De Waal and McMillan to feature in 'working class anthology'

Kit de Waal and Andrew McMillan are among the names contributing to Dead Ink's crowdfunded anthology on the working class entitled Know Your Place.

The collection was inspired by author Nikesh Shukla, who in response to the political, social and cultural uncertainty triggered by Brexit, tweeted: “Someone should do a [...] state of the nation book of essays by writers from working class backgrounds. I’d read the crap out of that."

Last year, the publisher put out an open call for submissions and after being "overwhelmed with interest", have chosen 23 essays covering topics including mental health, sexuality and food.

The publisher said: "After a referendum in which voices and opinions were repeatedly put into the mouths of the working class, Know Your Place is the working class speaking for themselves. Twenty-two writers of all ages and backgrounds. The essays are taken from across the UK and represent views from the urban to the rural working class. When putting the book together Dead Ink aimed to highlight the diversity and variety of a group of people that are often represented as a single monolithic block."

Contributors to the anthology, which will be published in September, include Kit de Waal, Andrew McMillan, Abondance Matanda, Catherine O’Flynn, Gena-mour Barrett, Rebecca Winson, Sam Mills, Sylvia Arthur, Wally Jiagoo, Yvonne Singh, Laura Waddell, Rym Kechacha, Durre Shahwar and Kath McKay, among others.

The publisher is raising funds via Kickstarter to remunerate the authors and cover designer, and to print the book. The press has so far raised £5,604 of its £7,000 goal. Further pledges can be made here.

Dead Ink also recently relaunched its publishing the underground project which combines crowdfunding with subscription in order to support new authors.

The press received a grant from Arts Council England to expand the project beyond its 2015 pilot and will now be releasing a new list of books every four months and inviting readers to invest in their publication.

The first three books to be funded are SJ Bradley’s Guest, Harry Gallon’s Every Fox is a Rabid Fox, and Sophie Hopesmith’s Another Justified Sinner.