Class in Publishing and Print: ceilings, inequalities, diversities

CBCP Annual Conference

This conference at the University of Reading brings together academics, writers, publishers and agents to explore the relationships between publishing genres, printing, national and regional diversity, readers, business decisions and social class.

Registration is free but places are limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. Click here to book your place.

Keynote Speakers:

• Professor Katy Shaw, Northumbria University
• Lisa Blower, author
• Natasha Carthew, writer and founder of Working Class Writers Festival
• Emma Shercliff, literary agent
• Professor Dave O’Brien, University of Sheffield

Social class has long been a barrier for writers from working-class backgrounds to getting into print. From D. H. Lawrence to James Kelman, Buchi Emecheta to Pat Barker, working-class writers have been told to edit and revise dialect, style and characters to get their work published in the literary mainstream.

Thanks to austerity policies and the erosion of the welfare state, barriers to entry in the creative industries are higher than ever (see Panic! Social Class, Taste and Inequalities in the Creative Industries by Brook, O’Brien and Taylor, 2018). Prompted by today’s inequalities and the systemic barriers to entry in the cultural and creative industries, interest in contemporary working-class writing is at a high and publishers are trying to address the “class ceilings” and regional biases in their own workforces.

The conference will take place in-person with one online panel. Please note that the schedule is subject to change according to University COVID-19 guidance and advice. We will inform all speakers and attendees of any changes in advance of the conference as soon as possible.

For the full programme and further details see here: Class in Publishing and Print Conference Document_NW BEST (1)