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‘Series of films exploring the idea that humans have been colonised by the machines they have built,’ is the tag line to the BBC’s brilliant new series, ALL WATCHED OVER BY MACHINES OF LOVING GRACE, and so ‘seeing everything in the world through the eyes of computers.’ Its premise is also the dangerous and ruthless movements of capital at the top, further enhanced by the digitalised, information age. But for a little publisher forced to recover it’s writer’s work and voice first through the medium of eBooks, it is extremely relevant to what is happening in modern publishing. It also shows the potential disaster of people thinking they are really communicating through the web, the great liberal dream of silicone valley, but finding they are actually completely swallowed up by it, as pure entertainment ‘commodity’, in the grip of the money making ‘platforms’ like Amazon and WordPress, and have even less say because of the swamping of opinion and information. Here we have argued that is does not matter about the medium, the ‘how’ stories are relayed, as long as the stories are worth reading, though we love real books. A friend speaking of his wife and her thrill as a great reader in getting a Kindle supports that. What does not is the fact his father gave him a disk with 40,000 pirated books on it, and the mass proliferation of junk to try and catch markets! To protect against that, and the corruption of form every publisher seems engaged in now, it must be about dual medium publishing, but above all the spirit of the people who create and also nurture real and important stories. How else will we hear anything valuable or true, and how will committed writers survive?

Barnaby Rogerson is a traveller, writer, husband and father, and the Co-Publisher of Eland, probably the leading independent publisher of travel literature in the UK, which describes itself as ‘A company with a mission: to keep the great works of travel literature in print’. The founder of Phoenix first met Barnaby on the top of the Shandur Pass, in the North West Frontier of Pakistan, where everyone was trying to avoid watching the highest Polo match in the world. Eland has a remarkable list and you can visit their website by going to www.travelbooks.co.uk

Um, with apologies to John Clare and the next Cultural Essay below, we may be getting a little soft at Phoenix, but that magnificent, beautiful wedding in the Abbey might recall Yeat’s line “in custom and in ceremony are innocence and beauty born“. Of course another poet, Blake, also did his bit with that ever great English hymn about mental fight, and arrows of desire, Jerusalem, but what was sweetest was William’s evident shyness, and Kate’s complete naturalness. Now, since we rudely weren’t invited, except that the cameras brilliantly asked us all, we can get on and have a party…

We’ve had several enquiries about Scream of the White Bear, so long posted on Amazon and elsewhere, but marked as unavailable. The truth is Scream was the very source of difficulty and anguish for the author, in America, and it is still not quite ready. Phoenix’s decision, or rather necessity being invention’s mum, to publish to eBook this year means that it will have to go to Kindle or Ipad anyway. Perhaps we will make it available in paperback print version, if we can. An apology to all David Clement-Davies’ fans, but this situation was forced on him, and thank you for maintaining that interest and support.

The fight to build a new publisher, and to take back an author’s rights and say in his own work, continues. Though Abrams will still not communicate about their electronic rights in Fell and The Telling Pool, the founder has discovered that he owns the eRights to that novel in all territories except the USA and Canada. Though with a bit of prodding, the approach of two British publishers, Bloomsbury and Macmillan, in providing files, has been in very marked contrast to a publisher in New York. So another addition to Phoenix Ark this year will be the Arthurian fantasy and rights of passage story, short-listed for the Welsh Tir Na Nog best foreign language book prize, The Telling Pool by David Clement-Davies, available in the UK and other countries on Kindle and Ipad. We can’t wait to design a cover!

Dear, gentle reader,

when we look back at our Cultural Essays, by Philip Mount, Donald Sturrock or Murray Shanks, so many of the contributions to The Poet’s Sweatshop, the little films we’ve done, and the blogs too, it’s with real pride we talk about Phoenix Ark Press, built from nothing and trying to be honest about the word, about publishing, about the climate we are creating. The sad truth though is that in their wrong belief in sure-fire bets, or the hunt for instant profits, the unbelievers haven’t come up with the backing needed to get our books out, to you gentle reader, and properly. So the dear, gentle founder has to turn to the business of getting a ‘job’ to keep afloat and fight on. But he’ll be damned if he’s going to give up on work already there, on the spirit of a Phoenix, that can only come again and again, and on a commitment to great story. So today he’s biting a difficult bullet and announcing that, mostly out of necessity, Phoenix Ark can currently only afford to publish straight to eBook. This means that our lead titles, Scream of the White Bear, Michelangelo’s Mouse, The Blood Garden, and Ice will be exclusively available on Kindle and other reading devices this year. I am truly sorry, especially to younger readers who may not have access to Kindles or Ipads, but it is the only way not to waste work, and get our stories out. David’s poor younger fans will probably have grown up and become head of Penguin by the time Scream finally comes out, but trust it will be all the better for that! On the other hand we think it may represent a new spirit, for a little Publisher to turn exclusively to ePublishing, but with a respect for story, and for quality that you do not see in so much of the tat that is being peddled in electronic format. We will see too if EBooks can get serious attention from the critical and reading public and perhaps Phoenix can lead the field in EPublishing. David is off to Rome again to ponder the muse, and find some inspiration for Phoenix, and Dragons in the Post.

Don’t panic is the message from Margaret Atwood to authors trying to survive, at a recent technology conference in New York. In a generous, modest and totally straight presentation she talks about the ‘publishing pie’, and how writers can ever take a decent slice, even to subsist, and what happens if the internet becomes a phenomenon where so much is expected to be free. It stirs many emotions about a New York publisher and our founder’s books, but was inspiring when she talked about how many authors start by being ‘self-published’, showing her own attempts as a six year old. To watch a hugely impressive author and a fine mind click

David Clement-Davies is now re-editing Scream of the White Bear. Barnes and Noble lists David as the author of several highly acclaimed and bestselling novels, including The Telling Pool and The Sight. His books have been called “intricately crafted” (The Boston Globe), “a hurtling ride” (Kirkus Reviews), and “a masterpiece” (Booklist). Young readers are equally enthralled: His Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com kid reviews number in the many hundreds and include such praise as “an instant classic,” “too cool for words,” and “absolutely stunning.”

Be the first to own and review a Phoenix book – click

Donald is a writer, broadcaster and music impressario. His biography of Dahl – Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl has received tremendous critical reviews and is published by Harper Press. Donald grew up in England and South America and, after leaving Oxford University, joined BBC Television’s Music and Arts Department in 1983, where he worked as writer, producer and director.

He has made more than 30 documentaries, including biographical features about William Trevor, Robert Graves, Jennifer Johnston and Dahl.

Throughout the 1990s he continued to maintain a close relationship with Dahl’s work, the Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Estate. Since 1992, he has been the artistic director of the Roald Dahl Foundation, masterminding an ambitious project to create an international library of new orchestral works and operas for children, based on the stories of Roald Dahl.

In 1995 Sturrock directed an acclaimed BBC television version of his own adaptation of Roald Dahl’s LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD with Danny DeVito, Ian Holm and Julie Walters. And in 1998, at the Los Angeles Opera, Sturrock also directed the world premiere of FANTASTIC MR FOX, an opera based on Dahl’s book, adapted by Sturrock, and with designs by Gerald Scarfe. It was widely acclaimed for its sophisticated wit and comic invention. The Wall Street Journal praised the libretto’s ‘profound grasp of musical storytelling’, while the Frankfurter Algemeine described the production as ‘brilliant and flawless’. He is agented by Caroline Dawnay at United Agents.

For The Independent review of Donald’s biography click