UKA Press was created to publish fresh, exciting work by talented writers from around the world. We're looking for originality, sparkle and the promise of something unexpected. Genre and style aren't important; quality is.

Let's take you on a tour...

Drop in for a laugh at our authors' photographs, read their brilliant bios, scan their reviews and browse their books...
Stop in at our Canadian coffee shop on the ski lift, and get tipped out of a racing car...
Make a movie with Kevin Brownlow , director of the UK's most controversial film, and be scared out of your wits by women drivers, and then wake up on the Costa Blanca.
Run into Godiva, learn to cook in Spain and be attacked by wild women...
We have it all 'and more', as they say.

RECENT REVIEWS:

THE SEARCH FOR CHARLIE CHAPLIN by Kevin Brownlow -- "A few months ago I wrote a story about a film collector in Michigan who found a 16mm print of a 1914 Keystone comedy called The Thief Catcher, which features a previously unknown guest appearance by Charlie Chaplin. The story went all over the world, and said film collector is doing the same thing, showing the film at museums and festivals.
As discoveries go, it was impressive, but it paled next to the discoveries made by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill beginning in 1977, when they accessed a vast trawl of Chaplin outtakes from 1916-1917, followed by that holy of holies, the Chaplin vault itself, which held sequences that he had cut from his films as well as a lot of fascinating miscellaneous footage.
All this resulted in The Unknown Chaplin, a TV series that, along with Heart of Darkness, still stands as probably the documentary about the filmmaking process. The Search for Charlie Chaplin (UKA Press) is Brownlow’s story of the process of finding the films and piecing the show together, and it palpably communicates the difficulties as well as the primal enthusiasm that it takes to persevere in a necessarily incremental project such as The Unknown Chaplin.
Brownlow made himself a scholar, but I suspect he was born a wonderful writer, simultaneously lucid, elegant and witty. His gifts are on full display here, on a topic that’s worthy of them.
The book is illustrated with a slew of wonderful stills." -- Scott Eyman, author and editor of The Palm Beach Post

“A must-read publication. The book is a collection of previously unpublished testimonies from those who worked with the great Charlie and from those who came into contact with him in various ways, such as The Kid, Jackie Coogan; the flower girl, Virginia Cherrill; script associate, Alistair Cooke; King Vidor; Lord Mountbatten; Oona Chaplin; and Lita Grey.
"It has been constructed like an investigation into trails of unedited material and has the whiff of a detective story.” – Cinecittà News

"In-depth and moving, and brings greater insight into the portrayal of a man who was shy and determined, modest and self-deprecating and unaware of his own genius.” – La Stampa

“A wonderfully well-written book that delights in its own anecdotes” – Il Sole

WINSTANLEY: Warts and All by Kevin Brownlow -- "Last week I read what may be my favourite movie book of the year, Kevin Brownlow's Winstanley: Warts And All..." -- John Patterson, The Guardian

HOW IT HAPPENED HERE by Kevin Brownlow -- "or how to make a film legend, over eight years and without any money.
I consumed this book in the space of one long train journey. By the time I had finished it:
1) I really wanted to meet Kevin Brownlow because of the stories he probably missed out of HIHH
2) I knew vastly more about film-making than I did before I started the book.
Kevin Brownlow comes across as one of Nature's gentlemen: the story he tells is principled; unassuming; generous in its praise for those who helped him and remarkably restrained in its condemnation of those who hindered.
It's a very funny book too in its own way and certainly one of the best film memoirs I have ever read.
By the end of the book my admiration for Brownlow and his co-director Andrew Mollo was very deep. The only irritating thing about the story is that their marathon dedication certainly left me unsettlingly aware of my own shortcomings in terms of perseverance" -- Barton Keyes, UK

"I found this book in my university library and picked it up based on what I read from the back cover. I had never heard of this movie but I had read Brownlow's amazing The Parade's Gone By and figured I could spend a few minutes flipping through the pages. The minutes turned into hours and I forfeited my studies to concentrate entirely on this book.
Not only is it a very interesting and exciting account of two teenagers growing up as they try against all odds to make a historically accurate film for no money, but it also addresses issues such as the artist's responsibility to be honest to his subject and what lengths are necessary to achieve it.
A great autobiographical account, I would highly suggest this book for other film students planning their own films, as well as those interested in film history or the work of Kevin Brownlow. I did eventually see the movie, and felt that my viewing experienced was enhanced in part from having read this text." -- Sean C. Batton (Los Angeles)

"I was sent a press copy - and couldn't put it down! There IS a fleeting Queen reference, and a funny one at that. But anyone of 'our age' who lived through or just after the 60's will love this book - remember Fab 208? Luxembourg Radio? The Osmonds and David Cassidy?! Even if you don't I think you'll enjoy this anyway - name dropping of the highest calibre! Fab!" -- Queen Fan Club

Salmons’ vivid descriptions successfully depict the fear and uncertainty Pompeians must have felt over the eruption of Vesuvius. Craftily written, this mystery is full of absorbing puzzles and characters. Even though the main plot takes place in the present, history intertwines throughout, creating a fascinating look at Pompeii and its people. -- Rebecca Roberts, Historical Novels Review Online

"A fascinating, richly detailed look at the past, in a gripping present day mystery..." -- Barnacle Reviews

THE MMM GIRL; Marilyn Monroe, by herself

“...You actually feel it’s Marilyn’s thoughts and words you are reading. You can almost hear her voice in your head…a personal insight into Marilyn’s world and the people she knew, from her own perspective…this really gives the book its edge and a great authenticity which makes it less like a novel and more like an autobiography, had Marilyn written one…a great deal of sensitivity, giving Marilyn’s “words” dignity and her story the respect it deserves…Tara writes in such a tender and tasteful way you imagine Marilyn herself would have written with the same beautiful sublime style…instead of being too explicit or provocative it’s just right, very sensual but sensitive to the reader’s taste at the same time...” -- Immortal Marilyn
Full review HERE

'...Tara Hanks’ novel “The Mmm Girl; Marilyn Monroe, by herself” - a novel about the life of Marilyn Monroe as she might have told it...gave me chills. In her book, Tara delves into the mind of the legendary actress and tells her story from Marilyn’s own perspective. I’ve read several biographies of Marilyn’s life and always thought to myself, “I wonder how it must have felt for her coming from a broken home and making it so big …” and here, Hanks has found a way to attempt to answer that question...' -- Susan Heidi, artist

WILD WOMEN by Simon Leigh -- "A well-written, witty, ribald and rollicking journey into the dark ways of men and women."
-- Paul Quarrington, author (Home Garden, The Life of Hope, King Leary, etc), artist, musician, screenwriter, CA.

REMEMBER, REMEMBER by Sheldon Goldfarb -- "I am most impressed with your style. The sentences flow along at a good pace and young readers, I believe, will find the developing plot as captivating as I did."
-- Dr. Doris Meriwether, Emeritus Professor of Literature, University of Louisiana at Lafayette

"UBC professor Sheldon Goldfarb's doctorate in Victorian literature, his life-long interest in history and his previous publications on William Makepeace Thackeray have served him extremely well for his debut young adult historical mystery novel, Remember, Remember. His story is an intriguingly entertaining mix of blackmail, murder, and youthful romance, shot through with large dollops of tension and suspense, and set in an age in England when the East India Co. was still an economic force to be reckoned with..."
-- M. Wayne Cunningham, Books in Canada (Click HERE to read whole review.)

Remember, Remember was shortlisted for the 2006 Best Juvenile Novel in Canada, by the Canadian Crime Writers Assocation