Republic of Consciousness Class of 2020: Broken Jaw by Minoli Salgado (the87press)
Between now and 26th February when we announce our shortlist, we’ll be featuring each of the longlisted titles on our new blog page in some way. We are running Q+A’s with the five Republic of Consciousness debutants: publishers who haven’t appeared on our longlists until 2020. Today, we interviewed Azad Ashim Sharma, co-founder of the87press, who publish Broken Jaw by Minoli Salgado.
Who is the87press?
the87press is a publishing collective, a small press conceived of on the principles of radical inclusivity. It all began in an uninspiring commercial chain coffeeshop in Summer 2018. I was newly sober and had a lot of time on my hands so I decided it would be good to give back to the poetry/literary community who had given me opportunities to develop a writing practice that became so instrumental in my recovery. It's a sweet story actually, Kashif Sharma-Patel and Devin Maisuria (co-founders of the87press alongside myself) and I were all at the same secondary school. Devin and I were good friends because we took the same school bus. Kashif and I never said a word to each other - despite both of us going into further education at the University of Sussex until Kashif bought my debut collection 'Against the Frame' from Barque Press in late 2017. Devin is an architect and real whizz with the design tech so it made perfect sense for the three of us to work collectively to bring the idea into the real world. And from then on we just collaborated - Devin is a distant 'member' of the87 as he's doing his MA at the moment and giving himself the space and time to do what he wants. Kashif and I run the87.
Kashif is a poet and writer who focuses on subaltern history, postcolonial aesthetics, and queer performativity. We've performed together and submitted to the same poetry journals for a while now - and Kashif jokingly calls me their agent albeit I don't think that's fair on themselves as they're a profoundly exciting voice in contemporary British poetry. Kashif also does a lot of writing on art and music through their blog and through some magazines like Art Forum. And me, well, I'm Azad Ashim Sharma and my first collection Against the Frame was a gesture of solidarity for the victims of conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a partial exploration of my hybrid identity (my mum's muslim and my dad's hindu) in the context of rising Islamophobia in 'Brexit Britain'. I'm also a recovering alcoholic-addict and working on a second collection of poetry detailing my journey into recovery which is out later this year on Sad Press. At the minute I'm quite interested in exploring how literature is both a partial answer to the problems of addiction (because to read and write is to connect with something) and as an addiction in its own right (because how many of us buy books almost compulsively and read avidly with a strange sense of purpose whether we are in educational or social settings).
But who we are as individuals does not imply that the87press is just the sum of its parts. the87 is all about community in times of growing hostility, creative energy that is shared amongst equals in times when the spread of wealth has divided the world into haves and have-nots, humans and nonhumans. Kashif and I meet regularly to essentially do admin, there's a lot of admin in running a small press and no one prepares you for it. But the fortunate thing is the87 has its own identity now and a growing readership. Kashif and I are quite the classic yin and yang, Kashif is exceptionally calm and composed (hence host of the events) whereas, I am a little over-eager and restless sometimes so it's usually best I sit at the book table and do the math. But the87 is also a tale of friendships and how you can know of someone for many years but ultimately you'll need something extra to make a real connection with that person, in our case it was poetry and a common ground furnished with love and passion. Kashif and Devin are family for me and vice-versa. We meet up and it's not always about work. But we usually do have great and quirky discussions about critical theory, art, poetry. Devin texted me the other day saying he was reading Hegel. Just out of the blue. And what's really funny is that people always assume we're siblings anyway because Kashif is a 'Sharma-Patel' and I'm a 'Sharma' which we laugh about a lot. Devin, Kashif, and myself also have Gujurati heritage which further contributes to this familial vibe we've got going. And then there's our parents, siblings, partners and best friends who form part of this wide circle and they all rep the87 and we rep them. I think the literary community that the87 is proud to be a part of is so supportive and caring, we do that labour for each other, exchange energy, affirm value in others and practise holding the space with open arms and a smile that, to be quite honest, never fails to astound and nourish me.
What was your relationship with books, reading and writing growing up?
When I was a child I think I read mostly to escape or to find something exciting, other-worldly. I remember loving Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy (and to be fair I re-read it recently and started the new series Pullman's written and they're both wonderful). Reading has always been a wholesome activity. My Mum's side of the family would often talk about recent political non-fiction books they'd read at dinner as well as talk about poetry. My maternal grandfather was a secret poet, influenced by Ghalib, Faiz, Iqbal, Rumi and Hafez. He wrote in Urdu and Farsi - two languages I wish I studied. But reading those poets in translation has given me a sense of connection to my grandfather that I think I was too young to make when he was alive.
Unfortunately I do think some of my early engagements with literature were marred by racialised experiences. I didn't understand it when I was young but I do now. Teachers would often ask if I spoke English as a first language or try and persuade my mum to force me to read the 'classics' rather than books I wanted to read. I'm grateful my mum never caved in and just encouraged me to read whatever I wanted.
