HappenStance Press has nearly wound down. I know that’s old news. But I had a heart attack in January, and although I survived and think I’m good for another few years, well – who knows? So the end is nigh.
The most recent publication (Richard Meier’s After The Miracle, 2025) was the last. Matthew Stewart’s Whatever You Do, Just Don’t (2023) was reprinted in 2025 and again in 2026. We’ve got three copies left. Three!
We still post out books when orders come in, but energy is running low and orders are now few. It’s time to get the show off the road.
But what about all the books under the stairs? The ones in the study? The publisher’s copies stowed in boxes in the roof? The poetrycards? The drink mats with poems from StAnza 2019? The bookmarks? Well, at least things made of paper can be recycled. But they can also be given away if homes can be found.
Where possible, I will return unsold books to their authors (with luck, they’ll pay shipping costs). If you’re an author and you’re reading this, drop me a line. The road to Nell is paved with good intentions.
If you’re a customer and there’s a publication you wanted but never got, tell me now. If I can find a copy, I’ll send it. Cost negotiable. You can see most titles in the online shop. That shop will disappear by the end of this year.
The various pamphlet reviews and features at sphinxreview.co.uk are still online as a reference source. That too will disappear permanently – even sooner.
But Helena Nelson (me, Nell) is still doing away, as they say round here. I help online with The Friday Poem (run with joi de vivre by Hilary Menos) but not just that. I’m involved with some poetry-related activity in physical locations.
Together with poet Eleanor Livingstone, for example, I’m delivering a workshop for Push The Boat Out in Edinburgh on 12 November, 13.45-15.30. The theme is ‘editing your own poems’ and it’s free. If you’re close enough to come, book a place, it will be fun. Push The Boat Out is a poetry festival with a buzz. Do a look at the programme. Things disappear. Other things appear.
As regards HappenStance disappearing, I like the product life cycle concept. Nothing flourishes forever. Quit while you’re ahead. (Think Fawlty Towers.)
Thank you for your support over the years from the bottom of my newly-stented heart. Onwards, and sideways!
The HappenStance website will soon become a holding page, no shop, no detailed information. If you need to get hold of me, the email address is (as ever) nell followed by @happenstancepress.com
