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Today marks the 20th anniversary of the first publication of Brixton Rock!

Written by the award-winning author Alex Wheatle, Brixton Rock tells the moving story of Brenton Brown, a mixed-race teenager living in a children's home during the 1960s Brixton race riots. Faced with the emotional turmoil of familial upheaval, Brenton battles to find his true identity amidst the chaos ensuing around him.

Brixton Rock was Alex's debut novel, and it was published to critical acclaim. Twenty years on, it remains as pertinent and powerful as it was upon publication.

Alex has written a number of other novels in the last twenty years, including Brenton Brown and Home Boys, which are published by Arcadia Books. He represents the charity English PEN, and in 2008 he was awarded an MBE for services to literature in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.

In his annual Review of the Year for GrandPrix+ magazine, David Tremayne was effusive about Toby Vintcent's latest novel, The Ringmaster.

Declared himself a 'big fan' of the Matt Straker series, Tremayne describes it as Vintcent's 'most ambitious [book] thus far.'

Restraining himself from spoiling the plot for future readers, Tremayne concludes:

'Sufffice it to say that Vintcent has done it again with a monster book that, heavy as it is, remains thoroughly credible and impossibly difficult to put down.'
 

Arcadia Books are pleased to announce the acquisition of UK & Commonwealth rights to an anthology of fiction, reportage and poetry. Giving voice to this most contemporary city there are 40 contributions including pieces by Duncan Campbell, Andrew O’Hagan, Jane Shilling, Helen Simpson, Ali Smith and a number of previously unpublished immigrants and refugees. Taken together, their stories portray the fabric of the city: its housing, its food, its pubs, its buses, even its graveyards. 

There are people working with deprived youth in city, from Kurdish activists, and from tenants’ groups, and with more than a third of the voices belonging to those not born in the UK, this anthology aims to reflect the fact that any city is the sum of its people. 

Memoir, reportage, history and several different genres of poetry spark off each other in challenging, invigorating and inspiring ways. Above all, this compelling anthology questions its citizens and draws on the rich mélange of people who inhabit today’s London, both lamenting the unequal way the city treats them and celebrating the vibrant urban life their co-existence delivers.

The anthology’s editor Claire Armitstead writes:

‘I'm thrilled that Tales of Two Londons is being published by Arcadia because, at this critical time in the UK's history, I feel that these voices need to be heard. Though often represented as a privileged city, London is actually a melting pot roiling with the best and worst of us - with anger, humour, hope and despair. By collecting a wide range of writing, from journalists, short story writers and poets, new arrivals as well as established authors, this anthology aims to offer a snapshot of our globalised society in all its complexity - and to demonstrate that a city is everything that exists in its citizens' heads. ‘

Piers Russell-Cobb, the publisher of Arcadia Books commented on the acquisition: ‘These stories connect all of us who live and work in London and make us appreciate the real bonds that connect us rather than the artificial which separate us.  We’re continuing our ethic in publishing edgy literary writing from wherever it hails.’ 

Alex Wheatle, the critically acclaimed author of Brixton Rock, will be appearing at Wigtown Book Festival on Saturday 22nd September to talk about his latest novel, Home Boys.

Inspired by his own experiences of growing up in care, Home Boys tells the story of four friends who run away from their children's home in search of freedom, but what they discover in the forest will change their lives forever.

Tickets cost £5/free for under 25s and are available here: http://wigtownbookfestival.com/visit/ticket-offers-passes …