Books / Nikesh Shukla
Bristol author to open literary agency for marginalised writers
Bristol-based author Nikesh Shukla and literary agent and publishing consultant Julia Kingsford have scooped more than £580,000 from Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence programme, and will be investing the money in setting up a new literary agency in Bristol.
The Good Agency will be dedicated to increasing diversity in the publishing industry, a cause Shukla has championed for many years, and will work with writers who are marginalised – whether because of their class, race, sexual orientation or because of a disability.
The agency is named in homage to The Good Immigrant, a collection of essays from 21 writers, edited by Shukla, exploring what it means to be Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic in Britain today. The book was crowdfunded and received backing from JK Rowling, who called it “an important, timely read”. The book was named Britain’s favourite book of 2016 at the inaugural Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, and is now a quarterly literary journal.
Shukla said: “I am so grateful to the Arts Council, and to our partners, for helping us to continue and expand the work we started with The Good Immigrant. I’m really excited to get the agency started and get some amazing people on board to help find the next generation of diverse writers who represent the many stories Britain has to tell. As we head towards an uncertain future, now is the time to find, nurture and platform the writers who will tell the stories of all of us.”
Top image of Julia Kingsford and Nikesh Shukla courtesy of The Good Agency.
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