Welcome to Hikari Press
Hikari Press was founded in 2016 by Isabel Brittain with support from Arts Council England and its first book was published in 2017.
Hikari is the Japanese word for light. Our focus is on simplicity and quality.
Isabel has worked in the literary and visual arts for over twenty-five years. As a Director of Enitharmon Editions, the UK’s leading publisher of artists’ books and literary editions, and through her work as a children’s book assessor for The Literary Consultancy and arts administrator at the Arvon Foundation, she has dedicated her career to promoting and nurturing writers and artists. She has a BA in Literature and an MA in Children’s Literature. Details of her consultancy services can be found at Isabel Brittain Consultancy.
Through Hikari, Isabel works with a small number of authors to produce carefully crafted books. Her approach is author-centred and collaborative — authors are closely involved in every creative decision, supported by an experienced network of editors, designers, and production specialists.
Hikari Press maintains a small and carefully selected list and is unable to accept unsolicited manuscripts. Authors seeking publishing guidance may find the following resources helpful: Writers & Artists and The Literary Consultancy.
Featured Book: The First of All Pleasures
Katri Skala
Paris. 1744. A city of splendour and squalor.
Mondon, the cabinetmaker with a workshop full of commissions and a wife who is dying. Annie, a spirited Opéra girl known on the streets as La Pomme, mistress to the Marquis. Pierre, her lover, a penniless aristocrat whose talk of liberty could get them both killed.
‘A delectable treat of a book, shimmering with eighteenth-century French life – from silk gowns and champagne, to revolutionary ideas and the seeds of social change. This exquisitely-written novel takes the reader deep into the heart of Parisian society, where prostitutes can mingle with dukes, but a man can be imprisoned for doubting God’s will. Skala writes with humour and poise, bringing to life a world where decadence and poverty jostle shoulder to shoulder. An intricate, sensual and finely crafted tale of beauty, ideas and survival.’
Victoria MacKenzie, For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain (Bloomsbury)