Publishing Class: online talk with Prof Katy Shaw, Philip Jones and Lisa Blower

Join us for this talk on class in contemporary publishing with Professor Katy Shaw (Northumbria University), Philip Jones (editor of The Booksller) and author Lisa Blower.

Breaking the class ceiling in UK Publishing

The under-representation of British working-class writers in UK publishing has been identified as a major social and economic challenge by major publishers and the British government. In 2018 Arts Council England funded the first ever writing development programme aimed at redressing the balance for working-class writers. This talk evaluates the impact of this unique initiative on both creatives and the creative industries in the UK, as well as on wider industry awareness of the presence and impact of the class ceiling in UK publishing. It assesses for the first time the impact of a targeted class-based writing development programme on creatives and the creative industries in the UK, as well as on professional awareness of the challenge posed by the class ceiling in the wider UK creative industries today, and proposes new initiatives and recommendations arising from the research through implications for writers, readers and the future sustainability of British publishing in a post-Brexit context.

Access the Common People: Breaking the class ceiling in UK Publishing report (2020)

Professor Katy Shaw leads research into twenty-first century writings at Northumbria University. Her research interests include contemporary literature, especially working class literature, cultural representations of post-industrial regeneration and the languages of comedy. Katy is an expert in twenty-first century literature. She has produced two books on crime author David Peace, a monograph on representations of the Credit Crunch in contemporary culture, and a collection on the teaching of twenty-first century genre fiction. Her latest book Hauntology (2018) explores the persistent role of the past in the present of contemporary English Literature. She is a public intellectual, literary festival host, media presenter and Twitterer: @profkatyshaw

Philip Jones is editor of The Bookseller, and co-founder of FutureBook.net. He joined The Bookseller in 1996 under its then editor Louis Baum, and also worked for the magazine under two previous editors, Nick Clee and Neill Denny. He is a graduate of the University of Reading @philipdsjones

Lisa Blower is an award-winning short story writer and novelist. She won The Guardian’s National Short Story competition in 2009, was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award in 2013, has been Highly Commended and long-listed for the Bridport Prize for three consecutive years, and was one of just 4 UK authors long-listed for The Sunday Times Short Story Award 2018. Her work has appeared in various presses including The Guardian, Comma Press, The New Welsh Review, The Luminary, Short Story Sunday, and on Radio 4. Her debut short story collection was ‘It’s Gone Dark over Bill’s Mother’s’ (Myriad Editions, 2019) and her new book forthcoming is Pondweed (Myriad, 2020). @lisablowerwrite

Please join the conversation here through microsoft teams with video off and on mute. We will use the chat function for questions and debate.