From DAVID BLACK, poet
I write to express my concern and dismay at hearing of the Arts Council's decision to withdraw funding from Arc Publications. I believe this to be a serious mistake. Arc Publications has been an excellent and responsible publisher of a wide variety of poetry books for over 40 years, and it has made a major contribution to the health of the poetry scene in Britain during that time, publishing many significant poets including C.K. Stead, Sebastian Barker, Pete Morgan, Amarjit Chandra, Shanta Acharya, Adrian Henri, Thomas A. Clark, David Chaloner, Glyn Pursglove, Mary Jo Salter and many others. It has also played a very important role in publishing translated poetry and introducing to a British audience poets from many other cultures including Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, Algeria, Palestine, India and Japan. The significance of this role has been widely recognised in literary and academic circles, and sometimes even beyond. (The publication of the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti, for example, has been of great importance to those concerned for the future of the Palestinians.) This is a role of true cultural importance and I hope very much that those responsible for the Arts Council funding will reconsider their decision.