Opcin 1: The Guardian, Seccin Cultura, Libros.

Fuente en lnea: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2016/sep/28/a-northernpowerhouse-really-is-coming-in-publishing

Autor: Stefan & Tara Tobler
Fecha del artculo: 28 de septiembre de 2016
Fecha de descarga: 28 de septiembre de 2016

A northern powerhouse really is coming in publishing

How can publishers reflect the diversity of modern Britain?
Follow the independents and move north

Save for later

When it comes to the economy, the governments recently rebooted northern
powerhouse may only be smoke and mirrors, but when it comes to the arts, the energy and
drive in the region is palpable. Just look at Sheffields S1 Artspace or Manchesters the
Factory or come and see how Hull is already bustling in advance of its status as UK City of
Culture in 2017. Now, with no fanfare and no need for expensive building projects,
publishers are joining the party.
And Other Stories has been based in High Wycombe since we started in 2011, but were
moving to Sheffield. And were not the only ones heading for the northern powerhouse:
Tilted Axis is moving from London to Sheffield, and Saraband is moving from Glasgow to
Manchester. And Other Stories is also joining the Northern Fiction Alliance, a group that
brings us together with those already there: Manchesters Comma Press, Leedss Peepal
Tree Press and Liverpools Dead Ink Books, to showcase our authors work abroad.

Everybody knows that publishing in the UK is too white, too middle-class and too Londoncentric, making it difficult for the books we publish to reflect the 55.4 million Brits who live
outside the capital. An industry with tight margins and relatively low salaries will find it hard
to change any of this while it is largely based in a city that is so expensive to live in. But by

moving north, publishing houses can make it easier for people from all backgrounds to
enter the profession, and to maintain a good quality of life whatever that means to them.

The opportunities that this affordability opens up are nothing new. Much of the best poetry
publishing never a very lucrative field has been based in the north for decades. Think of
Manchesters Carcanet, Newcastles Bloodaxe, Todmordens Arc and Sheffields The
Poetry Business and smith / doorstop, to mention just a few. If, in financial terms, the
literary novel is becoming the new poetry, then perhaps its natural that young, independent
fiction presses will consider the shift.

The north is, of course, a very large area whose identity varies widely from place to place
and is only partly defined by the cultural life in its cities. As Kevin Duffy of Hebden Bridgebased Bluemoose Books says, The landscape both historically and culturally has shaped
who we are. In Sheffield, we will be getting to know and working with a great literary scene
full of talented graduates. Were excited about the discussions were having with
organisations such as the Off the Shelf festival, the University of Sheffield and New Writing
North. We hope that in the long term, northern independents can work with regional support
to develop an ambitious publishing industry and create a broad range of viable alternative
destinations for graduates looking to work in publishing.
And why should we stop with independents? Large publishing houses arent as quick on
their feet, but there must be people in Penguin Random House asking, What if we moved
to Manchester? And indeed, what if Harper Collins moved to Leeds? Or if Hachette was
based in Newcastle or Pan Macmillan in Liverpool with overheads slashed, profits up and
salaries increased the future of mainstream publishing would be assured. Plugged into the
reality of life outside the M25, a new, distributed publishing industry could recruit more
widely and publish more boldly.

But whatever the big publishers do in the future, nimble independents are doing it now.