Nine Arches awarded £50k grant from ACE

Independent poetry publisher Nine Arches Press has been awarded a grant of £49,550 from Arts Council England (ACE) to further develop its business, audiences and publications.

Nine Arches' business development project will enable the press to publish 10 new poetry publications and launch a new series of creative writing handbooks called ‘Write Sparks’. It will also enable the delivery of live poetry and readers’ groups events in libraries across the West Midlands, in partnership with the West Midlands Readers’ Network.

Further elements of the project will see funding to support one-to-one mentoring sessions for disabled, low income and BAME poets and the development and publication of a poetry anthology of deaf and disabled poets.

Founded in 2008 in the West Midlands, Nine Arches Press has published almost 60 poetry publications and 17 issues of its magazine Under the Radar. It is the publisher of poets Jo Bell, Tony Williams, Daniel Sluman and Angela Readman, and in the next year will be publishing debut collections by Rishi Dastidar, Roy McFarlane, Tania Hershman and Gregory Leadbetter.

Peter Knott, area director for Arts Council England, said: “Nine Arches Press is a key player in England’s literary scene, bringing contemporary poetry by emerging and established writers to more people. Our funding will give Nine Arches the practical resources it needs to grow and thrive so it can support more writers and entertain new audiences.”

Jane Commane, editor of Nine Arches Press, said: “This vital funding will allow Nine Arches to continue to flourish and build on our national reputation as a publisher of exciting, challenging new voices in poetry, in addition to supporting our work in developing writing excellence among up-and-coming poets and taking poetry to new audiences.”