Host of literature organisations get Arts Council funding but concern over 'standstill' amounts

Organisations including BookTrust, The Poetry Society and The National Centre for Writing have been named on Arts Council England’s new national portfolio of funded organisations (NPO) for 2023-26.

After a delay to the announcement, £4,162,720 has now been confirmed as going to libraries (18 organisations in total, including Gloucestershire Libraries, Warwickshire Libraries and the Association of Senior Children’s & Education Librarians) and £16,027,669 to organisations categorised under the category “Literature” (59 organisations in total).

Overall, literature appears to have done well, although the majority of recipients have only received "standstill" funding - the same amount as in the 2019/19 round. According to ACE, funding for literature has more than doubled since the last funding round, with £7,583,866 awarded in 2018/19 compared to this year’s £16,027,669.  

In general literature organisations which have received funding were positive about the news with Dean Stigwood, head of development at Arvon, which was awarded the standstill amount of £395,411, saying he was "thrilled". Many expressed relief due to rising costs but there is a concern the money will no longer go as far as it did back in 2018/19. 

Sophie O’Neill, managing director of Inpress, which received £161,405, told The Bookseller: "We applied for an uplift in funding which we didn’t receive, but to be honest, we are just happy to have funding at the same level as previously. We will still be able to do some brilliant work supporting publishers and growing the marketing for independently published books and for poetry in general, campaigning and promoting diversity and inclusivity and raising environmental issues from the smaller independent perspective."

Similarly, Jeremy Poynting, m.d. of Peepal Tree Press, said the amount, £153,269, the same as received in the 2018 funding round, "basically pays our salaries bill across the organisation, including non-commercial parts of our programme, such as our writer and reader development programmes as well as our publishing."

He said: "The latter pays for itself in earned income. Like virtually all public funding, what the sum is worth has continued to be eaten away by inflation and minimal settlements - but we are not grumbling. Whilst there was much to fill in on the application forms relating to where activities took place (the government’s so-called levelling up programme), we don’t have to do anything different from what we’ve been doing for the past few years."

Three publishers saw funding uplifts, Bloodaxe Books, Comma Press and Dedalus Press, with Bloodaxe m.d. Neil Astley explaining theirs was "to support our diversity initiative in particular as well as Bloodaxe’s continuing commitment to inclusivity in our publication programme". New Writing North also saw an uplift, with chief executive Claire Malcolm telling The Bookseller: "It might take some time for us to unpick what today’s funding announcement means for the arts in general, but it appears to be good news for literature, as well as for the north. It’s great to see Arts Council England’s continued support of independent publishers as well as of literature development organisations like our own. Our own NPO offer has seen an uplift, which will enable us to support more writers and inspire more readers in the north over the next three years."

Bookworks’ director of publishing Gavin Everall said his organisation had been advised to apply for standstill funding and this had been approved, adding that it is "great news and a huge relief, especially in the wider context of cuts and increased costs". Likewise, Ellen McAteer, general manager of Poetry London, also said she was "relieved" to have kept NPO status, and that "it is standstill funding, as we were advised not to apply for more". Stefan Tobler, publisher at And Other Stories told The Bookseller his publisher received the same funding as in 2018, "but of course in real terms this is less money".

Overall, a total of £446,264,485 has been awarded to 990 organisations. BookTrust received £5,763,099, while Culture Squared was awarded £1,055,520, Libraries Connected £509,200 and the National Centre for Writing £586,582. 

Other organisations to receive funding are ACA Publishing/Sinoist Books; And Other Stories Publishing; Arvon Foundation; Carcanet Press; Dead Ink Books; Comma Press; and the Manchester Literature Festival.

BloodAxe Books, New Writing North and New Writing South, Nine Arches Press, The Literacy Consultancy and The Poetry Society have all also received Arts Council funding and Spread the Word, a London-based writer development agency. 

The funding also sees a 20% increase in organisations delivering creative and cultural activity for children and young people, such as Grimm & Co in Rotherham, which supports under-resourced children and young people aged seven to 18 with their confidence and skills around creativity and writing.

Moreover, the Arts Council’s Levelling Up for Culture Places will see a 95% increase in investment, with 78 designated towns and cities to receive £43.5 million annually, for the next three years.

Arts Council England chair Sir Nicholas Serota said: “As well as continuing our commitment to our many established and renowned cultural organisations, I am deeply proud of the support we will be giving to those new organisations which will help ignite creativity across the country.

“We are facing economic pressures at present but this funding is about an investment in our future. This portfolio will support the next generation of visionary inventors, makers, performers and artists. In particular, the growth of our funding for organisations that support and develop work for children represents a profoundly important long-term investment in our country’s talent.”

Arts Council England chief executive Darren Henley described the portfolio as “rich, varied and truly national”, agreeing that while “we are in tough times we must remember creativity brings with it extraordinary dividends”, while culture secretary Michelle Donelan said: "Thanks to this new government funding package, spreading more money to more communities than ever before, people living in areas from Wolverhampton to Wigan and Crawley to Chesterfield will now get to benefit from the deep economic and social rewards culture can bring.

"We continue to support our icons such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Shakespeare Company, but today’s announcement will see organisations in places all too often overlooked get the support they need to transform access to the arts for everyone—no matter where they live."