Literature, Politics, and the Publishing Industry

Author Kirsty Gunn and her husband, publisher David Graham, in conversation on literature and the wider economic and political world: celebrity as a factor in the literary marketplace; the author’s 'marketability‘ and their personality-driven media profile; the publisher’s responsibility towards the artist and the audience; the author’s role in the "literary publicity machine“; publishing, literary merit, and cultural relevance; the relationship between publishers and authors.

Kirsty Gunn writes novels, short stories, and essays and is published by Faber and Faber and internationally. She is Research Professor at the University of Dundee and Associate Member of Merton College, Oxford. With Gail Low she established The Voyage Out Press, a publishing venture dedicated to thinking about new ways of writing about literature, the arts and the world.

David Graham is managing director of Pavilion Books. Prior to joining Pavilion, he managed several independent publishers, including six years at Canongate Books and three at Granta and Portobello