Hundred House Press is an independent poetry publisher based in the south east of England.
We’re a collective of writers and makers creating work grounded in a spirit of connection.
The old Wealden counties of Kent and Sussex were organised in communities called hundreds.
A Hundred House was the place where the community came together. Sometimes it was a building, but it could also just be a field, a hilltop, or a woodland clearing. Once a Hundred House had been declared, the people could gather. Nothing else was needed.
While our name and philosophy are rooted in the Wealden landscape, a Hundred House can emerge anywhere, anytime.
Knock Wood is our first book. This is a work of poetic writing that documents a contemplative practice with honesty and quiet humour: the simple act of showing up, paying attention and putting words to what emerges – whether profound or ordinary, touching or wry.
A man walks the same three-mile circuit of woods and fields near his home, noticing what presents itself – light through trees, the absence of cows, his father’s declining health, the questions that arise and fall away.
Written on walks and accompanied by watercolour paintings made in the same spirit, Neil Baker invites us into the rhythm of a life lived at walking pace. For anyone who wants to slow down and notice more – Knock Wood is a companion for the path.