In her younger years, Natalie Olsen’s artistic nature and preoccupation with the printed word sadly precluded her from other pursuits, such as high school popularity and good hair. It did, however, lead her to art school, where she over-kerned and under-slept. She was then lured into the world of publishing, where these proclivities are put to better use.

She started a studio, called Kisscut Design (having nothing to do with canoodling or sharp-edged tools), and has since gone on to receive her fair share of acknowledgment, by way of flattering tweets, gifted bottles of scotch, and some awards.

During the slow summer months of 2015, Natalie started a publishing company with her favourite writer, as a means of finding out just how far an untested idea could be taken. The inaugural Hingston & Olsen project, The Short Story Advent Calendar, was a limited-edition box set of chapbooks for readers to open and enjoy on the days leading up to Christmas. Since then, the SSAC has grown to include work from nearly 200 different writers, from George Saunders to Carmen Maria Machado to Arthur Conan Doyle. The press has also expanded to collaborations like the Ghost Box, a three-volume deluxe horror anthology edited by Patton Oswalt, and the non-fiction Permanent Record Series.

Appearing in WR9. Creative Collaborations – Combining Imagery and Words