Everyone on the BSPG team is deeply saddened by the departure of Ms Amira Ghanim, our associate Publisher for the past 4 years.
Amira is smart, witty, wise, kind, and very dedicated; she worked tirelessly for BSPG, and became known and respected by all our authors. She leaves to go on to new ventures, but remains a friend and fan of the press, and we wish her the very best. During the pandemic, and again when our director was very ill in hospital 2 years ago, she really stepped up, never stopped believing in the press and its authors, and always did her best. Thank you Amira, for keeping the press thriving during the last 4 years of unusually volatile times!
With Amira's departure, begins a new downsized era in BSPG, in its 40th year - until we can secure more funding and investment, the small indie micros-press will need to do its best with a smaller team.
We still aim to be at the London Book Fair in March, and we have dozens of great books we plan to publish this 40th anniversary year, but it must be understood that without Arts Council funding, or larger investment and/or donations, there may remain a shortfall that limits what can be done at any one time.
Also remember, BSPG is one of the truly independent small indie presses in the UK fully open to un-agented and non-celebrity writers (that is 98% of writers), and willing to consider works IN ALL GENRES, and on all themes.
While we are also open to commercial genres, our refusal to abandon literature, even by unknown persons, marks us as a rare risk-taking venture, a project that, for 40 years, has always been on the edge, and interested in mavericks, outsiders, so-called "misfits" and others who questions societal norms - as well as more traditional and conservative voices. The press has always maintained a "broad-church" style, meaning we try to keep as many doors open as possible.
This is why BSPG is worth helping, funding and defending, against more and more banal, imitative and A-list publishing. Moreover, we curate all our imprints with care and love, as ALL our team members are writers or artists, themselves.