Everything changed at A level and then during my BA and MA at Sussex. I felt like someone put their hands into my brain and pulled my world apart, expanding my sense of connection to a host of literatures. I remember being captivated by Baroness Elsa von Freytag Loringhoven during my time at Sussex and also the poetry of Keston Sutherland, Anna Mendelssohn and J. H. Prynne. I was about 19 when my own poetry started developing with conscious effort and passion. But I still think those early moments alone at home with Pullman, staying up past my bedtime and all those little childhood victories nourished my love of the craft in all of its forms.
Whilst I can't speak for Kashif's early experiences. Kashif gave me Dhalgren by Samuel Delaney for my 26th Birthday and mentioned they'd received it from their Dad aged 14. I think both of us have had formative experiences with literature as children and during adolescence and that's why we do what we do. More recently I've been really thrilled by the incredible surge in contemporary poetry from across the world. I've been reading Ashwani Kumar, Fred Moten, Nathaniel Mackay, Vahni Capildeo and Bhanu Kapil. I'm really quite in awe of the output of a lot of these writers.
the87press holds monthly events in South-East London. What are you trying to do with these?
This regular events series was the touchstone for the87press. We wanted to create an inclusive, safe-space for writers to present their work in a relaxed and attentive environment, encouraging people of all ages to become part of the space and help nurture it with us. Inclusive means intersectional. Safe means free of racism, fascism and other nefarious and extreme rhetorics. It's important to value spaces that are kept safe, often at the risk of the hosts. Such spaces help communities grow and allow for cross-cultural exchanges that are as beautiful as they are fleeting. We hope that our space allows for the writers to grow into their practice, to experiment with ways of reading their work aloud or performing their work. We also hope the space opens its doors to a host of new readers who may be searching for a place they can identify with and feel at home in. 87 is actually my house number and I was adament when we formed that rather than being a publishing 'house' we'd be a publishing 'home'. And what I love about the events is everyone sits together shooting the breeze whilst writers get to share their energy and thoughts with us. It's given us a great platform to support other small presses and poetry pamphleteers too and long may that continue.
These events continue to surprise. We had 80 people crammed into the pub for Caspar Heinemann's book launch last year. The atmosphere is often electric and gives us all a chance to sell our books to new readers and meet new writers. We're now filming these events and working on our digital archive so that no memory is lost.
A monthly series of events can often lose momentum but we owe it all to our dedicated audience and the Roebuck pub who consistently turn up for us and the writers we invite.
If you could be a big press, would you be?
I actually don't like big presses at all. I think small presses are the future of publishing. Monopolies are bad for everyone. They don't allow new talent through as quickly as they should and nor do they spread wealth evenly. They're also incredibly wasteful in terms of how many books they print versus how many are sold. We should only be printing to the demand. And we should be constantly seeking out new writers to include in the vast world of published literature. Whilst the87press has grown at a rather phenomenal rate since we started in 2018, I'm wary of expanding what we do too much. We have a small team that actually is a family in its own right. Kashif and I are as close as siblings and we use a small 'family' business model to keep things moving, fluid and interesting. This influences a lot of what we do, from the design of our books to the way we approach new writers. In short, I'm happy and proud of our status as a small-press.
Broken Jaw is only the second work of fiction you've published. How did you come by the book and what caught your attention?
Minoli Salgado was my professor at Sussex and really influenced me with her fantastic seminars on Rushdie and postcolonial literature/theory. I then read her novel A Little Dust on the Eyes and thought it was absolutely fantastic. I even wrote a term paper on it during my MA at Sussex and am using some of that research for my dissertation for my current MA at Birkbeck.
I met Minoli in December 2018 after maybe a year or two of not being in contact through seminars etc. I was interviewing her for Wasafiri. Minoli mentioned her collection of short stories and I told her about the87press. Things moved organically from there. Minoli is a truly incredible writer in my opinion. Her work is as connected to transitional justice and human rights as it is to breaking new ground for fiction. Her craft is breathtaking to witness as it plays out on the page and the stories she tells stay continue to stay with me. Broken Jaw is all of that and more - I think short fiction is an incredibly technical form of writing and Minoli is an expert with it. It takes you through all the emotions of war, hope, love, loss and sometimes frustration or anger. I was deeply affected by the manuscript and really grateful that a writer of Minoli's caliber was open to publish with the87press.
What does 2020 (and beyond) hold for the87press?
Well! Excitingly we've been commissioned by Camden Arts Centre to host an event there on April 8th and curate a poetry/experimental film festival (in partnership with our friends Frictions) in the Summer. So keep your eyes peeled for news about that. We're publishing our third work of fiction by Anne Goscinny (translated by Stuart Bell) and continue to support European literatures in these trying times. We are also releasing poetry collections by Robert Kiely, Verity Spott, and Oscar Guardiola-Rivera. Then we will be working on our publishing schedule for the latter part of 2020 and 2021. We've actually got the writers lined up. We're also publishing our first non-fiction book in late-Summer. A wonderful book-length essay by Dhanveer Singh Brar. We're trying to branch out and publish different literatures so that our readers are provided with new and interesting books!
Other than that it's continuing on as usual. Monthly events, regular publications both online via the Hythe (our online publication platform) and in print. Continuing to support new and emerging writers and work towards a fairer and more just world!