Monstrous Regiment Publishing, now known as Leith Books is an independent publisher based in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. The company was set up by Ellen Desmond and Lauren Nickodemus, two graduates of

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

. It publishes texts that focus on "

intersectional feminism Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

and

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

Background

Desmond and Nickodemus decided to set up Monstrous Regiment Publishing after graduating from a publishing course at

. They were motivated to establish the company because many of their peers moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to seek employment in creative industries, citing a lack of opportunities in Scotland. The company is financed through online crowdfunding, and Desmond and Nickodemus run it part-time alongside their jobs. The company is named after the

John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...

's text ''

The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women ''The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women'' is a polemical work by the Scottish reformer John Knox, published in 1558. It attacks female monarchs, arguing that rule by women is contrary to the Bible. Title The ...

,'' which argued against women in government.

Published works

Monstrous Regiment published ''The Bi-ble'' in 2017, "a non-fiction anthology about

bisexuality Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, ...

," funded by a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign. The book is made up of personal essays and was co-edited by Desmond. Prior to publishing, authors submitted essays over a six-week period before a month-long editing process. In an interview in April 2020, Desmond and Nickodemus stated that ''The Bi-ble'' came out of a desire to highlight issues and experiences around

. They also fundraised to create a second volume of ''The Bi-ble, Volume Two: New Testimonials'', which was published in 2019. Monstrous Regiment also developed another anthology titled ''So Hormonal: Personal Stories About

Hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of cell signaling, signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs or tissues by complex biological processes to regulate physio ...

s''. The company is also publishing a magazine of

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

fiction, poems, and art by Scottish contributors. Monstrous Regiment published their first full-length work of fiction in March 2021, a

coming-of-age novel In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...

called ''Duck Feet'' by Ely Percy. It went on to win Scotland’s Book Of The Year at the Saltire Society’s award ceremony in November of the same year.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.monstrous-regiment.com/home/ LGBTQ culture in Edinburgh Scottish publishers (people) Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Feminist books