Established in 2017, Annwyn House is a small independent publishing house based in Derbyshire. Despite being located in a city deemed furthest from the sea, it takes its inspiration in part from the nautical: from lighthouses - buildings that help to illuminate a path when night hangs over the sea; and from the sea itself. The bright gleam of a lighthouse beacon serves to reveal hidden dangers, and while it cannot guarantee a safe passage to shore, it can help to show more clearly where the terrain is jagged. Lighthouse living can be lonely, with ample space for the imagination, and with a vista of our as yet still largely unchartered spaces.
Annwyn, which has other spellings, is the name of the Welsh underworld, a place where life is eternal and utopian. It has, at times, associations with water (though has several potential entry points) - the Gwragedd Annwn are beautiful faeries who live in rivers and lakes. Annwyn is a place beneath - beneath the earth or beneath water - and so it is a place set apart from the world of the mundane.
Our inspiration is closely mapped onto the subject matter we publish, which encompasses the imagination (both in terms of understanding it, but also enjoying and seeking to be inspired by it), and the journey of discovery about who we are. We take inspiration from figures like Carl Jung, who suggests that water can represent the unconscious, and from a myriad of other psychological and social theorists, and mythic-cartographers and wanderers. The sea of course hides a vibrant, complex, and vast world, and we have to travel there to see beneath the surface. There is a compassion focus to some of our volumes, which is used here as that which binds our endeavours together - that we live in difficult and often tragic times, and while our imaginational capacities can be used for ill purpose, we can also draw on them to imagine better, and to find something magical to elevate our profane existence.
Our tomes have at times appeared like treasures found washed up on the shore, or uncovered through the activity of mudlarking. These are things, for a time, forgotten, but that come back into our homes, perhaps when we need them. Darkest Deeds in Deepest Dorset was discovered in an attic after several years by the authors' children, who were keen for it be available for others to enjoy - it's a wonderful example of the now popular genre of cosy crime, and its narrative, with delightful symmetry, concerns the discovery of something hidden in a well. Living Like Crazy was a book originally written in the 1990s, but had lingered on a computer hard drive until 2017, when it was resurrected, revised and extended. The ideas in this book are still powerfully relevant for the modern age. Atmosphere of Mona pays appreciation to the matrilineal family history of the author, and offers a gorgeous meditation on annual cycles and the magic of place.
We hope your enjoy our books, and that they offer sustenance or comfort in the way that only books can.
Annwyn, which has other spellings, is the name of the Welsh underworld, a place where life is eternal and utopian. It has, at times, associations with water (though has several potential entry points) - the Gwragedd Annwn are beautiful faeries who live in rivers and lakes. Annwyn is a place beneath - beneath the earth or beneath water - and so it is a place set apart from the world of the mundane.
Our inspiration is closely mapped onto the subject matter we publish, which encompasses the imagination (both in terms of understanding it, but also enjoying and seeking to be inspired by it), and the journey of discovery about who we are. We take inspiration from figures like Carl Jung, who suggests that water can represent the unconscious, and from a myriad of other psychological and social theorists, and mythic-cartographers and wanderers. The sea of course hides a vibrant, complex, and vast world, and we have to travel there to see beneath the surface. There is a compassion focus to some of our volumes, which is used here as that which binds our endeavours together - that we live in difficult and often tragic times, and while our imaginational capacities can be used for ill purpose, we can also draw on them to imagine better, and to find something magical to elevate our profane existence.
Our tomes have at times appeared like treasures found washed up on the shore, or uncovered through the activity of mudlarking. These are things, for a time, forgotten, but that come back into our homes, perhaps when we need them. Darkest Deeds in Deepest Dorset was discovered in an attic after several years by the authors' children, who were keen for it be available for others to enjoy - it's a wonderful example of the now popular genre of cosy crime, and its narrative, with delightful symmetry, concerns the discovery of something hidden in a well. Living Like Crazy was a book originally written in the 1990s, but had lingered on a computer hard drive until 2017, when it was resurrected, revised and extended. The ideas in this book are still powerfully relevant for the modern age. Atmosphere of Mona pays appreciation to the matrilineal family history of the author, and offers a gorgeous meditation on annual cycles and the magic of place.
We hope your enjoy our books, and that they offer sustenance or comfort in the way that only books can.