Carcanet Press

Shakespeare calls holidays 'captain jewels in a carcanet' A carcanet (pronounced KAR-ka-nett) is a 'jewelled necklace' with an etymological skeleton in its cupboard. Its ancestor is the Old French carcan, a slave's halter' more appropriate than a gorget as an emblem for a publishing house. Carcanet was a literary magazine, established in 1962. Michael Hind, a member of the original editorial board, recalls how the idea was to 'collect together and publish as a periodical poetry, short fiction, and intelligent criticism of all the arts; there were to be both student and senior members contributions. The intention was to link Oxford and Cambridge.