40th Anniversary Celebrations of Leeds’ Peepal Tree Press – Article

Peepal Tree authors. Image Credit: Roland Thomas, University of Leeds, Cultural Collections.

Last month, the world’s leading independent publisher of Caribbean and Black British literature, Peepal Tree Press, celebrated its 40th anniversary. Hosted at the University of Leeds, the evening involved a seminar celebrating the university’s acquisition of the archive, with an interview and panel discussion paying tribute to all the hard work involved in its creation and organisation. Following the seminar was an inspiring selection of readings from Peepal Tree writers, including Emily Zobel Marshall, the press’ most recent release. 

Sarah Prescott, Literary Archivist in the Brotherton Special Collections, opened the event by demonstrating how to access the archival material at the University. Speaking of the material included, she commented: “This Archive is a comprehensive record of the work of Peepal Tree Press, evidence of 40 years of creative endeavour and persistence. It is an exceptional resource for research into Caribbean and Black British writing, and independent publishing. We are very lucky to be able to add it to our collections”. 

A live interview between Dr Jeremy Poynting, founder of Peepal Tree Press, and John McLeod, Professor of Postcolonial and Diaspora Literatures, followed. They spoke of the entangled history between the University of Leeds and Peepal Tree press, which began when Poynting studied his undergraduate degree in Leeds around sixty years ago. He went on to discuss his ambition for publishing, how this interest developed from researching the Caribbean into writing, and the changing state of British publishing when the press was founded in 1985. 

Part I of Peepal Tree 40th anniversary celebrations. Image credit: Jess Hill.

Poynting explained how he initially established the press in his house, working on it from his home for eight years before planting roots in 17 King’s Avenue, Burley. He highlighted the importance of funding from Arts Council England in establishing Peepal Tree, which enabled the press to be “committed to platforming and giving a voice to new writers who wouldn’t otherwise find themselves in print”, as Mcleod put it. 

Inquiring about how the archive will be advertised, so people from across the city can interact with it, Sarah Prescott replied: “We hope there is the potential to reach a wide audience through public engagement.” Professor John Whale reiterated that this archive is intended “to be available for all kinds of engagement, not just scholarship.” The panel discussion ultimately reinforced the archive as a resource collated with everyone in mind. Poynting added that the University of Leeds has the resources to make the archive accessible and its commitment to digitising meant the Brotherton Cultural Collections was the ideal home for the material. “It seemed to me to belong in Leeds. It was created in Leeds and it stayed in Leeds,” he said.

An hour later, everybody gathered across the road in the Workshop Theatre for a discussion of Ferdinand Dennis’ ‘Concrete Dreams’. Speaking about some of his inspirations, including Sam Selvon’s ‘The Lonely Londoners’, Dennis described wanting to portray a narrator with relentless ambition and his own lived experience of arriving in London from the Caribbean. Dennis said that he was inspired to create a character with the moral obligation to improve himself because “Caribbean people are extremely hard working… But looking at how the British media portray us… I didn’t see that reflected.”

Peepal Tree Press archival material. Image credit: Jess Hill.

This is what Peepal Tree is celebrating. 40 years of privileging marginalised voices and publishing brilliant authors with unique stories to share, which may otherwise have gone unrecognised. 

Next was a series of readings by Peepal Tree authors, hosted by the wonderfully entertaining Malika Booker and Khadijah Ibrahiim, who created a fun, vibrant atmosphere worthy of a 40th anniversary celebration. The fantastic selection of Peepal Tree writers ranged from the Leeds-based LGBT History Month Poet Laureate Adam Lowe to Shauna M. Morgan, scholar at the University of Kentucky. Each writer had four minutes to share some of their work, providing a diverse range of engaging and exciting pieces. The readings included: David Lambert, Sharon Miller, Jacob Ross, Amanda Smyth, Melody Walker, Emily Zobel Marshall, Monica Minott, Seni Seneviratne and Dorothea Smartt. Between readings, the writers reflected on what Peepal Tree means to them and the joy of celebrating with their fellow authors, Peepal Tree staff, and the audience. As Booker and Ibrahiim put it: “the evening’s readings gave the audience a small taste of the voices that represent the range of flavours of literature that Peepal Tree Press has supported over the years.” 

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You can visit the Brotherton Cultural Collections to view the Peepal Tree Press archive material, including unpublished submissions, author correspondents and marketing materials, by selecting an item and arranging an appointment through the University of Leeds library webpage. Digital records will be available soon.