Oystercatcher Enterprises was established in 2023 by multi-award-winning poet and educator Dr Mark Tredinnick and Wollongong-based poet Steve Meyrick. It is a boutique publisher that publishes poetry, and poetry about poetry, under the revered 5 Islands Press imprint.

Five Islands Press was founded in 1986 by a group of eight writers in the Illawarra region of NSW. It was originally established as a co-operative vehicle for the publication of the works of its founders, amongst whom was the legendary Ron Pretty. Largely because of Ron’s vision, talent and energy, the press grew to be a major force in Australian poetry publishing; by the time Ron retired from the Press in 2007, it had published 230 books, attracted a list of eminent authors and been awarded several major prizes.

Between 2007 and 2019, the fine tradition of the Press was kept alive by a string of dedicated and talented people, including (amongst others) Robyn Rowland, Lyn Hatherly, Kevin Brophy, Susan Fealy, Dan Disney, Sandy Fitts, Michael McKay, Jenna Shaw, Ella Holcombe and Lucy Holt. During this period, the press published another 44 books of poetry from established and emerging authors.

Following a near-death experience, Five Islands Press became an imprint of Apothecary Archive, managed by Five Islands poet Gareth Sion Jenkins, in 2020. Under Gareth’s custodianship, the press concentrated on producing reprints of out-of-print Five Islands books, publishing occasional new books and documenting the long history of the press.

Following a long illness, Ron Pretty passed away in 2023.

Oystercatcher Enterprises Ltd conceived the idea of reviving the press as a significant publisher of new work as a way of honouring, preserving and building on Ron’s legacy. Dr Jenkins generously agreed to transfer the imprint, and material that he had gathered on the press and its authors, to Oystercatcher. Oystercatcher is committed to publishing, under the 5 Islands Press imprint, an exciting range of new poetry that is both accomplished and accessible to audiences well beyond the poetry specialists who are most of the readers of new poetry at present.