About Haywood Books

Haywood Books was launched in 2024 as an arm of Hay Press, a radical collaborative publisher run by its authors, founded 1996, now an imprint of the award-winning independent publisher Renard Press.

With a nod to Hay’s roots in the Welsh borders, Haywood Press takes its name from Eliza Haywood (c.1693–1756), the extraordinary English writer, actress and publisher who not only published important early authors like Susannah Centlivre, but was also a pioneering self-publisher, launching her own work.

Like its namesake, Haywood Books is a hybrid publisher, bringing out books that have fallen through the cracks but deserve wider attention than self-publishing alone can achieve. It is a transparent and empathetic list that believes in the richness of diversity and the power of the written word.

Hay Press was established in 1996 in the Welsh Borders. In the hands of its authors Peter Burden and Simon Mundy, for quarter of a century it has published commercial fiction and poetry, with a special interest in music titles. In 2022 Hay Press became an imprint of Renard Press

Renard Press is an 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. 

Find out more about Renard →