About
Picket Press is a new Western Australian publisher, focused on contemporary, accessible scholarship on art, history, social theory, and literature, with particular attention to Western Australian stories and sources. We believe rigorous research and elegant design should work together to create beautiful books that can serve both scholars and the broader community of curious readers.
Our mission is to recover neglected voices, provide critical context for historical sources, and foster new conversations about culture and society. Through carefully annotated editions of primary materials, collections of critical essays, and literary recovery projects, we aim to expand the understanding of the forces that have shaped Western Australia, and beyond.
We are committed to publishing work that challenges dominant narratives and fills crucial gaps in the historical record. Our books will examine the complexity of colonial encounters, the contributions of marginalised communities, and the ongoing relevance of past struggles for contemporary readers.
Picket Press values collaboration between established and emerging scholars, prioritising work that demonstrates intellectual rigour without sacrificing accessibility. Each Picket Press title will represent our commitment to producing books that matter—works that illuminate overlooked histories and advance critical understanding.
Current Projects
We want to publish annotated editions of primary sources related to Western Australia, with explanatory essays incorporating the latest scholarship on Indigenous intermediaries, transnational legacies of British slavery, environmental and more-than-human histories, and the history of emotions. Currently, we plan to publish:
- Francis Fraser Armstrong's (1813–1897) writing, including his reports from the "Native Institute";
- George Grey's (1812–1898) Two Journals of Discovery.
We also want to reprint an edited and annotated edition of Upsurge, by socialist author J.M. Harcourt, a novel about Perth in the Depression. Featuring strikes, lockouts, and riots, Upsurge was the first novel to be banned by the Commonwealth Book Censorship Board. The West Australian reviewed the book in 1934, writing:
The annotated edition will include an introductory essay on the political and social context of the book, along with detailed notes throughout that reveal the historical persons and places on which Harcourt based his characters and locations.
1. The Bashi-Bazouk, başıbozuk were a detachment of the Ottoman military with a reputation for violence. The author here is engaged in an orientalist contrast between their infamy and the esteem in which he holds the Western Australian Police. This contrast does not hold, historically. One need look only a few years earlier, to the violent response of the WA Police to a peaceful protest of unemployed workers outside of the Perth treasury building in 1931, to see what they were capable of.
Contact us at editors@picket.press.