From AMANDA DALTON, poet & playwright
I'm not much of a letter writer or petition signer, and I'm aware that the current devastating process of at best wilful neglect and at worst savage destruction of the arts and humanities, sits firmly with the government rather than ACE.
However, there are one or two ACE funding decisions re literature organizations, that I find utterly unfathomable and deeply upsetting. None more so than the news that ARC is to receive a 100% cut.
ARC has consistently produced very high quality, tightly edited, stylishly produced publications over many years. Its work in bringing many writers to a wider audience contributes significantly to the map of publishing in this country - perhaps especially in the field of publishing bi-ligual books of significant poets, brilliantly translated. For example, I am currently reading Valerie Rouzeau's stunningly good COLD SPRING IN WINTER, translated and introduced by two important British poets - Susan Wicks and Stephen Romer. I am ashamed to admit that I had never come across Rouzeau's work before - despite her huge and significant international reputation. And no doubt without ARC, her work would never have come to my attention, nor to that of countless others in this country.
This is just one example.
ARC, like several other small poetry presses, punches well above its weight. It is run by people with an extraordinary dedication to poetry, and it is a vital part of the poetry publishing landscape. Without the small presses - and especially those with such a proven track record - the already fragile, seriously under-funded world of poetry publishing will not survive. Online publishing is not everything - by any means; Faber is not the answer. Faber is not a specialist poetry press; Faber publishes a handful of poets a year, and none in translation.
What else can I say? This has angered and distressed me almost beyond words! I urge you to reconsider this insane and destructive decision.