Special Guest Northern Highlight - SYP North

SPECIAL GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

  

Elizabeth Beck & Beth Barker, SYP North

Can you tell us about SYP and your work in the North?

The Society of Young Publishers is a nationwide group which seeks to make publishing a more accessible industry. It is open to anyone and everyone and brings publishing hopefuls together to network, discuss their futures and learn the tricks of the trade from publishing experts. In our North division, we’re particularly interested in encouraging regional diversity in publishing as a very small percentage of northerners make up the population of the industry. 

 

What were your latest events?

We recently held the first in our series of Northern Powerhouse events on new publishing in the North, introducing our audiences to Alice Murphy-Pyle at Harper North and Emma Layfield at Hachette Children’s Group. There was a lot of excitement for this digital panel and we had viewers tuning in from all over the North of England, as well as across the rest of the country. It was really important for us to mark the recent efforts made by big publishers to increase their regional diversity, joining the indie presses who have always been a big part of the publishing industry up north. We’ve got plenty of events in the works, including more in the Northern Powerhouse series, so follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates. We also host a bookclub, which is a great opportunity to chat books with other publishing geeks online! 

 

How important is networking in the North?

We believe networking is essential in the North. Word of mouth is an extremely powerful way to spread a message and we love having the chance to talk to more people and encourage a more diverse range of people to join our industry. There’s a really strong sense of community in the North and networking allows us to tap into that, connecting both people who want to work in publishing and those who hope to be published. 

 

Tell us about your SYP North mentorship scheme.

2020 marks the first year of our SYP North mentorship scheme, which was previously only hosted by our SYP friends in the south. The scheme will be open to applications from any northerners looking to break into the industry and will pair them up with someone already working in publishing. Not only will it give our mentees the chance to absorb essential expertise from their own personal mentor, but it should also demystify the industry and allow it to be more of an open book for those who feel outside of things. We’re really excited to be able to provide this service and we hope it will have a significant impact on publishing as a community.

 

What for you is the 'spirit of the North'?

The question we all want to know the answer to! For us, the 'spirit of the North' is all about variety of experience, dialect and identity. The North of England is a huge place full of cities, towns, coastlines and villages, which all contribute to the wider feeling of a Northern community. There’s a real sense of togetherness over individualism, and we think that comes across in a lot of the literature that’s published from the North. 

 

Who for you are the great Northern writers and illustrators?

We’re big supporters of the Portico Prize which celebrates writers who capture the elusive 'spirit of the North'. Their most recent winner, Jessica Andrews, touched all our hearts with her debut novel Saltwater, which is all about wrestling with identity and belonging, particularly as a Northerner. Other shortlisters included Glen James Brown, Benjamin Myers and Adelle Stripe, who all write brilliantly about the North in different ways. There’s also some iconic northerners like the Brontes, Margaret Drabble, Simon Armitage and Jeanette Winterson, who we’ve all read and loved. Emma Reynolds is an excellent Manchester-based children’s illustrator who recently released Rescuing Mrs Birdley. 

 

Written by Aaron Reynolds

Published by Simon & Schuster

 

Why is it so important that we continue to promote children's books in the North?

Children’s books are so essential for nurturing young readers and young creative talent. Representing the North is crucial so we can give those children the chance to see themselves in books from the get-go and realise that nothing is off limits to them. It’s also important that these stories reflect the diversity in the North to capture that spirit and give children a better understanding of the world around them, all whilst enjoying fantastic stories. 

 

What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North?

We’d love to see more diversity of our literary worlds, our writing talent and also our workforce. We’re very passionate about the idea that the North isn’t just one city or one place, and the books we publish must capture that. We would love to see stories about tiny villages or coastal towns we’ve never seen in a book before!

You can find out more about SYP North at SYP North and on Twitter at @SYPNorth