Bitter Lemon Press is proud to be a member of the Arts Council Fiction Group. All the publishers in the group have received significant Arts Council funding, either from the National Portfolio or from Grants for the Arts, and demonstrate how effective Arts Council funding has been in widening the range of fiction available to readers in England. The publishers in the group have very different lists but all share a commitment to artistic excellence, finding and nurturing the writers of the future and providing an alternative to commercial fiction. Collectively we have won a lot of literary prizes and accolades and have made an important contribution to the creative economy. We are an Arts Council success story and our books make the case every day for Arts Council England's investment in literary fiction. We have formed ourselves into a group to help promote what we do and argue the case for public investment in literary fiction. There is a link to the websites of all the publishers in the group and each month the group will recommend the work of a publisher in the group and take part in Arts Council Fiction Group promotions. September's featured publisher is Bitter Lemon and the recommended title is A Cut-Like Wound by Anita Nair. Quote: “Anita Nair is a feminist and highly regarded Indian novelist. A Cut-Like Wound is as startling a debut crime novel as you are likely to read this year. Set in Bangalore, it opens with the horrific murder of a young man who worked as a prostitute. The killing is investigated by Inspector Gowda, who is in the midst of his own midlife crisis when he realises he is dealing with a serial killer. This is a troubling novel about men and sexual identity, ending with a shattering and unexpected revelation. ‘ Joan Smith in The Sunday Times
