in 1938, was prompted by a recent craze for ‘milk bars’ and extols the benefits of a diary-free diet with various testimonials. White’s views were far from mainstream, and milk has been a constant in the dietary recommendations for children to the extent that they were given free milk in school. In the 1960s and 1970s, such provisions and healthy meals for British school children became political following government cuts to education and welfare budgets. Do You Hate Children!!! (1970) is a single sheet typescript pamphlet that staunchly attacked the plans of the Conservative Government to raise the price of school meals and stop school milk, particularly for the impact it would have on working-class children.

During the Second World War, the British Ministries of Health and Information used a proliferation of leaflets and pamphlets to provide information and spread propaganda. The population faced rationing, even so advice on cooking and recipe plans was necessary. The Ministry of Food published a series of colourful pamphlets on the basics of cooking and recipe planning. Three leaflets feature here, offering meal plans for beginners, recipes for salads and useful advice on weights and measures. The leaflets aimed to encourage frugal but healthy habits and perhaps guidance for those new to cooking for themselves. Post-war, food supply was still a key issue, and pamphlets such as How Britain was Fed (1946) and Rationing of Food in Great Britain (1946) emphasised the success and continuing importance of restrictions.

From handwritten signs to folded flyers, the book trade has long relied on printed ephemera to attract readers, assert identity, and signal values. Though modest in form, these items were vital tools for booksellers and literary societies alike. These book trade’s quieter voices didn’t just promote reading; they helped build communities of readers, shaped by language, politics, and place.

Shop stationery from the Progressive Bookshop in 1920s London reveals the personal imprint of Esther Lahr, whose letterheads and postcards reflect the artisanal ethos of the Blue Moon Press she co-ran with her husband, Charles. Alongside this, a boldly handwritten sign warns customers about selling “dirty” books. A sharp reminder of the moral scrutiny radical booksellers face.

A century earlier, the Worksop Mechanics’ Institute turned to simple flyers to promote its ‘Penny Readings’ series. Affordable literary entertainment combining Dickens, Shakespeare and song. These ephemeral prints, now rare, evoke the democratic ambitions of 19th century adult education, when access to literature was priced at a penny (or threepence for the best seats).

Mid-20th century materials from the Dolphin Book Company show how specialist catalogues served special audiences. A stapled 1942 pamphlet lists second hand titles in Spanish and other languages on Latin America, while a folded 1960s programme for Lorca’s La Zapatera Prodigiosa doubles as a subtle advertisement for Dolphin’s stock.