MSc Publishing dissertation / Edinburgh Napier University / 2026
Decolonising Publishing: The Production of Marginalised Voices in Contemporary Publishing
Publishing more marginalised writers changes who appears on a list. My dissertation asks whether it also changes who decides what gets published, how books are sold and which readers publishers invest in.
The research
- My work
- Research design, publisher interviews, reader survey, analysis and writing
- Focus
- Contemporary UK publishing, with particular attention to Black British, Caribbean and British South Asian writing
- Length
- 16,035 words / 56 PDF pages
I interviewed Adam Lowe of Peepal Tree Press and received a written interview from Habiba Desai of Fox & Windmill. I compared their accounts with four publishing case studies and an exploratory survey of sixteen readers.
The case studies look at the public descriptions and positioning of Queenie, Home Fire, Glimpse and Into the Wilds. I was interested in when identity helps readers find a book, and when it starts to stand in for genre or limit what an author is expected to write.
The dissertation argues that greater visibility matters, but does not establish that decision-making power has changed. It examines the editorial freedom offered by independent presses alongside the limits of their resources, and considers how geography and career progression affect access to publishing authority.
The small survey and two publisher interviews offer specific perspectives, not a representative picture of the whole industry. That distinction is part of the argument and the way I present the findings.
The submitted report, including its references. This page is a short introduction.