Winner of the HP Sustainability Award 2024

Winner of the Alison Morrison Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award 2024

Small Press of the Year regional finalist in the British Book Awards 2024

winner of the Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award 2023

shortlisted for the HP Sustainability Award 2023

shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award 2023

Small Press of the Year regional finalist in the British Book Awards 2023

shortlisted for the Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award 2022

shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Newcomer Award 2022
 

RENARD PRESS is an award-winning independent publisher, launched in June 2020. Covering both classic and contemporary titles, Renard publishes fiction and non-fiction, theatre and poetry; the emphasis is on good writing, properly edited, and our books can be found in convenient modern formats – in a world increasingly lived online – as well as in beautifully designed and well-produced editions.

‘Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’
WILLIAM MORRIS

Renard considers design and production values to be fundamental in independent publishing, and we don’t believe anyone should have to read books – from classic theatre to contemporary fiction – in yellowing, crumbling editions with cramped typesetting and poor legibility. If we consider a book to be an artefact, rather than a mode of inhaling words, it’s important to think about the papers used, as well as the colours, typefaces, pictures – all the little details which make us treasure the books on our shelves. After all, no two books are the same – why should they be published as though they were?

‘A poet can survive everything but a misprint.’
OSCAR WILDE

A damning indictment from dear Oscar, but it’s certainly true. Renard always aims to produce the best version of a text – our classics are always based on the authoritative edition, rather than following the traditional route of basing the text on that of the first edition and making selected amendments from other editions, thus creating a hybrid between the first edition and various others.

Where we think they will enrich the text, we add explanatory notes and an extra-material section with information about the author and their works.

‘If a thing’s worth doing at all, it’s worth doing well.’
EVELYN WAUGH

We don’t want to  ‘change how people read’, but we are passionate about good writing, and want to facilitate reading in all the ways people read – which is why we provide free digital downloads if you buy from our website, and we produce ebooks in all mainstream formats, too – and we also want to stimulate conversation about reading itself, and provide a platform for the promotion of it, which is why we have a focus on our News section. Over time we look forward to amassing an archive of opinion, resources, quizzes, interviews, the odd game and the Long Reads we all enjoy to try to find time for.

‘Variety is the soul of pleasure.’
APHRA BEHN

Perhaps most importantly, Renard places a premium on being accessible – we don’t want our editions to be overly scholarly, or our site hidden behind paywalls – and we aim to make our platform and editions as accessible and inclusive as we can. A big part of this is in fostering young talent – so we look forward to working with young and varied authors, artists, techsters and publishers in the making. 

We’re proud to say that we’re one of the UK’s only climate-positive publishers, meaning we take more carbon out of the air than we put in. You can find out more in our sustainability policy here.

In November 2023 Renard founded the Indie Press Network, a radical collaboration between small presses.