Sybylla Press (1976 - )

Sybylla Feminist Press was established as a printing cooperative in 1976 and since 1982 has run a small publishing program producing titles that explore feminist and left perspectives. The publications include fiction and non-fiction by women, with a special interest in new writers and work that is innovative in style.

Sybylla's list includes Working Hot, winner of the 1989 Innovative Writing Prize in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, and She's Fantastical, shortlisted for the 1995 World Fantasy Awards. While occasional grants have been awarded for particular publishing projects, Sybylla receives no recurrent funding from government or other bodies for its operations. Due to escalating costs the printery was relinquished in 1988, and since then a small group of women have contributed their unpaid labour to maintain Sybylla's publishing venture.

In the context of increasing concentration of media ownership in Australia, Sybylla is committed to independently owned, alternative publishing. Although Sybylla continues to publish unique pieces of fiction and non-fiction, the titles from its early years still speak to the current cultural, political and social landscape, and many have seeped their way into the Australian cult canon. In the 1990s Sybylla has established a working relationship with Spinifex press, another Melbourne based feminist publisher. Sybylla and Spinifex work together in the areas of distribution and cross-promotion.

Related Corporate Bodies

• Spinifex Press (1990 - )