8:17am Tuesday 4th August 2009
By Jim Greenhalf
Last year, the T&A announced the creation of a new anthology of writing.
It was being assembled by Bradford playwright Michael Stewart, who also lectures at Huddersfield University and is director of the Huddersfield Literary Festival.
“At long last the much-delayed publication of the very first Grist Anthology Of New Writing is imminent,” he says.
The book is due to be published at the end of the summer. It will be officially launched at Huddersfield’s Peacock Lounge and at other Yorkshire venues, including Bradford.
Michael says: “The philosophy of Grist is to place emerging writers alongside established writers in order to raise their profiles and help them make the first step towards becoming professional writers.
“With this in mind, we have poets Simon Armitage, Ian McMillan and Lemn Sissay, and prose writers Helen Simpson and John Boyne, author of The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, who have donated poems and stories for the collection.”
Michael adds: “The book will feature around 40 new poets and short fiction writers alongside these famous names.
“Although the book will be available to buy in Borders and other outlets, a number will be given away free to libraries, higher education institutions and registered creative writers’ groups.
“This is a unique publishing venture. Because of the income from Grist’s entries, we don’t need to consider commercial pressures, nor are we obliged to Arts Council England for public funds. We are free to do things differently,” says Michael.
The book, which was going to be brought out annually, is likely to be a bi-annual event due to logistical difficulties. About 1,000 copies of the first edition will be published; more will be printed if required.
“I think a lot of people will read it and really enjoy it. It’s full of entertaining and high-quality material. It’s always hard for new writers to reach a new audience – unless you employ gimmicks to attract attention,” Michael says.
He hopes Grist will be the Granta of the North, turning the spotlight away from London. As well as Borders, the book will also be available at Amazon.co.uk and directly from hud.ac.uk/grist.
“I am personally delighted with the standard of the work. The entries we received came from 18 countries; the book really does represent the cream of new writing,” he adds.
The poetry and short story competitions for the 2011 edition of Grist will be launched in May next year.
In addition to Grist and everything else he does at Huddersfield University, Michael is spending part of the summer putting together the programme for next year’s Huddersfield Literary Festival.
Confirmed names include Simon Armitage, Germaine Greer and Alexei Sayle.
“I’ve also approached Hanif Kureshi, Nick Cave, Helen Simpson and Ali Smith,” he says.
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