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It is imperative to point out the crucial role played by the regional presses in promoting literary productions from the peripheries of the British Isles. Not only have black writers been excluded by well known literary publishers, regional writing per se has been ignored and overlooked to a large extent, making such artistic productions remain as ‘only part of the                                                                                                                          

100  _{Andrea Levy, unpublished interview, 1998 in Kadija George Sesay, 2004}

101_{Quoted from the Arts Council of England’s Consultative Green Paper titled, The}

Landscape of Fact, Towards a Policy for Cultural Diversity for the English Funding System. This Green Paper was the first part of a process whose aim was to develop a national policy toward cultural diversity. In July 1994, the Arts Council agreed to the establishment of a Cultural Diversity Advisory and Monitoring Committee whose responsibilities would include the development of a policy for “Black and Asian arts”.  

fabric, not (part of) the national fabric’ of Britain. (Hewison, 1997) The Midlands and Birmingham in particular, has been one of the most culturally diverse regions within UK, comprising an eclectic mix of cultures and heritages, especially the Indian subcontinent and the Caribbean. Like its people, the literary culture has been equally diverse, being reflected in a unique fusion of ideas and talents and demonstrating a rootedness to the geography of the region. The allure and predominance of the metropolitan ‘centre’ of London has meant that the regional ‘margins’ have been ignored. Despite Birmingham having been accorded the status of Britain’s second city, the diversity and talent of writers from different cultural backgrounds who have used the literary space of the Midlands, have remained largely unnoticed. Such neglect of the regional literary output has necessitated the sprouting of regional presses whose prime aim and focus has been to publish and promote work specifically by writers from the region.

The chosen anthologies, Whispers in the Walls (2001)102 and Her Majesty (2002) are published by Tindal Street Press, an award-winning independent regional publishing house specialising in offering its readers the best in contemporary literature from the Midlands region. Being a small publishing concern, it aims to provide “a national and international platform for talented new writers from the English regions”. (Tindal Street Press) The press grew out of the Tindal Street Fiction Group founded in Birmingham in1993. With the aid of funding, there was an increase in publishing activity in 2002 which affirmed its aim to “raise Birmingham's cultural profile, showcase

new writers and build a readership for good, locally set fiction”. (Tindal Street Press)

There has been a lot of acclaim for this small independent publisher, especially from reputed newspaper critics who have argued that “The company has an ability to mine local talent, even when their authors' biographies don't ooze glamour” and that “there are aspiring authors all over the country writing stories between night shifts, but only in Birmingham, it seems, does anyone pay attention”. (Segal, 2008) In support of this view, Yvonne Brissett, the co-editor of the anthology WITW and a broadcast journalist at the BBC, stated in an interview:

Most writers find that if they want to be published they have to reach out to London. The fantastic thing about Tindal Street is that they’re based here and (are) particularly interested in Birmingham writers. (Cross, 2001)

This intention to focus on writers from the region is primarily two-fold. As explained by Alan Mahar, the Publishing Director of Tindal Street Press, there is a degree of chauvinism involved in promoting talent from the Midlands in order to highlight pride in regional writing and to contest the negative profile that the region receives nationally. (Mahar, 2008) Mahar points to the prejudice in favour of writing away from the hub of London, one that has remained marginal through the years and has been undermined by London-centric productions. The second, perhaps equally important reason is based on funding. For a relatively small literary publisher, sustenance is reliant on funding from the Arts Council. Although no restrictions are placed on the publisher about work to be published, there is an implied insistence by the Arts Council on major proportion of the activity to engage regional writers and artists and promote diversity. Moreover, the Birmingham City Council

also has a crucial role to play in governing funding for Tindal Street publications coupled with an explicit objective to promote regional work in all publications. (Mahar, 2008)

It is evident from Mahar’s avowal that there is a symbiotic relation between the desire to promote regional work and availability of funds. The existence of a small literary publisher is largely dependent on the access to funds, whether it is from governmental sources or non-governmental agencies. Very often the accessibility of funds is tied in with specific agendas and unless they match the publisher’s mission, it is difficult to obtain finance. In Tindal Street’s case we witness a happy coincidence of the Arts Council and Birmingham City Council’s specific strategy to promote diversity and regional work, but as the new Coalition government’s Spending Review confirms, such schemes may be transitory and jeopardise the existence of local and regional presses.

Heaventree Press is another regional press based in the Midlands. The Coventry-based press is dedicated to publishing new writing, especially poetry, as there is an ongoing ‘crisis’ in the sales of poetry by new and unestablished writers who are excluded by mainstream production houses.103 The fact was highlighted in a conference at Warwick University, “Crisis in Poetry Publishing” held in 2002 and the press germinated from a pressing need to address the problem underscored at the conference. As mentioned on the publisher’s homepage, their main aim is:

103  _{Due to the flood of poetry from all quarters, commercial publishers consider poetry to be}

financially non-viable. While some major publishing houses have closed off their poetry lists altogether, there are others that tend to concentrate solely on established names, thereby creating an elite core adorning the bookshelves in major stores.  

to give the poetry to the public, where we can, for as little as possible. We are doing our best to produce books and magazines at an affordable price, drawing in funding and subsidies. Where we do make some profit, we will channel the money back into providing more poetry, art, literature and music for Coventryand the West Midlands. (Heaventree Press)

Like Tindal Street Press, Heaventree’s intention is also to promote new writing from the region and its sustenance is based on funding from the Arts Council and other specific initiatives targeted to encourage local talent to present their work, expressions that would otherwise disappear due to negligence of mainstream publishing houses and low-budget marketing campaigns.

Some other regional publishing houses from the British regions are the Comma Press based in Manchester and Flambard based in the North- East. Like the Midlands-based presses, Comma Press also started as part of an artist’s’ group in 2002 and focuses on the publication of new fiction and poetry, with an emphasis on short stories. With a similar objective of showcasing new talent, Comma’s acclaim lies in its attempt to transform its project of short-story booklets on four cities – Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Bradford – into a series of book-length anthologies, commencing with The Book of Leeds and The Book of Liverpool.104 The Newcastle – upon – Tyne based Flambard Press is another regional press “nurturing new and neglected writers from Britain and beyond”. (Flambard Press) Despite being a predominantly poetry publisher, Flambard also publishes fiction and is especially supportive of the writers from the northern regions of England as well as those who are overlooked by the mainstream publishers.

104  _{Both books bring together fiction by celebrated writers from their respective cities and}

trace transitions in the milieu of the city brought about by economic and social changes through the decades. They explore questions of what ‘home’ and ‘belonging’ mean in the context of the particular city, and the stories are situated against the backdrop of larger events shaping the city’s history.