Prologue
in which Phillip Winn arrives at the headquarters of the Fremantle Arts Centre Press...
With its tired red-brick facade, dusty veranda, and semi-functional fly-wire door reminiscent of an earlier Australia, the headquarters of the Fremantle Arts Centre Press, once a family home, are in stark contrast to the noisy, overpriced terraces of the see-and-be-seen coffee-shops at the trendier end of Fremantle's South Terrace. The discreet and modest signpost in the drying front garden, and the unpretentious intimacy of the Press' home speak of a very different side of the port city. This is old Fremantle - part of the unchanging core of institutions, buildings, communities, part of the enduring qualities which define the concept of Fremantle with all its cultural and cosmopolitan associations.
Bearing little resemblance to the three-storey town house which features as the Press' logo, the typically Australian bungalow is infinitely more interesting than the virtually dustless (yet highly commendable) site which greets the Web user. The traditional central hall of the house is barred by a none-too sturdy looking counter proudly displaying a green poster advertising one of the Press' latest releases: Jeff Dorrington's In Your Garden. The phone rings from somewhere behind the counter; loud and echoing amid confused piles of boxes, books, papers. Smiling, a lady in a dress, Helen Kirkbride, rushes past to answer.
Having impolitely arrived early for the meeting, I am ushered graciously into a seat in Clive Newman's office. The General Manager is busy, will be with me in a minute. Something of the chimneybreast and the 70s shade of the curtains reminds me of the building's previous life. The crowded desk, the large computer, the heavy makeshift bookshelves seem ill at ease in this former bedroom. I seem to have crossed the public/private threshold.
The sensation of transgression from the public world of the published volume to the intimacy of the private and professional concerns of our interviewees is one which pervades every aspect of this case study. Armed with a barrage of questions designed to expose the 'how to' of getting published in Western Australia, it soon became apparent that the search for a general response was the least fruitful. How do lesser-known authors get published? Is it easy? What help does a publisher give a budding writer? What is a good book in the eyes of the reading committee? In this study of FACP, such questions have been more meaningfully answered on the individual rather than the corporate level; for the dominant theme to emerge from this series of interviews is the importance of the personal touch. Public questions of universal interest have, it seems, very private and personal answers.
While the competition, financial clout, and market place dominance of large international publishers form the background of the discussion, our interviewees tell of personal motivations, private successes and emotional achievements which place issues of profit and loss far behind the less tangible - yet equally important - concerns of quality, aesthetics, and a sense of local community recognition. And this from both sides of the publisher-author equation. Representing the interests of Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Clive Newman and Ray Coffey have been with FACP for over 20 years, as have several other staff members. Rather than an indicator of stagnancy, such loyalty is more proof of the existence of a successful work environment and cooperative team ethics. Upon entering the building there is the sense that FACP has been spared the double scourges of time management and merit selection which have destroyed so many contemporary workplaces.
Our authors too, Carolyn Polizzotto, Selina Baxter, and Dennis Haskell, relate their travels along the road to publication with FACP - individual and private stories, each very different. A common thread unites those who have worked with FACP; they all commend the efforts of the publishing team and are grateful for the time, energy and advice provided to them on the personal level. From her time on the sales front at New Edition Bookshop, Caitlin Toohey's unique perspective on FACP's operations speaks of a level of service which is reminiscent of a mythical 1950s style.
The actual history of the Press is part of the cultural heritage of Fremantle itself. By the mid 1970s the Fremantle Arts Centre had established a highly successful, community based, creative writing program. On the strength of the quality of the work produced as a result of that initiative, and armed with a knowledge of the potential to attract the talents of local writers, the then director, Ian Templeman, saw the possibility of establishing a press to gain wider recognition for Western Australian authors. The creation of the Fremantle Arts Centre Press in 1975 is now considered a watershed in Western Australian history. The Press' significance lies in its ability to diminish the effects of the so-called "brain-drain phenomenon", so common to the Australian artistic scene, in which those with talent in search of recognition are first seduced eastwards to Sydney and Melbourne, and then overseas.
From the start the Press' charter clearly defined the aims and intentions of the organisation: "to promote, encourage and give wider publication to Western Australian writers and artists". Literary fiction and poetry formed the initial focus of the Press' field of interest, and is still the backbone of their operations. It is for their literary works that the Press has received critical acclaim. Elizabeth Jolley and Albert Facey, both now regarded as authors of international renown, were first published by the Fremantle Arts Centre Press. Facey's A Fortunate Life has sold in excess of 600, 000 copies. Now ten years old and with sales having reached the half-million mark, My Place by Aboriginal author Sally Morgan is still a major seller on the Australian scene, having found its way onto numerous high school booklists.
In recent years the Fremantle Arts Centre Press, building on its local market niche, has diversified its locus of interest to include history and cultural studies. Since 1991 FACP has developed a range of children's books under its Sandcastle Books imprint. The Press currently produces about 35 titles annually, with print-runs varying from 300 to 10, 000 copies. Their current catalogue includes a wide variety of texts in the fields of art, history, education, biography and autobiography, cultural studies, and children's books as well as their traditional lines of literary prose and poetry.
Time and sales have, in the past, proven the FACP's publishing team to be highly successful. As Ray Coffey suggests, the nature of publishing itself is in a state of evolution yet, although the medium of publication may change, it remains highly likely that there will always be a need for the skills of qualified publishers and editors - a point which is also raised by Tim Unwin in this issue of MOTS PLURIELS.
The strength of support from the local writing and reading community for FACP's program indicates a resounding vote of confidence in the organisation and highlights the existence of an underlying, on-going need for just such a publisher. Thus, for the foreseeable future, FACP's focus of operations is likely to remain closely linked to the local West Australian market. Their small, but dedicated readership is likely to be diversified if a broader range of texts are brought to print. The core of literary and artistic texts is most likely to remain central to their concerns, with new star performers to rival the likes of Elizabeth Jolley.
Given ever increasing competition in the book world and the financial constraints of the small business, FACP's future will, in the final analysis, depend largely, as Caitlin Toohey implies, on their continued ability to find their niche in the market place, not only through the judicious choice of manuscripts, but also through ever more sophisticated marketing strategies, whether this be through collaboration with other organisations, or through clever timing and promotion.