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Speaking Volumes secures grant for BAME writers
Literary agency Speaking Volumes has secured an international grant to showcase British black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) writers to European audiences.
The International Showcasing Fund, awarded by Arts Council England (ACE), will enable Speaking Volumes to "champion the best emerging and established contemporary BAME writers" through its "innovative" Breaking Ground project.
As well as giving BAME poets and novelists access to an "unprecedented" international platform to present their creative work, the European and UK Breaking Ground tour will also facilitate the growth of new overseas markets and audiences through live events and digital engagement.
Sharmilla Beezmohun, co-director of Speaking Volumes, said: “At this moment in time, with societies becoming ever more divided, the arts have never been more important in fostering a sense of inclusivity. Our new and extended Breaking Ground programme, which builds on our successful US tours of 2015 and 2016, will highlight the huge creative, social and economic contribution Britain’s BAME writers make to societies and cultures.”
Bernardine Evaristo, award-winning author and professor of Creative Writing at Brunel University, said: “At a time when very few Black British writers are getting published, we need to treasure and support those who are producing the narratives that expand, explore and enrich our notions of culture, literature and society in the 21st century. It’s so important that more than a select few BAME writers reach an international audience, and this showcase is an excellent way to start.”
Sarah Sanders, Speaking Volumes’ co-director, added: “As a small independent literary organisation, being able to present such a high profile and diverse literature showcase to British and European audiences at five locations across the continent will not only build on our previous work, but will reflect our steadfast commitment to racial equality and social justice during a time of uncertainty.”
From July 2017 to February 2018, Breaking Ground events will be held in venues, festivals and conferences in Finland, Germany, Lithuania and Spain, before returning to the UK in May 2018 to a host of showcase events at the Bradford Literature Festival.
Irna Qureshi, director of the Bradford Literature Festival, said: “Our collaboration with Breaking Ground will also create a step-change for literary diversity in the North of England, by furthering cultural development. It will also strengthen Bradford’s position as the literature hub for the North."
